Samurai Shodown Anthology - PlayStation 2

I've only been playing SS6 so far & between the fighting engine which took some getting used to, being I'm more familiar with Street Fighter & KOF, and the awesome character diversity (over 40 including alternate versions of some) it has me about as hooked as any fighting game I've ever played (mostly a 2-D fan myself).Well worth it just for SS6 IMO and that's really all I can comment on for now.Edit: 8/5/2013 - Well now I'm playing SS5. It takes some getting used to but I'm really enjoying this one as well. Someone mentioned about the high defense of the computer which initially scared me. A novice should probably start on level 1 difficulty. I'm doing okay on level 8 now that I have the hang of it but I didn't start there. I think the default was level 4. I find the middle difficulties are almost the actual hardest. On level 1 they hardly fight back or defend. On level 8 they are highly agressive & you can capitolize on mistakes/patterns you notice. It's those middle difficulties where they seem to defend & wait for you to make a mistake. That seems much harder than level 8 to me personally.

For those of us who were less fortunate to have NOT owned an actual NEO-GEO console, this is a close second. All the would be ports from the 90's and early 2000's were good but this takes the cake. From the earlier releases on the 16bit consoles to the PSOne release of Samurai Showdown III, all had their short comings or problems and never really gave you the feel of playing the original games in the arcade (or home console).This release give you all games, SS1-5 with SS6 as sort of a bonus type game since its not feature on the main game menu. Either way, the games themselves are ported over very well. Sound is on par with what I remember. No distortion to sound effects or music. Visual, though severely dated by today's standards are still awesome in all its sprites and glory. No lack of animation or gore either.If you are an old school coin-op purist and want to have the luxury of owning the legendary sword slasher that dominated the 90s, this is the collection to pick up. I don't know that these games will be available for current gen consoles or even virtual arcades so I recommend picking it up before you have to scour ebay and pay some stupid amount of money for this game.

Having played Samurai Shodown 1 and 2 on SNES, I felt that it was a must to purchase this collection to experience all that the series has to offer. With 5 games packed onto one disk at the extremely low price of $15, it was definitely worth a shot. And I was right.If you're looking for the nostalgia of playing a great 2D fighter with an array of characters and lots of replay value than this is it. Unfortunately, the only way to get good at this game is play against your friends, and this can only be done with someone sitting next to you. I would have definitely given this game 5 stars if there were online battles. Without them, you're forced to play against the extremely difficult (and cheap!) AI to improve your skills.I played a lot of SFIII: Third Strike, Capcom vs. SNK 2, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in college and thought I was a decent player, even against computer opponents. With this game, it's nearly impossible to get through a single battle with out getting completely trashed by the weakest characters. With my first run through Samurai Shodown II, I had to play it on the easiest setting and I still spent an hour trying to defeat Hanzo, the second to last character, and another hour fighting the final boss. The frustration of not being able to land super moves right after your computer opponent has dropped his guard from executing a special move will make you want to throw your controller at the wall. The AI also has a tendency to throw out light punches or kicks right before you start combo-ing from light to heavy attacks. It'll make your head spin how hard some of these battles are.But all in all, the game is a lot of fun when played with friends. It also has an added practice mode for you to hone your skills and a character edit mode which essentially lets you change the colors of each character. Nice touches, but nothing to go crazy over.

I've played all of the samurai shodown games and this one was pretty good. I just think snk could have down a little more in the sense of the graphics and game play. Overall its decent for a ps2 game.

One word? Superb. Everything about the game, including a new arranged soundtrack for each game makes the experience worth wild. SNK "Samurai Shodown" compare to Capcom "Street Figther" game series and Midway "Mortal Kombat" series, provides player's to feel what it like to fight with sword and dangerous weapon's. The game style more on defense's technical fighting engine. They don't empathize on combination attacks, but more toward powerful strong heavy attacks. Nothing else to say, great product with even the SS japanese arcade version's. SNK never disappoint.

Samurai Shodown I-VI all at your fingertips, all arcade-perfect, although SamSho 6 has slight load times. Unlike the Japanese release everything is unlocked from the start, so you're ready to go with all your favorites from day one. To purists, this does NOT include Samurai Shodown 5 Special, which may be a huge loss to some, but this is a solid collection for any fighting game fanatic.

ordered once seal was loose returned, ordered another seal was also baggy and case was flimsy and different then oem i know this because i have a real factory sealed copy of this