Samurai Shodown IV

BLOOD! HOW REVOLTING!






Following a not too keenly received third installment in SNK's Samurai Shodown series, the company released a fourth episode in 1996 with fine tuned gameplay mechanics that remained faithful to the altered system the third piece introduced, yet the developers took criticisms into sober considerations. Massively vibrant, inventive and one of the most violent of the Samurai Shodown games, Amakusa's Revenge weights in as a refreshing, courageous experience to enrich the saga with.

Enjoy and Read on!




Samurai Shodown IV keeps the most notable characters the series already have built up by the time of this release, even reintroduces illustrious Boss figures we had a hard time colliding with back in the earliest days of the franchise. The game offers a rather unusual structural premise as you have a certain time limit being set in 1 Player mode, while it's amount is heavily dependent on the character you choose. Your goal yet again is to spank Amakusa's butt and the enemy roster you have to go through to reach his castle is similarly influenced by the hero you choose to play with. In case you arrive in time, you will have the chance to see if Amakusa hired any major guns to aid his - naturally - highly illegal and sinister purposes, while a defeat against time will lead to a conclusion you won't necessarily end up happy with.

Changes and gameplay additions are numerous and significant. First and foremost, the piece offers two variants of each character, namely a SLASH and a BUST figure whom have a couple of slightly distinctive moves compared to each other while the BUST replicas do exhibit an interesting "darker feel" to themselves as well. Now each hero comes with a variety of selectable outfit colors and even a Grade system, one of the funky inventions Samurai Shodown IV introduces.

There are Beginner, Medium and Bada ... I mean Expert Grades. These are massively reliant on the combo system the game operates with, so let us see how exactly this works. The program features a Consensus Combo Streak of 14 successful hits guaranteed, accessible and executable by every character, granted they hold either the Medium or the Expert Grade. A character with the Beginner Grade selected can execute the starting movement of the Consensus Combo, automatically resulting in 4 impacts if successfully executed, knocking the enemy off of her/his feet. Now the good thing is this: once you play at least on Medium Grade and manage to soak the Consensus Combo in, your POW meter - which is, amazingly: still available! - automatically fills up to the maximum. And let me tell you this: as we will see, we can do quite neat things with a full POW meter in Samurai Shodown IV. A funny extra thing is of immediate note about the Expert Grade though: this particular level will give you a slightly more swift character, while you completely lose the ability to block. Sounds like a fair trade? You know the drill: you decide, me just writes here.



The system has the fortunate potential to perform crazy-ass combos consisting of 35-40 hits by, yet the main function of this here frequently cited Consensus Combo that is available to all protagonists is more of a neat minigame that offers a way to fill your POW meter, as the damage done by the streak itself is not particularly excessive. Surely, each character have their unique combos you can invent and master by experimenting with the respective attack forms and specials they possess, naturally this is one of the main appeals the effort delivers, enriching the experience with sober complexity and nice surprises that might and should be revealed.

Samurai Shodown IV consorts with the third installment as far as the basic gameplay mechanics go: trademark attack moves that were executed with simultaneous button taps are now mainly available on separate locations, thanks to the extra attack button the game utilizes. This is by far not to say that the program would be free of simultaneous taps. In fact, it is more reliant on them than ever before. Samurai Shodown IV dictates a much more furious and significantly "braver" pace, it is truly no problem earning some extra stripes and cuts on the butts, as the next attack you are about to unleash: SURELY shall connect. This is the neat mood the game gets you in, also it is the rhythm it masterfully, cunningly invites it's enjoyer to keep up to.



All this has quite much to do with the increased lifelines the characters possess: now you have way more opportunity both to shine and to be massively, even successfully assaulted prior any of the characters on the screen would reach evidently desperate situation. Rounds have a tendency to last longer with the noted rhythmic pattern that invites you to give the good old snarl attitude right from the start.

Focal inventions to affect the gameplay are these: a full POW meter allows you to use special attacks, invoked by consensus commands by all characters, though resultant maneuvers are of course different. You are not constrained to rely only on these particular POW specials, though. You can trade a full POW meter in for the new RAGE meter which allows you to execute even a hilariously brutal strike, and here is how: the damage you deal with a successful RAGE strike is massively dependent on the amount your opponent claimed off of YOUR health. A brilliant idea, brilliantly realized. The concept adds considerable depth to the system as it demands sober decisions to be made whether to go for a RAGE strike at the first place in exchange of a full POW meter and related specials, while the successful utilization of such a furious assault could turn the tide of any, absolutely any situation. A sober decision have been quite welcomely made as well, since superquick the RAGE strike, might be: also a blockable assault it is. All in all, a truly nice feature to incorporate the concept of comeback to the game, even better: the piece immensely likes when you go senselessly brutal just to rip someone in two with a RAGE attack that no one ever could see coming or ever considered as needed. POW specials can be used multiple times per round, a RAGE strike can be unleashed only once per round. There is a Combination Slash as well, connectable with specials - the Combination Slash can be used four times after using the RAGE explosion, invoked by the same command as the one you used to get into RAGE mode. Remember though that Beginner grade does not incorporate RAGE.



