4 Attachment(s)
Let's recap: Shin Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown II) (ARC/NG).
Shin Samurai Spirits ~Haoumaru Jigokuhen~ (ARC/NG, SNK, 1994.10.28)
If we had to name a game responsible of the real Neo-Geo boom, both in arcade centers and the console market, it would be, no doubt, the second episode of the Samurai Spirits series. Sure, the first Samurai Spirits / Samurai Shodown and Garou Densetsu (Fatal Fury) Special achieved an important success the year before, but were still far from stealing a consistent portion of the Street Fighter II fanbase. Shin Samurai Spirits changed it all. Well, almost. Let's recap:
While Capcom persisted on re-editing Street Fighter II (with little but trascendent gameplay innovations, that's true), SNK decided to look for important game artists capable to create not only something new, but also something spectacular. The King of Fighters '94 (conceived by ex Irem developers) and Shin Samurai Spirits (which is said to be created by ex Capcom members) were SNK's answer to Capcom's own Super Street Fighter II.
And it worked. Haoumaru Jigokuhen ("Haoumaru's picture of Hell") got the first place in the Japanese most played arcade games ranking. It took the same game engine and part of the graphics from the first chapter, but the added things were so good the game was immediately considered a master piece.
First, we have the characters. The old ones were mostly redrawn and given new animation frames. The new ones were absolutely amazing. They all are considered nowadays essential patterns of sprite design. Backgrounds were fantastic, too. Some of them, like Cham Cham's or Sieger's are still to be equalled. The number of animated elements on them were incredible if we take anyone of modern fighting games.
Musically, the game's also awesome. Different styles depending on the character but always perfectly composed melodies. Classic. Sound effects, as swords' collision, are really mighty. Crisp and clear.
Gameplay was reflexes-based. It offered intense combats where you had to look for the best moment to make an attack. Some modern evasive features as the roll and the "repel" action were already present in SSS. "Supers" weren't the most powerful moves in the game, but they broke the opponent's weapon if succeeded. One player mode was hard. Very. But the final (unselectable) enemy was so great you keep on persisting.
This is one of those games where you can see the intention of doing something really special by the authors, not just a game to make profit of. Game's secrets can show very well what I mean. They, for instance, put there a combination to transform your character into a SD version of him/herself during a match. Useless, but hilarious. You even could select the referee (full with his own background) as a normal character in 2P mode. Some characters have "extra special" and ultra powerful moves, so difficult to perform that you usually ignored 'em (well, maybe with the exception of Haoumaru's). Title screen had some different presentations, you can find different Japanese motifs falling every time the attract mode displays it. These details make you wonder how could they use just 200 mega bits for the whole game.
Part of the Shin Samurai Spirits team abandoned SNK to found Arc System Works. We can find some similarities in Guilty Gear X and SSS backgrounds, if anyone's asking. So the following episodes weren't made by the same people. I personally can't find the art and care which were present in SSS in them, but some people like them better. Better or not, Haoumaru Jigokuhen wrote an indispensable chapter in the whole fighting genre, so it is never too late to give it a go. Do it.
