Samurai
Shodown V / Samurai Spirits Zero REVIEW: The groundbreaking Samurai Shodown series has always been what you'd call a "sleeper" hit... It's not usually found in the headlines, but people who can actually say they play it are most likely fans for life. The long awaited Samurai Shodown 5 doesn't look entirely different from it's predecessors, but it does boast the highest number of warriors in the series to date. Unlike the "serious" tone that the last two installments had, Samurai Shodown 5 seems to be set in the "fantasy" realm, as some of the characters aren't exactly what you'd call "samurai-ish." In my opinion, a fan of every installment since the first Samurai Shodown, some of the new characters pollute the roots of the series and just don't seem to fit in... but I can keep an open mind.
Samurai Shodown 5 looks and plays
very similar to SS3 and SS4... which isn't a bad thing, but does it earn the right to be called
Samurai
Shodown 5 for only a few gameplay tweaks and a few new characters? (This is starting
to feel like KOF, or dare I say it: the
old SF2 days). It really is more of the same, and in some cases feels
on the rushed side as
well. The presentation also doesn't match up to that of the earlier
incarnations, such as the epic Samurai Shodown 2.
Overall, SS5
is still Samurai Shodown at it's core, and it's still pretty fun. Unfortunately, the "Slash" and "Bust" options from
the prequels (two versions
/ move-sets for each character), were taken out.... Boooooo...
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The original Japanese version of the game features a substantial amount of
dialogue in single-player mode, but all of which is emitted when the game's
language is set to English. Disappointing indeed. The good news is that the Xbox
version restores these scenes and translates them into English (which I haven't
actually played).
There are also far too many "alternate versions" of characters. In a
nutshell, there are 2 Nakorurus, 2 Haohmarus, 2 Kazukis, 2 Sogetsus, (And
2 Ukyos and 2 Genjuros if you count the sub-boss sprite edits)... damn
lazy Capcom designers, you must've influenced the SNK designers! 
However, the worst thing is that "Deaths" were taken out of the
game entirely. The stylish ending of a bloody duel that the Samurai Shodown
series was known for, was taken out. Unforgivable... SNK seldom dissapoints
me, but they did this time.
