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For those who don’t know, this is a 2D fighting game with various weapon-wielding characters, most of whom use blades, but not all. The series has been around for a while, but I hadn’t heard or seen anything new about it for a long time. I thought it had vanished into video game history, actually.

For purists, there is the option of changing the language mode to the original Japanese: be warned, this includes the menus, so make sure you know what to do to change it back if need be.

This is also playable over Xbox Live, if you’re into that, something which is certainly a new addition for the series.

It’s an odd feeling to be playing it on a console at home. This is a newer version than what I played as well, but it still looks almost exactly the same as it once did, on those old arcade screens, despite the fact that it’s displaying on the monitor attached to my Xbox in progressive scan mode. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on individual taste, I suppose, but I have to admit that the years and modern display options are not kind, though the underlying artistic style is still pretty cool, much like anime characters in appearance. At this point, nostalgia begins to vie with a desire to see some visual improvement take place, however. Saying that is probably going to seem like blasphemy to some people, and I understand where they are coming from; I just don’t feel the same way. It looked perfectly at home in that arcade cabinet way back when, but it does not look as much like it belongs when viewed on my Xbox at home, in 2006. I am not a graphics fanatic, and fully acknowledge that gameplay is more important. I tend to be pretty forgiving about that kind of thing in general, and that’s the viewpoint I’m coming from. Take it as you will.

I’d recommend reading the manual when you are starting out with this one, but take what it tells you with a grain of salt, as it contains a fair amount of errors. For example, sometimes alternate ways of doing a particular technique would be listed, but when I tried them, only one would work. Another was simply omitted, but appears in the ingame help system, so refer to that when in doubt.

The controls seem to work as well as can be expected, given that the game was previously designed around an arcade joystick and button layout. It does not feel quite as suited to the gamepad, but it could be that one simply needs time to adjust, in part anyway. The controls are customizable, and one tweak I would recommend is swapping the functions of the B and A buttons, as there are some techniques (usable by any character) which require the somewhat clumsy combination of Y+A by default. If that works for you, great, but it worked better for me after I did that button swap.

The characters mainly wield a variety of melee weapons, with a marked preference for swords, but a couple that I noticed don’t follow this theme. The monster, Kusaregedo, doesn’t seem to need a weapon other than its own body, which makes sense, given its size and appearance. At keast it’s still hand-to-hand combat. The one I have a problem with is Mina, one of the new characters apparently. She uses a bow. It just doesn’t fit. I appreciate that they are trying to mix things up a bit, but going against the overall theme of the combat in this game doesn’t seem to be the right way to go, as far as I’m concerned. It’s not just that, either. On top of the other problems, she’s both cheap and incredibly annoying, from what I’ve experienced. Being under a constant barrage of ranged special attacks the entire time you fight her is made even more exasperating by the maddening squeaks and high-pitched exclamations coming from both her and her repulsively cute little troll-like companion. As additions to the game go, this is a poor one indeed.

The movesets of the characters are not as large as in some newer games you may be used to, but it works well for this game, and encourages you to use normal attacks more often, using the specials when appropriate. No need for a “Mega Power Blast” when a well-timed Strong Slash can defeat your opponent just as surely. The more powerful the attack, the longer the recovery time, so be careful. In addition to the usual slashes, you can throw in the occasional kick when desired, which can be unexpected enough to get by your opponent’s guard. It’s also possible to be disarmed, or disarm yourself voluntarily for a real challenge. In this case, you’ll be restricted to your fists and feet, and do much less damage, naturally. The best thing to do is recover your weapon as quickly as you can.

One clever mechanic this game has is the Sword Gauge. It seems to penalize those who quickly spam attacks without pausing, because the Sword Gauge will go down with repeated slashes, and will recover when you pause in your assault.

Another gauge measures Rage, and when it’s full you can trigger a Rage Explosion. Your character turns reddish, and your Sword Gauge increases, allowing you to do more damage. You also have the option of expending your rage in a super attack, which does a fair amount of damage and disarms the opponent, but cancels the Rage Explosion mode. Getting hit is the main way of building this gauge up.

A new addition seems to be the Concentration Gauge, which can allow you to enter a mode called “Concentration One” if you meet its conditions (has to be the final round, can’t have the rage mode active, concentration bar must exceed life bar). You’ll fight faster than your opponent with this active, and can use a special “Fatal Flash” attack similar to the one in rage mode (but more automatic from what I can tell, as far as hitting one’s opponent with it). Your rage will go away if you use this, as the modes are mutually exclusive. I didn’t like this one so much. It didn’t seem entirely balanced with the rage version to me, and it didn’t seem like a needed addition with the existence of the Rage Gauge. I also kept forgetting to use it, since I was used to the Rage thing instead of it, but that’s more my problem than the game’s.

The modes of play available are about what you’d expect in a game of this kind, with the usual Versus, Practice, and Arcade modes taking center stage. Arcade is the story mode, with your chosen character progressing through the game against increasingly challenging opponents. There is some interaction with other characters prior to battles, but I have the feeling the conversations lose something in the translation. It’s pretty normal fighting-game story stuff, with some silliness thrown in…basically, an excuse to get to the fighting. The writing in the English version definitely feels a bit clumsy. The splash screens and maps seen in between battles are fairly nice, though.

Overall, once my sense of nostalgia for this game wore off, I found myself lacking the desire to come back and play this game all that much. Maybe I’m just spoiled by the more modern titles, but I have trouble going back in some ways, though I appreciate the simple elegance that some of the classic game mechanics have here. I like the style of the characters for the most part, though I think it’s a shame they’re not better balanced, and I appreciate being called upon to do more with a smaller moveset, rather than having huge movesets relying more on the memorization of canned combos and the like, rather than having the skill to know what to use when, and to fully utilize normal attacks instead of just spamming specials. I’d like to see the classic Shodown characters in a more modern game that utilizes current technology better, though I realize that’s unlikely at this point. If you’re a die-hard fan of old-school 2D fighters, this is an excellent one to pick up. For others, it may not be a good idea, unless you make sure you realize that this is not going to look or play much like a newer game, and you’re okay with that.