Battle of the Ports - Samurai Shodown / Spirits (サムライ・スピリツ) (Show #66) 60fps

Please think about supporting the show by becoming my patron. Thanks so much!
/ bofp
Email at [e-mail]
Facebook - Retro Core BotP
Twitter - @RetroCoreYakumo
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PC USERS USE CHROME BROWSER TO SEE THIS VIDEO IN 720p 60FPS
NOTE: There's an error on the opening text screen. This is the 60fps version of the show. Not 30fps as the text says.
Known as Samurai Shodown in the west or Samurai Spirits in Japan, this SNK Neo Geo fighter became on of the systems most loved series.
Time Code:
00:23 - Arcade / Neo Geo
03:15 - 3DO
06:47 - Mega Drive
09:13 - Mega CD
12:29 - Game Gear
15:21 - Game Boy
18:55 - Neo Geo Pocket
21:46 - Neo Geo CD
24:38 - Super Famicom
Enjoy!

[@SuperHighTechGamer]

My mind exploded when this game came out in the arcade. By this time I was tired of ports.( I had a Genesis and CD at the time) Somehow I had to find a Neo Geo second hand and play this game at home. Great video.

[@someinterwebguy6452]

Samurai Shodown was the first fighting game that I can remember attracting as many people as Street Fighter 2 did in the arcades I went to. A special game that seems to have gotten quite a few decent ports. The Gameboy and Game Gear versions are particularly impressive, given the limitations of the hardware. Great Episode.

[@nimaiiikun]

Me too. I don't recall any fighting game attracting a similar audience as SF 2, but Samurai Showdown was able to do that for a little bit, and to some extent Mortal Kombat 1. I remember first seeing it and thinking it was so awesome because it had weapons. I don't think any other SNK fighting game captured people's attentions the same way until KOF series was released.

[@madsceptictrooper6803]

Keiko Iju, the president of Noise Factory, has said the reason why Samurai Shodown became one of the most popular SNK series was due its historical setting. And to be honest, I absolutely agree with her. I have to get my hands on the SNES port. I do admit the sprites are disappointingly small and the sound could have used much less reverb but its still a very good port. I actually happen to prefer the SNES arrangements of Charlotte, Tam Tam and Earthquake's themes over the original Neo Geo ones. I don't necessarily care that the violence got toned down because at least there's orange blood which is better than "the no blood" Mortal Kombat. The SNES port is actually by Monolith, not to be confused with Monolith Soft, who also ported Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury Special to SNES. The Mega Drive is actually by Saurus, who were pretty much part of SNK and ported Art of Fighting 2 and World Heroes 2 to SFC. Takara published the port in North America while Sega published it in Japan and PAL regions. The crew at Saurus must have thought porting Samurai Shodown would be risky as Mega Drive was not only overshadowed by PC Engine and SFC but also by Neo Geo, which might be why the game is on 24 Megabit cartridge and wasn't released by Saurus themselves. The big sprites do look really nice and I like the stylistic approach for music in the Mega Drive port. The only time I have heard this type of music on Mega Drive was Karai's theme in TMNT: Tournament Fighters. But a lot of the music tracks do sound pathetic. The Mega CD is port is overrated. In fact, the people at Funcom hated working on it due to JVC being too strict, demanding and stingy during the development which must be why the crashing issue in many of the copies wasn't fixed before the release. The Mega CD port was based on the Mega Drive port just out of convenience. Where is Kuroko and why is Hikyaku invisible in the Mega CD port? Hikyaku is technically in the Mega CD port because the items he drops do appear suddenly during the fights. The Game Boy is truly impressive for the hardware and the developers knew exactly how they should handle it. I'm glad the development team at Takara went on to port some other Neo Geo games and even Takara's own Battle Arena Toshinden to Game Boy. Also, Kuroko and Hikyaku are unlockable characters in the Game Boy port. The Game Gear port is pretty decent. Some people claim the Neo Geo Pocket version should be judged harshly because it's actually not a port. Just because it's not a port of the Neo Geo version doesn't excuse it being an awful game. Like Super Fantasy Zone isn't a port of the arcade game but it's still a great game. The 3DO port is pretty close to being arcade perfect. Though the port isn't running at 60 fps but I guess the port had to run at 30 fps in order to keep scaling and gameplay smooth and responsive. The most surprising thing about the 3DO port is the fact it's by the developers of Gex.

