Samurai Shodown II
| Samurai Shodown II | |
|---|---|
Neo Geo AES cover art by Shinkiro
|
|
| Developer(s) | SNK |
| Publisher(s) | SNK |
| Producer(s) | Eikichi Kawasaki |
| Designer(s) | K. Y. Hayate |
| Series | Samurai Shodown |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Neo Geo, Neo-Geo CD, Neo Geo Pocket Color, PlayStation, Windows, Neo Geo X, iOS, Android |
| Release |
October 28, 1994
|
| Genre(s) | Fighting game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Neo Geo (202 Mbit cartridge) |
| Display | Raster, 304 x 224 pixels (horizontal), 4096 colors |
| Aggregate score | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 90% (NGCD) 88.33% (NG) 72.18% (X360) 56% (iOS) |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| EGM | 9/10 (NG) |
| Famitsu | 34/40 (NG) |
| IGN | 8.5/10 (VC) 8/10 (X360) |
| Next Generation |
  (Arcade)
|
Samurai Shodown II (真 SAMURAI SPIRITS 覇王丸地獄変 Shin Samurai Spirits Haōmaru Jigokuhen?, lit. "True Samurai Spirits - Haohmaru's Portrait of Hell"), is a 1994 fighting game released as a second entry in SNK's Samurai Shodown series.
Following up on the extremely enthusiastic fan reception of the first Samurai Shodown game, SNK rebuilt the sequel from the ground up, including almost all of its predecessor's cast, adding several new characters, and refining the overall gameplay with more responsive control, more moves (particularly the use of the POW meter as a super special move meter; these moves not only cause severe damage to the opponents but also break their weapons, forcing them to fight unarmed for a short interval before a replacement weapon is issued), and a substantial number of Easter eggs.
The overall gameplay was expanded to include several movement options, such as being able to roll forward and backward, ducking to avoid high attacks, or doing small hops to avoid low strikes. This game was also the first game to incorporate an offensive blocking technique or "parry", via a command issued at the last second, a player would be able to deflect the incoming attack and leave their adversary open to attack by a split second. Such a technique was later also used in Namco's Weaponlord and later popularized by Capcom's Street Fighter III. There are also cameo appearances from other SNK characters, a hidden boss who would occasionally come out to challenge players, and several other treats for fans to uncover.
The cast of characters was expanded to include the following new additions:
Samurai Shodown II was originally released for the Neo Geo arcades and home consoles in 1994. In spite of its considerable popularity, the game went for several years without being released on any other system, except a 1996 port of the Neo Geo CD version for Windows-based PCs only in Japan. It was ported to the PlayStation, in the form of the Samurai Spirits Kenkaku Shinan Pack (which combines the first two games into one package, and was also only released in Japan.
...
Wikipedia