[AC] [360] Samurai Spirits Sen

[icycalm]

This seems to be about the only SSS-related thing to come out of TGS:



http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/doc ... 22/snk.htm

In last year's TGS there was this:



They seem to be going backwards. You are supposed to release the logo first and THEN the flyer, not the other way round. I guess they must be new.

[icycalm]

I guess they had good reason to keep this covered up for so long. They should have gone the whole way and just scrapped it. Worst-looking 3D game in years.



http://blog.am-net.jp/article/5527399.html#comment

[filterpunk]

I've never really understood SNK's 3D efforts, as they always look lackluster compared to other 3D games and tend to still play on a 2D field, which once again leaves hardcore SNK fans as the only market for them. When they do release something 2D, which is their bread and butter, it's typically a re-hash or re-release of something they put out 7-10 years ago.

If they're going to release more Samurai Spirits stuff, how about Rokuban Shoubu, which is supposed to finally see release this December? Better yet, a new hi-ris SS game... and for fuck's sake, don't let Falcoon anywhere near it.

[Molloy]

I think they keep doing that because it's cheaper to do a 3D game than hire a ton of artists to do high-definition 2D artwork.

[filterpunk]

I understand why they do it from a business standpoint, but I'd much rather see a couple high-def 2D titles a year than a dozen titles sporting re-used 2D sprites or chunky 3D models.

You're right though, as it seems like quite a few developers are making similar decisions. I recently watched an interview with IGA from around the time that Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin came out. His main reasons for keeping 2D Castlevania games on handhelds? A perceived lack of interest, difficulty convincing Konami execs, and the difficulty involved in producing high enough quality 2D work. Fucking sad state of affairs, if you ask me.

[icycalm]

Crappy your tub location test videos ahoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFDmv3jTAN4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vnuzBpglc (lolling at this one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH-smcCXMOY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJfbaknCw50 (longer and much better quality)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJmmI4RtRiU (wtf is that red band doing across the screen?)

Man, the only way to get decent location test footage out of Japan is to go there and get it yourself. Those "fans" don't deserve to be called such. Go back to America and stick to Madden ya morons!

But yeah, at least this is better than nothing.

Moving on, impressions from the Professor on the Madman's Cafe BBS:

I checked out SamuraiSen's beta test for a short time, the game looked pretty good. There was a pretty large amount of spectators crowding around the machines, but not too many on line to actually play it. There were constantly around 10 people on line for the single player machines and about 6 on the two player machine. It's 70 percent complete in development and it runs on a Taito Type X2 arcade console.

Graphics wise, the game is pretty nice. It runs on a high-res LCD screen, very crisp. The game has way better quality than Tekken 5's graphics.

It's hard to say whether SamuraiSen has better graphics than Tekken 6 though. Well, it definitely has better backgrounds than tekken 6. Most of the objects in SamuraiSen's background are rendered in 3D, whereas Tekken 6 uses a lot of flat bitmaps for objects far away. On the other hand, Tekken 6 seems like it may have a bit more polygon count on the characters. SamuraiSen probably has less, considering how much they've used on the backgrounds. Most things- like Nakoruru's baggy pants, look very smooth and natural. But some other parts- like Kyoshiro's hair, looks like they need some extra polygons to moove smoother.

Samurai Sen's characters look very realistic overall, which fits prefectly with its new gameplay. Especially the faces of the male characters. They look very ferocious. As for the female characters.... it's probably best not to take a direct look at their faces. They're not realistic. In fact, they look as fake as antique dolls.

As the youtube videos probably showed, SamusaiSen plays nothing like the previous 2D installments. It plays very much as a standard 3D game with a lot of influence from Soul Calibur and Tekken. You're constantly engaged in close-up combat, and you can do a lot of damage by floating the opponent in the air and comboing. In other words, if you've played those two Namco games, you'll probably get accustomed to SamuraiSen very quickly.