Some nice additional features have been also incorporated, such are the ability to commit Seppuku once you decide NOT TO give away the W for the opponent in a hopeless situation. The good thing is this: once you showoff your bowels, you naturally lose the round, yet, granted there is a follow up round to roll for you will take start the period with your POW maximized. There is also an option implemented to taunt your opponent, and Samurai Shodown IV also includes No Contest moves quite reminiscent to Mortal Kombat's Fatalities. These specials can be utilized on a conditional basis, meaning the enemy has to be defeated in a certain way to give you the opportunity of finishing her/him if you choose to. Once this particular possibility is granted, the game is nice and enthusiastic 'nuff to inform you of the exact Consensus Special Command you need to perform to express your Radical Verdict.

Other nice, minor-yet significant additions are of note here yet. Now you have the ability to evade from attacks using a button combination, effectively moving to the 2.5th dimension, better yet: you can even trick your adversary by making a swift circle around her/him and connect with an attack by that tiny-tiny, precious free moment this maneuver grants you with. The weapon-collider minigame is still included, and now the ability is offered to take the enemy's weapon away when you are armed with nothing but hands and a sinister look. At the end of the day one can't help but notice: Samurai Shodown IV is among the most precious installments the franchise has produced so far, bringing us a rather rich mixture of inventive content to fuel a complex, swift, deep fighting experience.



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Aggressors of Dark Kombat

B-FLICK BRAWLER






Let's face it: you can't confront a game called Aggressors of Dark Kombat and remain uninterested of it at the same time. Developer of the piece ADK was a division of SNK back in the days when VS Type Fighters and Beat'em Ups were massively popular, thus a quite fortunate suspicion arose that a hybrid of the two genres could prove to be a highly effective output in all aspects consensus might conceive. Aggressors of Dark Kombat or Tsuukai Gangan Kohshinkyoku in Japan now reigns in well deserved cultdome via the extremely cheesy entertainment appeals it contains and steadily delivers, conforming nicely to the absolute best and absolute "worst" a B-action movie from the early '90s could offer.

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Hopefully it was a nice way to put it, as one could argue if B-flicks from the early '90s could offer anything good at all except how bad they were, and how GOOD they turned up as via being so - bad. Strange are the standards of B-entertainment indeed, yet it had quite beneficiary metamorphosis whenever got presented in an interactive fashion, coming to life via animated sprites. Aggressors of Dark Kombat is focal, somewhat overlooked representative of such exquisitely sweet outputs. As an effort to hit arcades in 1994 just to remain relatively unnoticed with its descent yet not particularly stunning presentation, the piece now solidifies as proprietor of quite a unique position as far as its buildup.

The game delivers a street brawl feel conforming nicely to the mood summoned by such classic titles as Final Fight and related entertainment. A unique twist in the gameplay concerns the ability to move around in the environments exactly the way you would do that in a Beat'em Up, while the number of rounds is reduced to one with a multi-layered lifeline to keep/destruct. Each character has three row of energy and successful attacks do replenish health in the current bar the energy level is at, though once you lost a layer completely, then there is no way regaining it saved an extra credit and a restart.

Surroundings do offer occasional novelty items similar you would find in Beat'em Ups: shovels, clubs, Molotov cocktails are given tools to form special opportunities of, though only the hot liquid seems worth grabbing and tossing at the enemy as the possible aftermath - crazy animation with the opposition's ass on fire - grants a nice, cozy, comfy free shot for you.

The feel and pace of the gameplay is pretty unique: the piece relies on a Punch and a Kick with a third button assigned to jump. Tap the attack keys once to utilize a weak form of the respective function and hold it down to summon the strong variant. The game heavily relies on grabs and consecutive throws, these are executed by moving close to the enemy's front and pressing the forward direction plus both attack buttons simultaneously- a minigame then ensues in which you either have the fortunate chance to decide what kind of throw you want to execute or the opposition will counter-grab you and it is your turn to either counter-grab or pray that she/he will execute a somewhat gentler throw on you. This hardly happens. Pray happens, gentler throw: hardly happens, that is.

