I'm a little surprised to find Samurai Shodown III to be considered the black sheep of the franchise. Not only did it hook me in more than the previous games, but it fixed a lot of problems I had with the other versions. Sure, some characters were dropped and the story is more absent compared to the first two, but I just had a better time overall.

While Samurai Shodown III didn't do much in terms of graphics, the change to the combat system is ultimately what made it more interesting compared to it's predecessors. No longer am I taking a long time to land a few hits in, but instead combat can be over with 4 lucky swings. While I certainly wouldn't call this the most balanced fighter out there; the fact the fight could change so drastically makes this fighting game have a different appeal to it. Combat was also made simpler and faster too. Characters moved at better speeds, cameras zoomed in and out depending on player position, and overall everything felt in action. Nothing in Shodown III feels slow, and that's only a good thing.

The change of tone is honestly not something I noticed much, but I did realize that certain characters from the previous games didn't return. While I won't defend them taking away characters, the ones they added at least have interesting character design and combat styles to them. The story is next to non-existent though, and frankly the final boss didn't leave me an impression aside from, I got lucky I killed him so fast because otherwise he'd do that to me.

Really the only thing I have to defend about Samurai Shodown III is that it wasn't frustrating or feel like it was missing anything. Sure, the game doesn't do much to dazzle the player, but it at least has it's fundamentals in order. Combat is fun and fast paced, and honestly that's all I really needed from a fighting game.