Man, I love Samurai Shodown. When I heard that SNK Playmore was putting together a collection of past games in the series, I was excited to say the least. Well, now there's even more reason to be excited. In a video interview with Gamespot, SNK Playmore revealed at GDC that Samurai Shodown VI will be appearing for the first time on US home consoles as part of Samurai Shodown Anthology. Known in Japan as Samurai Spirits: Tenkaichi Kenkakuden, Samurai Shodown VI made an appearance in US arcades courtesy of Sega, but has never appeared on home consoles. Thankfully SNK Playmore is planning on changing that later this year when Samurai Shodown Anthology is released. For those of you curious, the Anthology consists of Samurai Shodown I, II, III, IV, V, V Special, and VI.
I've had plenty of experience with Samurai Shodown VI (back when I had a Japanese PS2), and I've got to say that it's probably the best game in the series, and I most likely wouldn't hesitate to pay the price SNK Playmore will likely ask for the Anthology just for it. Not only does it feature every character to ever appear in the series (excluding characters from Samurai Shodown 64 and Warrior's Rage), it also has some interesting new characters. Like Andrew, an American fighter who wields a musket with a bayonet. Oh, and did I mention that he's based on former US president Andrew Jackson? And of course there's Iroha, Samurai Shodown's equivalent of Mai Shiranui, who proved to be so popular in Japan that SNK is giving her a game of her own. Anyway, enough of my rambling. All you Wii, PS2, and PSP owners will find out just how awesome Samurai Shodown VI is later this year when Samurai Shodown Anthology comes out!
< Spencer's note: When I met up with SNK at GDC I thought this was common knowledge. I guess not! Also I asked them if the Wii version would have waggle sword fighting and was told, "probably not." >
Published: Feb 24, 2008 07:12 am