Lyte Edge
Quartermaster,
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2001
- Posts
- 642
I'm sorry to say that I'm pretty disappointed in this title so far. The game looks GREAT; it's easily the best-looking 3D title SNK has ever produced and has a look that could reach out to non-fans and get them interested. (The arcade operator stuck the game in two crappy old cabs, one without sound, but even then it was still drawing attention.) They even brought back some old backgrounds from SS1-3. The roster is nice and large, and has some pretty diverse character designs. My favorite is Kim Kaphwan's ancestor (?), Kim Helron (sp). I also liked the cowboy boss character's design, although his unlockblockable bullets were insanely cheap.
So why I am so disappointed? The game just didn't play all that well to me. I *did* go in blindly, having zero knowledge of how anything works, but the game play just felt so stiff to me, like a 3D fighter circa 1995-1996. There didn't seem like much else you could do beyond the dial-a-combos and special moves. No freedom in attacks. On top of that, AB slashes do insane damage; it's like going back to SS1 or SS2. Playing with a friend, we found that there seemed little reason to do much of anything else, although thankfully certain attacks and combos could hit another character out of his/her AB animation before the slash connects. It just seemed so boring, though. Both of us also got to the end boss (or at least, I think he's the end boss) using nothing but AB slashes over and over again against the CPU. Those cut scenes sure were pretty...that was about it.
think they should have gone the Maximum Impact route and created a 3D fighter that has a little more of a 2D feel. This just doesn't work that well, IMO. Within 30 minutes of play time, I was back on Basara X. I never got to play either Hyper Neo-Geo 64 Samurai Spirits game, so I can't compare it to that, but this game was just not anywhere near as good as the previous 2D Tenkaichi Kenkakuden. I hope I missed something; I really wanted this to be good.
So why I am so disappointed? The game just didn't play all that well to me. I *did* go in blindly, having zero knowledge of how anything works, but the game play just felt so stiff to me, like a 3D fighter circa 1995-1996. There didn't seem like much else you could do beyond the dial-a-combos and special moves. No freedom in attacks. On top of that, AB slashes do insane damage; it's like going back to SS1 or SS2. Playing with a friend, we found that there seemed little reason to do much of anything else, although thankfully certain attacks and combos could hit another character out of his/her AB animation before the slash connects. It just seemed so boring, though. Both of us also got to the end boss (or at least, I think he's the end boss) using nothing but AB slashes over and over again against the CPU. Those cut scenes sure were pretty...that was about it.
think they should have gone the Maximum Impact route and created a 3D fighter that has a little more of a 2D feel. This just doesn't work that well, IMO. Within 30 minutes of play time, I was back on Basara X. I never got to play either Hyper Neo-Geo 64 Samurai Spirits game, so I can't compare it to that, but this game was just not anywhere near as good as the previous 2D Tenkaichi Kenkakuden. I hope I missed something; I really wanted this to be good.
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