Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection

The Samurai Shodown games are among the best in the fighting genre: the seven games on offer here are perfect examples of this, and the exceptional Museum mode will keep you busy for hours. Its online may be a non-starter and it may have offered even more titles if it had lifted its self-imposed Neo Geo-only restrictions, but that doesn't take away from what's an otherwise strong collection of brilliant fighting games.

Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection includes the six Samurai Shodown Neo Geo titles and one unreleased title that was meant to be the final game in the series for that console.

All in all this is a solid collection of an excellent series of games.

Online woes aside, Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection is an excellent addition to any fighting game fan’s library. Each of the games featured in the compilation is worth experiencing. And many of them are just as enjoyable to play now as they were in the series’ heyday. With seven great games and a treasure trove of bonus content, what’s not to love? If you’re a fan of SNK or retro fighters in general, don’t hesitate to take a stab at Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection.

Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection is a good collection of the series, offering even an online mode with good netcode, the never before released Samurai Shodown V Perfect and a museum with good content. The downsides are the absence of a Training Mode, the museum could be better in certain aspects and the bad side of the online mode in every game: it is desert.

Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection has most of what it takes to be a definitive collection of SNK's legendary fight game series, but just misses the mark in the end. All of the games thankfully play and feel as they should, and there's a tremendous wealth of quality bonus features included. Unfortunately, its basic approach to online versus means it'll be harder to find matches among the smaller playerbase. Still, for both older franchise fans, and fighting game players looking to finally dig into the series, this is probably the best Samurai Shodown collection we've ever gotten.

Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection is a must-buy for anyone who is a fan of the franchise, the genre or who wants to know more about this important saga for fighting games. The scarcity of online matches can take some of the replay factor, but it is still very valid to go through each title in the collection, both in Arcade and in good old one on one with a friend.

Within the collection package, there are so many back stories and contents that if you’re a true fan of the series, they surely are all worth checking out. The most interactive feature would be the graphical enhancement of HD scaling which allows some of the older Samurai Shodown games to feel like you’re playing them at a higher resolution. This game may not be the best Samurai Showdown or at least the fighting game experience you’ll get if this was your first ever interaction of the genre. There are no elements that would teach you the game to get good at when played against other fighting game players. So it’s best to be purchased if you’re a fan of this classic title. Sadly, the game only provides localizations of the menus, thus you would require a little knowledge in the foreign language game to perfectly understand the story elements of the 7 Samurai Shodown games in this package.

The Samurai Shodown NEOGEO Collection is a really great package for fans of the series, and a good historic piece in regards to the many behind the scenes assets that it includes.

I hadn't played Samurai Shodown in any form since a torrid weekend with the Super Nintendo port of the original sometime in the mid-90s, but I was always intrigued by the series from afar. To that end, I'm glad that the Samurai Shodown SNK Collection was a 10 in terms of my quest for knowledge and also has some good fighting action behind it—and by default it's less expensive than buying the games piecemeal in the Archives.