Special moves are nicely balanced and there are even "Crazy" ones among them, one for each character. These "Gangan" specialties can be utilized once your lifeline informs you of this. In case you can unleash your Gangan move successfully in the rather brief yet reasonable period you allowed to, you can be sure that the W is yours.

There are some oddities to surround the game, most specifically: the names of the characters are hardly included anywhere in the output, let alone some immensely idiotic aspirants such as Bobby, who, even worse: is INCLUDED in the effort. Probably the most annoying, simultaneously most faceless figure I ever saw in a fighting game. Anyone ever selected Bobby to play in Aggressors of Dark Kombat, please defend your hero, I do beg for you. The absence of the names is quite big of an issue to regard it as one worth addressing, therefore we address that herein, indeed:



Aggressors of Dark Kombat Character Roster - from left to right:

Kisarh, Fuuma, Goh, Leonhalt, Horst "Derrick" Tappert, Sheen, Joe, Lee, Bobby

The pace has a consistent flow to it with a nice way of enforcing you to utilize a multitude of attack forms thanks to the possibility of quick, wide position changes and the considerate difficulty to sell out the same attack method on consecutive occasions. Some welcomely complex special algorhythms are present to enrich each character, for example Sheen has massive potential to grab charging enemies from the air just to slam them to the ground, while Joe might punish airborne attacks with a nice counter-special consisting of crazy-ass kicks seemingly tailored to such situations. Characters do vary considerably through such key aspects as movement speed and power, though not all of them exhibit convincing design power and related originality. Bobby, anyone?



With its unique structure to combine elementary Beat'em Up appeals with the charm and beauty of the VS genre, Aggressors of Dark Kombat delivers a rather special taste of classic arcade gaming to ruthlessly, welcomely exploit the hilarious atmosphere your everyday average '90s B-flicks are notorious of. At the end of the day, the output delivers blatantly bad oneliners, relies on sober, traditional gameplay mechanics and gives us nice realization of a rather complex grappling system. Through its charming, acceptably executed presentational values Aggressors of Dark Kombat weighs in as an effort which had the courage to fuse popular elements, and, amazingly: still has.



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Alien VS Predator Arcade

TORMENTS OF TORMENTORS






Capcom released AvP in 1994, an arcade effort that was never officially ported to any different platform than the slotted originator. A blessing MAME exists, and AH!, what a sweet blessing it is, indeed. This classic foam of explicit alien eradication exhibits a couple of welcomed focal traits. First and foremost, it allows three players to wage war against hordes of xenomorphs simultaneously, thus a quite special co-op mode is offered once neither of the three active participants have immense of a butt 'nuff to take essential place away from the other players, even better: AvP gives you playable characters with considerable differences, while maintaining a fluent, pleasant faithfulness and even inventiveness to the stable, integral consensus Beat'em Up traditions the game builds upon.

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AvP introduces seven stages connected via neat mini cutscenes to present a quite decent story framework with - welcomely - no more aspirations than to place the player into situations where the only way out is through. The piece offers four playable characters with various default weapons accessible to each one of them. You have your cute little anime cyborg chick who is set to superaggressive mode all the time, a "tank" type male character with an implanted Smart Gun - the classic Alien toy - modification and the dumb look on dumb face included, while the row of selection is concluded by two Predators, namely the "stock-specie" we had chance to witness in the classic Predator movie in 1986, and even a Predator Hunter is offered, simply the most strong, most swift character you can play the game with.

The effort introduces all the cool movements you probably anticipate from a solid representative of the genre, these include: a straight combo streak consisting of four-five consecutive hits available for each character, an ultimate-attack useful to unleash punishment on all surrounding enemies, while you have the option to grab most adversaries to either take them in the air and groundplant them decently or to deconstruct them by vulgar display of power, an unavoidable attackfoam executed on the grasped baddie. A nice set of charge movements are available too, these are very useful both to change places very swiftly and to unleash powerful attacks on multiple opponents. An upper-and lower level charge attack is accessible.



Weapons are essential elements in the game. Each stage is packed with loads and loads of destructible objects to reveal quite some types of extras, these include all kinds of meals and softdrinks to replenish lost energy and super magazines that allow you to unleash projectiles without limitations for a short period of time. Otherwise, weapons tend to overheat or end up empty quite hastily - if and when this happens you are to wait for a while until the weapon cools down, or, if you play with the cyber chick, you have to reload. A risky period as the character is essentially defenseless during these sequences, an evident trade-off for her considerable speed.



