By: SNK Players: 1 - 2 Supports: Link Cable Backup: Yes

SNK have been at it again, using their magic shrinking ray, they have squeezed the huge arcade game into a tiny, tiny cartridge and added yet more features to make sure you get good value for money. In this midget version of the arcade classic you get 15 characters, each comes complete with slash AND burn modes effectively doubling the already excellent character line up, a 2 player link mode, a survival mode and a card collection game too!

As has been said, it has 15 different characters and each have the Slash and Burn modes, each mode comes with its own moves and combos so just mastering them all is going to take some time. Gameplay modes are pretty standard, the 1 player game sees you battling various opponents before taking on the boss in

his/her two guises, along the way, if you knock out your opponent with a "Hidden Method of Mayhem" (?!) you get a card. There are 465 of these cards (that is the highest numbered card anyone has found so far) so again that is one heck of a lot of playing to be done. You also get given several cards upon completion of the game, even so, if you are a complete-ist, you will be keeping Mr. Duracell happy for quite some time to come. Each of these cards is depicts a character from the game, once collected, the character may equip that card before a fight to get a new move or simply power up old ones. It?s a simple idea but adds massive replay value. The two-player mode is always excellent fun and skilled choice of cards can drastically effect the outcome

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of about.

SS2's graphics are cute but good. While not as large as the characters in Kof R2 all the characters sport excellent animation as always and particularly good are the companions some of the characters sport, my favourite is Nakoruru's wolf, it's superb, especially when she rides it! The backgrounds are nice if a little bland looking, they don't have as much colour as Kof R2's for instance, but they are detailed and nice all the same.

My only real gripe with this game is the music. It's dreadful. Maybe I don't appreciate the style, or maybe it is just bad, but I play with the sound OFF. And it's a shame as the sound effects are great and help the sword-fighting atmosphere no-end.

I was told that the Black and White version of Samurai Showdown stunk, so it was with slight reluctance that I picked

the second version up. The first one was said to suffer from bad controls and was uninspiring, I have never been a great fan of the series in the arcade so it took my friend a few goes to convince me to give it a try. It turns out that this version is pretty good, in fact it's excellent. The gameplay is superb, there is just so much to learn and collect. I will be very impressed if someone says to me that they have ALL the cards. There is a ton of moves to learn and LOADS to collect. The game is always fun, either alone or with a friend and keeps me entertained on many a dull tube ride. Yet again SNK have delivered the goods and provide another great reason to have a Neo Geo Pocket.

Own this game.

4/5