name: Chotetsu
country: Amakusa Castle
comments: I am quite torn as to whether I like SS 4 or 3 better, but I think 3 wins. This was the last of the Samurai Shodown games where every fighter has their own background, and most of them like Nakorurus' are simply gorgeous. Also I guarantee you that you have never played a 2D fighter with backgrounds as long as these are. You'll be amazed at how far you can move backwards or forwards on most of these backgrounds. When I first got the game I was wondering if the backgrounds were looped and would just go on, that would've been cool. During load times the CD gives you a little black and white animated image of your coming opponent. Very well done and a hell of a lot better than the juggling monkey. My main complaint about this game is that the computer is way too defensive. Even on the lowest difficulty the computer will block pretty much most of your attacks. Though if the game gets too frustrating after a while, there is a setting in the options menu that allows you ! to watch the endings for any character or start 5 matches into the game if you wish, a weird option to find in a fighter. The endings are a bit disappointing. Basically every character gets the same fallen image of Zankuro bleeding and then some text, but fighters are about the gameplay and this one has enough to keep you coming back to it. This is one of the games that always changes my mind whenever I am thinking about selling my Neo Geo CD.
score: Nine / Out of Ten