one of the most phenomenal and underrated games from SNKs golden age of fighters, i'd probably put this game as one of my favorites even above games like garou and maybe some of the kofs from around then, this game has its fair share of broken or janky things like a lot of snk fighters around then do but the gameplay is really fun with a power (no gatlings/chain but you do more damage and can do links) and speed (gatlings/chains for big combos but individual moves do less dmg) system choice before you pick a character, both are cool but the speed system with its chain system feels reminiscent to the anime fighters that would come after (guilty gear x etc, i know there was some before too but this game has a more polished feel to it than most of them) and its really fun. the setting is really cool too and graphically the game is probably snks best from this timeframe, the stages are amazing and the character sprites are really cool, it immerses you in pretty well. contrary to what alot of people think this isnt just some samurai shodown clone and it plays pretty much completely differently and stands on its own as a really cool somewhat overlooked game.

This is maybe not my favorite fighting game that I've ever played, but it's definitely the one I'd pull up first if I wanted to show someone how gorgeous sprite art could be and why I feel like we aren't done exploring that space. And by "exploring that space," I do not mean "remaking the same four super nintendo games over and over, but what sprite art can be made to say in context of itself, how it can portray surroundings in a realistic unreality. Technology forcing a limiter on interpretation of modern trends. Meadows of scanlines and oceans of dots.

Gameplay - ★★★
Roster - ★★★
Graphics - ★★★★
Sound - ★★★

So I ran through the arcade version of this game and to be fair, was quite surprised by it.

The game is a 2D fighter reminiscent of Street Fighter in almost every regard. It's SNK, so that's to be expected of the time to be honest, as Capcom and SNK were synonymous of each other at the time in the arcades.

As far as the game goes, gameplay is pretty decent, with only some things leaving me scratching my head as I progressed through the arcade. After Stage 3, the difficulty really ramps up a whole lot, which makes it difficult to actually learn anything when the AI is doing max damage combos for each character you face.

The mechanics of the game are underwhelming but interesting, having 2 modes, "Speed" and "Power" - This does as you could expect. Speed gives you access to combos and 1 frame links, whereas power focuses on more poke heavy gameplay and rewards smart use of your specials, outputting heavy damage but punishing you heavier for fucking up. There is also a parry button which I find interesting, but overall honestly, I didn't end up using it all that much. I'm sure better players would have used this to its full advantage, but I am not one of them.

So it plays like the average 2D fighter of the time and graphically the game slaps. The soundtrack is crisp but nothing too memorable. The roster is decent, but no-one really caught my eye on who to play as to be honest. Overall it's generally a decent 2D Fighter. I could have done a lot worse with picking this one to play next.