[@MrCaptainobvious77]

This was a really good comparison. Here is my take on some versions I have played the heck out. I’ll be as fair and honest as I can be. For starters, ALL versions had more than their share of flaws. Samurai Shodown set the bar for a fighting game by using weapons. It was a great success, and really set itself apart from your average fighting game. Then came the home translations. Well, here goes my thoughts on those; SNES; The Good - The backgrounds look very close to the Neo Geo. Pretty much most of the animations, and sprites are present. All the characters, moves, attacks, and cinemas have made it. Music is excellent! Speed is not too bad. Presentation is very close. The Bad - The tiny characters have little to no definition! Many years ago I remember seeing old preview pics, and seeing bright red blood. Why did this get censored? There have been some very rare glitches with the arterial spray finisher. The character would freeze in the stunned pose, and then fall down. Very rare occurrence, and I’m not sure if any of you experienced that as well. Voices are a bit off. Control scheme is not the greatest. Overall - If only it were uncensored, and had a little bit of zooming, it would be a great version. It’s not a bad version, despite it’s flaws. Genesis; The Good - The sprites are large, and beautifully detailed! No censorship found here! Music is pretty good. Six button controller is best used here. The Bad - voices and effects are scratchy as heck! I’ve noticed some animations, and sprites are missing in the background. Look at Hanzo’s stage for example. No moving clouds? There was some slowdown here, and it got painful! Many of the attacks were altered for some reason. No Earthquake, and his background. Many of the cinemas were cut. Overall - Pretty good conversion despite it’s flaws. Still impressed with the sprites. They did the best they could with a smaller cartridge. Good fighter to add to the library. 3D0; The Good - The best translation by far. This is the only one with the zooming kept intact. Graphics, and music transferred beautifully from the Neo Geo, to 3D0. Loading times were not too bad for a CD-ROM. The Bad - Frame rate is a little lower here. The voices are muffled, and have a little bit of static. Controls needed some getting used to. Some of the cut scenes are missing. Some of these flaws were unacceptable given the fact that this was a 32-bit CD system. Overall - Look, this was as close as you could get to the Neo Geo original. Definitely one of the better fighters for that system Sega CD; The Good - The second best translation behind the 3D0. The attacks are all here. Music is straight from the Neo Geo. All the cinemas are here. The Bad - Voices and effects are still scratchy. Some background animations, and sprites are missing. Maybe 5 onscreen colours? Still no Earthquake and his background? Why did the referee get cut out? Overall - The better 16-bit version here. Just hoped for more details given the fact that it was on CD.

[@RetroCore]

Nice views on your opinions there.

[@anchietacruz]

Very nicer video, a lot of dynamics and getting to the point!

[@worsel555]

The universe works in funny ways. I just got done playing some Samurai Shodown on my MVS when I decided to check my KZbin subs.

[@RetroCore]

Ken williams Hehehe, I've had the happen from time to time.

[@Sinn0100]

Here we go! Now this game is my jam.

[@WeskerSega]

Because of the missing versions like FM Towns or PlayStation, I suppose this is a good candidate to receive a Remastered update some day.

[@RetroCore]

It sure will be.

[@GustavoValdiviesso]

Also, it seems you missed the fact that the NGP version has characters from the later entries in the series.

[@jbmaru]

That was a missed opportunity to use the Mega CD's hardware zooms too.

[@104d_3rr0r_vince]

GG version is the one when coders are in nirvana mode! Awesome for its specs. Snes :-/

[@CVRJM]

The GG version of Garou Densetsu Special is pretty amazing too if you get to check that out on one of the previous BOTP :)

[@fifaworldcup1994]

I really like the NGCD soundtrack. It is so, so..... It is a feeling that cannot be explained with words!

[@RetroCore]

Vermilion+ Yes, it does. I was actually using a 6 button pad. The problem with the Mega Drive and Mega CD versions is that they changed the actual D-Pad movement needed for some special moves.

[@RetroCore]

lightsouthaha it's true. At the time Samurai Showdown on the 3DO was pretty impressive.

[@Ramjet164]

Retro Core I got it when it came out on the 3do and still have it today. Cracking port, let me play the arcade game our local kebab shop had at home!

[@StarForceBelmont321]

@@RetroCore the Wii Version on the Samurai Shodown Anthology while an Arcade perfect port. has a big difference. Nintendo requested that SNK remove all flashing effects to help prevent Seizures. The wii collection is the way to go for people who have epilepsy

[@nimaiiikun]

The Gamegear version is surprisingly good considering it's an 8 bit device with a bunch of limitations. Great conversion.

[@anchietacruz]

You're getting better with your editing skills.

