Best Samurai Shodown?

[Scott]

Samurai Shodown 2 no question. Best gameplay, best roster, best backgrounds, etc. Patched SS3 is probably my 2nd favorite. I really wanted to love 4, but I didn't like the graphical downgrade. BGs were a step down, no warping floor, cut animation. They also did something to the look of the sprites that I can't quite put my finger on, but they weren't as sharp. Hated 5.

 

[Ip Man]

Samurai Shodown 2 no question. Best gameplay, best roster, best backgrounds, etc. Patched SS3 is probably my 2nd favorite. I really wanted to love 4, but I didn't like the graphical downgrade. BGs were a step down, no warping floor, cut animation. They also did something to the look of the sprites that I can't quite put my finger on, but they weren't as sharp. Hated 5.

samurai showdown 4 was a graphical downgrade from ss3?. first time i've heard this. i personally always thought that ss4 was the best looking game in the series up there with ss2. the only problem i had with ss4 was that the game kind of plays it self with it's very combo friendly moves. you could do a 22 hit combo by pressing a couple of button.

 

[Tyranix95]

Agreed, there are a lot of good characters that came out after 2.

But most everyone's played S2 before, so they're familiar with the game and have a good character. That and the music and backgrounds are still pretty cool. Roster seems a little titled towards Ukyo though, but it's all good.

SS5S is not as good a game for its time as SS2 was for its.

But just comparing the two in a vacuum as if they came out at the same time, I would never choose to play SS2 over 5S. 5S every time.

The character roster alone destroys SS2. There are too many great characters that came out in SS3 or after for me to ever want to go back to 2. I don't want to play a Samurai Shodown without Shizumaru, Basara, or Sogetsu. And of the new characters from 5, Yunfei is gold standard. I kind of miss Caffeine Nicotine from 2, but other than that, nothing. Cham Cham is for Absters.

 

[Electric Grave]

samurai showdown 4 was a graphical downgrade from ss3?. first time i've heard this. i personally always thought that ss4 was the best looking game in the series up there with ss2. the only problem i had with ss4 was that the game kind of plays it self with it's very combo friendly moves. you could do a 22 hit combo by pressing a couple of button.

That's one of the things I love about 4. I wouldn't change it for nothing, each Samsho has its place in the equation, even 6.

 

[SouthtownKid]

samurai showdown 4 was a graphical downgrade from ss3?. first time i've heard this.

Holy crap, yes. 4 looks AWFUL next to 3. Or 2. And isn't even great-looking next to 5, which should never be the case. Parallax is fucked up, the perspective scaling on the ground got removed, and the color choices especially on the recycled stages look like they were picked by a blind person. Huge, huge, huge step down from 3. Now I know this was SNK in decline, so maybe they didn't have the staff to finish polishing the game properly, or maybe all the good sprite and background artists had already left for greener pastures, or maybe it was a MEG thing with the increased roster. But it's undeniable that 4 is a graphical leap downwards from 3. It's not even open for debate.

 

[PolluxTroy]

Holy crap, yes. 4 looks AWFUL next to 3. Or 2. And isn't even great-looking next to 5, which should never be the case. Parallax is fucked up, the perspective scaling on the ground got removed, and the color choices especially on the recycled stages look like they were picked by a blind person. Huge, huge, huge step down from 3. Now I know this was SNK in decline, so maybe they didn't have the staff to finish polishing the game properly, or maybe all the good sprite and background artists had already left for greener pastures, or maybe it was a MEG thing with the increased roster. But it's undeniable that 4 is a graphical leap downwards from 3. It's not even open for debate.

So 3 was the sexiest?

 

[Ray]

SS2 is my personal favorite, but I really enjoy the other numbered games as well, whether they are methodical or more about combos.

By the way, which character animations were cut in SS4? I guess I haven't played SS3 and SS4 often enough to notice this, I probably should.

 

[Ip Man]

ss4 was the first samurai shodown that i owned and spent the most time with in the 32bit era. i was always fascinated by the presentation of the game, so maybe it's nostalgia talking, but for me ss4 was always eye candy.

 

[Yagyu Jubei]

Holy crap, yes. 4 looks AWFUL next to 3. Or 2. And isn't even great-looking next to 5, which should never be the case. Parallax is fucked up, the perspective scaling on the ground got removed, and the color choices especially on the recycled stages look like they were picked by a blind person. Huge, huge, huge step down from 3. Now I know this was SNK in decline, so maybe they didn't have the staff to finish polishing the game properly, or maybe all the good sprite and background artists had already left for greener pastures, or maybe it was a MEG thing with the increased roster. But it's undeniable that 4 is a graphical leap downwards from 3. It's not even open for debate.

This. Right on the fuggin money.

 

[Electric Grave]

lol, plebs whining about 4...geez, so douche...does it smell good though? OK you're all set then...

