Thoughts on Sengoku 3

The Neo is decidedly lacking in quality beat'em ups, at least when compared to other hardwares (cps-2 namely) so i was wondering if Sengoku 3 follows this trend of just being "bleh." I've read some reviews and a few threads on the game but i just want to know what everyone thinks now that the game has been out for a few years. I'm a big beat'em up fan and i would love to be able to play a good one on my favorite arcade hardware. So what does everyone think? If i got this game i'd most likely pick up an MVS kit or bare cart, or would my money be better spent somewhere else?

I thought Sengoku 3 was okay.

Let me start off with the good stuff:

Nicely drawn and animated sprites(well,to some extent),new characters(Okuni..oh my!),a newly added combo system,and some decent music.

Now,on to the bad:

Extremely repetitive gameplay,badly drawn and animated enemy sprites,short levels,and virtually no replay value.

The game,itself,has nothing to do with the Sengoku series,IMHO. The ability to transform into other entities,one of the key element in the first two games,no longer exist in this sequel. Also,the distinctive Japanese atmosphere,which gave the series it's own unique flavor,of the previous games are now gone.

If you enjoy beat'em-ups and are looking for a fix,this game might serve you well. However,if you're a fan of its predecessors,and are looking forward to more of the same,you might want to pass on this one.

I really enjoyed Sengoku3 as well as the rest of the Sengoku series. To me, this is the type of sidescrolling fighting game I wished SNK would have released back in the early 1990's as it's gameplay more closely resembles the Final Fight play mechanics (ie: rapid fire punch combos, SOLID hits, fast fluid gameplay, throws, etc) than any of their games ever had.

Burning Fight was a Final Fight clone, but it really didn't play anything like it as the punches/kicks were slower and harder to connect. Mutation Nation and Robo Army were great titles as well, but lacked that fast and frenzied Final Fight play style that I loved.

Sure the enemy sprites are few and far between, but who cares? The game's still a lot of fun to play, particularly with two people. Had this game come out on the PS2 or XBOX, I'm willing to bet it would have been loved by the non-mainstreamers.

For beat em ups on the Neo, Sengoku 3 is the way to go. The MVS kits are like $60 and are usually complete and in great shape. It does have some shortcomings as mentioned above, but for brawlers on the Neo, this is the one to get. Sengoku 2 is also very good, but will cost twice as much.

I actually went all the way through this last night for the first time! and i have to say its alot better than my previous thoughts once you get past the first couple of lvl's it become quite a joy!

All the characters are very indvidual and all look and animate fantastically!

Yes its does get a bit repetitive and there are proberbly only about 10 enemies through the game, but no one complains about DW2/3/4 on the PS2 being repetitive. (although i think these games loose so much when in 3D and just don't work compared to there 2D counterparts)

For how cheap it is on AES and MVS i would reccomend picking it up if you have friends that will go through the game with you over and over because if you buy it just to play on your own it ill get boring very very fast!

NeoDragoN said:

Yes its does get a bit repetitive and there are proberbly only about 10 enemies through the game,

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The lack of enemies doesn't really bother me that much, i mean in games like metal slug 1 and shocktroopers the types of enemies are limited (they're all pretty much variations of the same thing). Also i find all beat'em ups to suffer from they're occasional boring moments of mindlessley beating down hordes of enemies, it just goes with the territory i suppose.

NeoDragoN said:

I actually went all the way through this last night for the first time! and i have to say its alot better than my previous thoughts once you get past the first couple of lvl's it become quite a joy!

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Precisely! Once you get Byaaki as a playable character, I think the game REALLY picks up. He's awesome to use and I love his monster summoning specials!

Plus, Sengoku 3 has that awesome Noise Factory art style...a visual style that I particularly enjoy.

Just don't look at the backgrounds!

Once you do you'll realise that they completely and utterly suck!

I love Sengoku 3. Best of the 3 Sengoku's. The graphics are nicely done and the game play is sweet. I would recommend getting it. But, then again, the Sengoku and Metal Slug games are my fav's, so I am biased!

Good game overall, nice combo system.

Game is let down by short levels, repetitive enemies with unimaginative attack patterns, and hard as fuck boss characters.

There's much better out there, but it's good for what it is.

Sengoku 3 is the best of the three games by far.

Superior graphics, superior controls, superior music and sound effects. I think it is much longer too.

Sengoku 2 was just too short.