On the other hand, it's nothing like KOF:MIA, which may be fun, but terrible in terms of physics (you're totally defying gravity if you fly all the way to the edge of the screen, and then bounce back as though you've hit rubber).

And as Iggy shortly mentioned, there's no flashy superhuman moves in SamuraiSen, like being able to shoot projectiles out of your sword.

I don't think there's any ring outs. As far as I've seen, all the stages are squared with obstacles, functioning as walls.

Funny thing, the game seems to be overly inspired by Namco's 3D fighters and there's some really striking resemblences in terms of the game's presentation. In between round 1 and round 2, there's a short intermission where the winner is in a fighting pose while the opponent wakes up... just like Tekken. When you KO an opponent and they're still standing, you can slash them around some extra times until the replay starts, just like in Soul Calibur. Or if you KO an opponent and make them fall, they'll cramp/spasm after they hit the ground (like in Tekken).

There's no super meter, but you can go into Ikari mode by pressing all four buttons simultaneously after you've been hit enough times and the Ikarai icon is flashing. The Ikari burst can usually be done about once per round (unlike the previous SS games, the icon doesn't disappear from the system once you've burst it).

The characters still have some of their special moves, though they've been toned down to look more realistic. Hanzo had his mozu otoshi throw and a teleport move where he puffs and appears in the back of the opponent. Charlotte had her Power Gradation, though she didn't jump as high as the 2D games. Genjuro had either his Sankusatu or Gokouzan, which surprizingly looked the same as the 2D games- he lifted the opponent into air and slashed them with Hanafuda effects.



A few notes on the characters.

Angelica- Looks kind of like Elena from SF3. Fights with a spear.

Jinbei- The old guy's correct name (not Yaibei). Seems to be a vassel working for Suzuhime. Fights with a three-headed spear like Gaoh from SSTenka.

Nakoruru- Looks more like a teen than a kid. 2P color is purple costume, long hair. Her hawk only appears as a part of her victory sequence.

Charlotte- Each of her shoulderpads are as big as her upper body. She wears overknee stockings and has slits on the side of her long skirt, so you can see some, as the Japanese term goes, Zettai Ryouiki.

Kim- Definitely Kaphwan's ancestor. He hates evil. He has a double-sided spear (heads on both ends), and he seems to fight rather similarly to Kirik from Soul Calibur.

Also, there were four slots on the character select screen that were locked during the beta test.


In terms of stages, I've seen Haohmaru's SS1 stage and Genjuro's SS2 stage. Each stage seems to be shared by 2 characters. Other stages included a Japanese shrine (Kyoshiro, Kim), a garden inside a Japanese castle (Jinbei, Chiyo), a middle-eastern looking town with a camel and a temple in the background (Angelica), an old-time western town (BlackHwak, Galford), and a ship docked on a town with other ships and a light tower in the distance (all rendered in 3D).


Overall, SamuraiSen looked pretty solid, and it had somewhat of an SS1 ~ SS2 atmosphere to it, albeit without flashy looking moves. One thing I noticed however, is that the game doesn't offer anything really unique. I kind of wonder about its lifespan after it hits the arcades.

http://www.mmcafe.com/cgi-bin/forums/bb ... 2657.shtml

Let me answer this for you, Professor: It will tank, because it will suck. I swear to God this looks only mildly more interesting than Oneechanbara Revolution. Oh well! Perhaps next time.

[Macaw]

Oh man, this game looks like total shit.

[icycalm]

Official site is now open, and a new location test is going to take place from the 20th to the 24th at Game World in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, Silk Hat in Kawasaki, Sonic Beam in Chiba, and Namba Hills in Osaka.



http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/official/samurai_sen/

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/doc ... 213/ss.htm

[icycalm]

Coming out April 17, according to am-net.

They also have it listed in the upcoming ports section. They don't mention a system, though I'd expect both PS3/360 ports.

[El Chaos]

Announced for a 2009 stateside release on Xbox 360 by Ignition Entertainment.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/chara ... down/51961