[@RetroCore]

Anchieta Cruz Thanks. 1 on 1 fighters are tougher to edit as I want to show a few areas yet not for too long as it drags on.

[@worsel555]

Interesting, the Neo Geo Pocket version appears to be a port of Samurai Shodown IV.

[@RetroCore]

Ken williams That it is, kind of. I still added it though since it was the first Neo Pocket Samurai game :)

[@GaijinD]

Retro Core It and its sequel are actually based on the Neo Geo 64 games. Note the presence of Shiki (the woman with the bi-chromatic eyes), who didn't appear in any of the 2D SamSho games. I actually liked Samurai Shodown! 2 on NGPC a lot, though I didn't play the first one, so it could be a big improvement.

[@RetroCore]

I have played the 2nd release and did like it much more.

[@joes4a6]

I always thought it was a terrible decision that the SFC/SNES port decided to go with orange blood instead of using the censorship of white blood or "sweat" that the Neo Geo already implemented. Which was confusing considering that this game was released after Mortal Kombat 2 came out on Nintendo consoles uncensored in most countries. It would have made sense for Samurai Spirits to have an "uncensored" code for the Nintendo release like many Neo Geo AES games.

[@WalrusFPGA]

good comparison and very accurate deep dive into the versions i'm familiar with. havent played gg, ngpc, gameboy or 3do versions, but for the others i've tried you are spot on! snes version > genesis/megaCD versions, from a gameplay perspective. music does sound great in the mega cd version though, so i keep that version loaded on the FPGA also, along with the original neo geo version of course! =)

[@PotbellyPunch]

I played the game boy version a lot. Its really good! I think it provided the template for a lot of those neo Geo pocket fighting games later. It was actually the only version I played at the time besides arcade.

[@fallofsaigon]

AWESOME!

[@ToruKun1]

I had this for the Mega Drive, I thought it was a solid port, given the limitations...then again I was 12 when I last played it. :p

[@DJZeeJay]

The SNES version is pretty cool for a 16 bit port. The music is really catchy, the sound effects and voices were there and the backgrounds were much much more detailed than the genesis version. Takara did a really excellent job there.

[@RetroCore]

I really do have a soft spot for the SNES / SFC version.

[@rosebudchocolates5876]

completely agree with that statement. compare galfords stage with both versions. the SNES looks much more like the neo geo than the genesis

[@wilderev8342]

forever arcade good video

[@RetroCore]

Thanks.

[@joystickjedi]

A samurai fears not death, struggles to triumph over evil, and lives for one purpose... TO DESTROY ALL ENEMIES, I cannot hear that intro without thinking those words. And while I eventually did kind of get into the Genesis version this was the game that drove me to get a NeoGeo back in the 90s. None of the ports really did it justice at the time.

[@RetroCore]

joystickjedi The 3DO did. That was really well done apart from the audio being low in quality.

[@joystickjedi]

Retro Core I played it at release, but didn't move well (to me, anyways). Your emulator (I'd assume) actually looks better than I remember the real version looking! It HAS been several years tho. I'll admit, it was the best port there was at the moment. Anyways, I already owned the Neo Geo at that point, but even if I didn't it wouldn't have sold me a 3DO. Although if you wanted to spend more money than buying a Neo-Geo, the 3DO was the way to do it at the time! That sucker was EXPENSIVE.

[@RetroCore]

Yep, the 3DO was way too much money when it first came out. Made the Neo seem reasonable :)

[@Pazuzu-]

Because Neogeo is godlike.

[@CaseTheCorvetteMan]

@@RetroCore No... The 3DO did not. It was fair at best, and a far cry from the real versions.

[@Silanda]

The Mega Drive port's an odd one. It's probably one of the most technically impressive ports on the system in terms of graphics, and seems to have had a lot of effort put into getting the look of the game as close as possible for the system. Yet despite it looking great, the gameplay wasn't faithful to the original and some moves were completely changed (Haohmaru's medium and strong attacks are completely different to the arcade version's, for example, and IIRC all of the characters strong attacks were changed). I assume that this was done in order to cut down on animation frames, but I can't think of another high profile port where this was done so drastically and to the extent that it changed how characters played.

[@ShadowSumac]

Nice game. I've played it some time ago, along with other parts of the series and must say, in terms of atmosphere, SamSho is next to none. As for the ports, most of them are rather impressive. Save for the NGP port, surprisingly.

