SNK has a rich history of creating arcade classics for the Neo Geo hardware. SNK was easily the biggest rival to Capcom in terms of fighting game output. The ’90s saw series like Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, and King of Fighters pop up and take the fight straight to games like Street Fighter, Rival Schools, and Darkstalkers. It was quite the time to be a fan of fisticuffs.
One of the more revered franchises from SNK during that period was Samurai Shodown. Taking a far more realistic approach to fighting with less of an emphasis on flash, Samurai Shodown was all about recreating the art of katana fighting. While cartoonish designs and varied move sets added diversity to the proceedings, this wasn’t a series meant to compete directly with anything Capcom was making.
Now, a new entry in the series is finally coming to fruition. With 2019 seemingly being the year of the samurai (Sekiro, Ghost of Tsushima, and Nioh 2 are bringing the Edo Period back), what better time than now to revive this fan-favorite franchise? I may not be a long time fan of Samurai Shodown, but my short time playing this new entry left me feeling very nostalgic for SNK’s glory days.
Source: Destructoid Samurai Shodown is another return to form for SNK