HEY, decent girls DO NOT kiss at First Date!

"Outsider weapons" are also available, instruments you can pick up and either shoot with them or throw them at the enemy. Grenades and knives, primarily. Naturally you do not want to leave a stage without a good old bossfight, thus I am most happy to inform you that AvP delivers a boss to conclude each and every stage of the game.

Rhythmization of the effort is quite decent, considering the diversity of the atrocities you are subjected to by the multiple types of enemies. Settings do reflect noticeable aspiration to enrich the game with refreshing modal variation, selling out nicely outlined sketches of the classic Alien atmosphere, hardly overkilling any particular sequence. AvP consists of quite a few memorable portions, segments you will definitely remember and probably end up inspired to practice peak sequences out, growing more and more skillful at punishing alien sitorgans. The game therefore allows, even better: invites you to be the AvP Arcade Geek, and it seems safe to conclude that this is a temptation which remained intact since 1994.



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Samurai Shodown

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6401/samuraishodown12.jpgIPPON - SHOBU!






Japan based hardware and software firm SNK released their trademark effort Samurai Shodown in 1993. A true classic and timeless gem to shine both as prime originator of weapon based 2D deconstruction and proprietor of an exquisitely strong and authentic atmosphere, the game takes us to an 17th century Japan to spill some precious rivers of pixelblood via fast paced, quality punishment which remains extremely easy to timelessly appreciate.

Enjoy and Read on!




Samurai Shodown introduces quite a few neat touches to the VS Type Fighter genre, clever, cunning traits that have significant impacts on the gameplay experience. The piece's flow is quite eventful and intense, it is extremely easy to get into a near-death situation once you risked a reckless attack, exposing yourself and eating in a tremendous counterstrike. Attack forms are laid out in a quite intuitive manner by which you have a Weak Punch and a Weak Kick, supported by the Strong Punch and the Strong Kick. Tapping these buttons simultaneously throughout all the combinations you can conceive will yield you the different attack forms your chosen character is able to perform, yet it's certainly worth noting that some of the moves are distance-dependents, meaning the same button combination might yield a different maneuver based on the enemy's distance to you. Special moves are also accessible though the general gameplay is not as much reliant on the utilization of those as the Mortal Kombat games, for example.

The flow relies more massively on the quick selection-and execution of the proper defense/attack against an unleashed maneuver or opposing block attempt. Block happens by pulling your character away from the opponent, while you can execute quick dodge movements by double-tapping the away direction, or you can even charge up to your victim by double-tapping the direction the enemy is facing. This method lets you unleash rampant attacks and usually results in blatant holes in your defense, something your rival might benefit from considerably.



A nice thing about Samurai Shodown is its superlow tolerance level for irresponsible hothead gameplay: once you fail with an ambitious attack you can be almost 100% sure that ruthless punishment is imminent, thus the game usually boils down to a heavily concentrated, focused experiencefoam in which you are to choose all, absolutely all your actions very soberly and carefully.

This special flow and flavor of the gameplay delivers immersive moments and makes comfy place for memorable flashes of lightning fast action, oftentimes characterized by highly significant feeling-out periods to support the effort with a colorful rhythmic structure. By these tense moments you try to guess what the opposition will attempt to do, thus correct prediction and knowledge of what, how and when to reply for an attack and when you should attempt to deliver punishment yourself are elements and aspects of primal importance.

Interestingly enough, Samurai Shodown knows and interprets the concept of rage or, as we hinted at, even recklessness: while your safety gameplay at the end of a lifeline will probably lead to a defeat, the AI sometimes exhibits a funny personality trait, growing so rampant to finish you off that it offers huge holes in its defense temporarily, tiny moments you can forge staggering strikes of stopping power by if you are willing to risk them.

The respective Strong Attacks you can invoke by tapping the button combinations result in excessive damage, but funnily enough: the more a character gets hurt, the more she/he gets enraged, scoring more and more when connecting finally with an attack. This state is represented by the POW meter in the corners. Connecting with your POW meter at maximum delivers good old fatal damage.

Each character has a couple of cool looking throws that are heavily dependent on the exact situation the fighters are relating to each other by the moment these moves get utilized, while there are cool little additional options accessible both to disarm your opponent or even to break the enemy's weapon. Some funny, intense minigame is included as well in which you have to tap the button repeatedly to disarm the opponent after weapons do collide.

Samurai Shodown introduces a whole array of superb characters that are quite easy to like, while differences between them are extremely well tuned both regarding their fighting styles and the artistic originality they possess.



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