 

[T. J.ｴs shanty]

Holy crap, yes. 4 looks AWFUL next to 3. Or 2. And isn't even great-looking next to 5, which should never be the case. Parallax is fucked up, the perspective scaling on the ground got removed, and the color choices especially on the recycled stages look like they were picked by a blind person. Huge, huge, huge step down from 3. Now I know this was SNK in decline, so maybe they didn't have the staff to finish polishing the game properly, or maybe all the good sprite and background artists had already left for greener pastures, or maybe it was a MEG thing with the increased roster. But it's undeniable that 4 is a graphical leap downwards from 3. It's not even open for debate.

I am not too thrilled about the background designs in 3... Sure, there are better ones than this, but overall they are definitely a huge step down from 2...

 

[oliverclaude]

I disagree. Ukyo's stage in III is masterful and this projection doesn't do justice to it's original, because it omits scrolling. The whole minimalist concept is built around all those objects in the fore- and background, which your boat is silently passing by. The BG's spartan look just emphasizes their impact and significance. Obviously, this art direction is about details, that don't really want to be discovered. A very nihilistic approach: taciturn and emotionally detached, like the traditional Michael Mann hero.

 

[donluca]

Patched SS3 is probably my 2nd favorite.

Patched SS3? Did I miss something?

 

[SouthtownKid]

I am not too thrilled about the background designs in 3... Sure, there are better ones than this, but overall they are definitely a huge step down from 2...
View attachment 34168

There are definitely some stages in 2 that I like better than 3. That is not what's being argued here. What's being argued is that both 2 and 3 are worlds ahead of 4.

 

[Yagyu Jubei]

Patched SS3? Did I miss something?

smkdan created a hitbox fix and damage menu for SS3. I believe XX helped out on the project too. Makes the game so much better.

Original thread is here: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?206985-for-anyone-willing-to-help-the-SS3-enhancement

 

[Electric Grave]

There are definitely some stages in 2 that I like better than 3. That is not what's being argued here. What's being argued is that both 2 and 3 are worlds ahead of 4.

How is it worlds ahead? I feel 3 and 4 play very differently but never thought of it as one being ahead of the other. Maybe 5 with the D button system which was a god send, if only they could have taken this layout from the get go. That's always been a thing with Samsho, the inconsistency with the controls, but back on topic...Why do you feel that 4 is so behind, is it the zany combos? The extra shenanigans? The hop, the combo starter battles? What makes 4 so disliked in your opinion?

 

[SouthtownKid]

How is it worlds ahead? I feel 3 and 4 play very differently but never thought of it as one being ahead of the other. Maybe 5 with the D button system which was a god send, if only they could have taken this layout from the get go. That's always been a thing with Samsho, the inconsistency with the controls, but back on topic...Why do you feel that 4 is so behind, is it the zany combos? The extra shenanigans? The hop, the combo starter battles? What makes 4 so disliked in your opinion?

Look back at when we started talking about this. We said graphical downgrade. We're talking about how they shorted on the graphics compared to 3. If you prefer the combo-fest gameplay of 4, that's a totally different subject. I enjoy 4 as its own thing and play it in my cab almost as much as 3. But graphically, it's much less polished.

 

[donluca]

smkdan created a hitbox fix and damage menu for SS3. I believe XX helped out on the project too. Makes the game so much better.

Original thread is here: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?206985-for-anyone-willing-to-help-the-SS3-enhancement

Thanks! I'll check it out.

 

[Electric Grave]

Look back at when we started talking about this. We said graphical downgrade. We're talking about how they shorted on the graphics compared to 3. If you prefer the combo-fest gameplay of 4, that's a totally different subject. I enjoy 4 as its own thing and play it in my cab almost as much as 3. But graphically, it's much less polished.

I enjoy both for their different styles. I just got curious when you made that reference. I agree on the stages.

 

[McColbo]

2 is what got me hooked on Neo Geo to begin with at the arcade, 4 is a close second for me though

 

[Lee Gray]

Its hard to believe the first two are over 20 years old and still great to play.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Shizumaru
Basara
Sogetsu

No interest in playing a Samurai Shodown that doesn't have these characters. In 1994, sure, okay. But not anymore.

 

[jericho_mpm]

2 & 5 Special

 

[Ramad]

Shizumaru
Basara
Sogetsu

No interest in playing a Samurai Shodown that doesn't have these characters. In 1994, sure, okay. But not anymore.

Yeah? Well that's how I feel about Seager, Nicotine, and an Ukyo that can slide halfway across the screen. So there. Nyah.

 

[Electric Grave]

Shizumaru
Basara
Sogetsu

No interest in playing a Samurai Shodown that doesn't have these characters. In 1994, sure, okay. But not anymore.

I felt like that about Jubei when samsho 3 came out, eventually I just grew out of it but that's just one character.