[@drakon32]

The SEGA versions don't have Earthquake due to the lack of zooming. It would have been a very close quarters combat. The CD versions are typically the megadrive version with the CD audio and video added on, lazy ports. The CD version could have definitely handle the zooming. On the other side, Nintendo went with the zoomed out perspective, so they could include Earthquake.

[@Kenshiro3rd]

Exactly. I honestly thought this much was common knowledge.

[@greensun1334]

A fat Texas man farting in the face of his enemy was never seen before in a video game as well! The SNES port is great and quite complete, even more considered the hardware differences. Takara did good homeports, like Fatal Fury Special for SNES and FF2 for Genesis!

[@MrBaltch]

Really surprised that the Sega CD version didn't scale at all.

[@RetroCore]

Lazy programming I guess.

[@rorydropkick]

It's funny, the first time I saw this game was in Ft. Collins CO, and I thought it was an older NG release that I had missed out on. Needless to say I got back to town and all of a sudden it was all over the place *lol* Great series overall and it brings back plenty of great memories,

[@RetroCore]

RoryDropkick I think my fav' in the series is the 3rd game.

[@rorydropkick]

3 was well done, 2 is one that I really enjoy and own the MVS cart as well.

[@VermillionR3D]

Does the Genesis/Mega Drive version support 6 button pads? That might be why you were having a tough time.

[@Ai-fj1dc]

You haven't talked about Amakusa in the character selecl screen in the Mega CD version

[@aljawisa]

As my brother used to call it: Samuri Show-offs.

[@icekokoro2708]

Something I’ve been wondering for a long time. In the victory screen the defeated opponent is either still alive hanging their head in shame, or dead and being carried away in a straw “body bag”. Do you have to KO them in a specific way or does it happen randomly?

[@RetroCore]

Hmm, good question. Can't say I know but I'd like to think a special finishing move would result in the bodybag screen.

[@cireza_]

Mega-CD and MegaDrive ports don't have Earthquake because they use pretty big sprites. MegaDrive ones are scaled down a little bit, while Mega-CD uses the full size of the sprites. The problem can be two things : 1) there is not enough room to load Earthquake in the RAM (this can be addressed by removing frames of animation) or 2) he is way to big to be moved around and animated without causing slowdowns. Reason 2) is probably the one that explains why he is not in these versions. If the Mega-CD would already struggle moving around a full-size Earthquake, I don't see how it could handle zooming out at the same time. Plus zooming out implies having bigger backgrounds, which reduces the memory available for the animations of the characters. I personally find the Mega-CD version to be the best port, after the 3DO one of course. It retains the full size of the sprites, the full screen resolution, and a very good job was done about the color palettes for the stages and characters. The soundtrack is the Neo Geo one directly on the CD, and sound-effects are good quality. I find that the game plays perfectly well, and don't really understand the criticism about the controls on this version. I don't have the original SamSho on my Neo Geo to compare however. I only have 2 and 4. Maybe the Mega-CD port is a bit slower ? But it still plays very well in my opinion.

[@RetroCore]

I truly think adding a smaller Earthquake would have been the way to go rather than taking him out altogether.

[@M4R14NO94]

Interestingly the 3DO port was released in Japan under the international name rather than as Spirits. If it's the exact same as the US release, no idea.

[@RetroCore]

M4R14NO94 yep, very odd that the 3DO game was know as Samurai Shodown in Japan.

[@kokujin-r7254]

i've never had any issues pulling moves off on any version. also i feel the neogeo pocket version was an unfair comparision due to it being a completely different game. that was was more of a port of 4 than 1. the second ng pocket was definitely a better game though. great video though. always like watching your fighting game port comparisons

[@RetroCore]

hadoken gundam True, the 1st Neo Geo Pocket game is based on a different game however it's still not a very good fighter :(

[@kokujin-r7254]

I hear ya. Just felt out if place in my opinion

[@DragonSlayerKyo]

Take into account the slower M68K in the MD, and that's the reason. too much for it to handle. That shouldn't have been the case in the Mega CD though.

[@Brand2Tiny]

I freaking suck at this game. Sometimes, I can't get through the first opponent if it isn't on easy. But I still love this game. (Even if I tend to rage a little.)

[@Yukatoshi]

NeoGeo lol. Tough as f**k.

[@kokujin-r7254]

also the reason for no earthquake was due to the lack of scaling. the sega ports decided to go with the larger sprites because they thought it looked better....takara was weird

[@RetroCore]

hadoken gundam I don't understand. The SFC version has no scailing either but that features Earthquake. Maybe because of the already biggish size of the Mega Drive sprites it would have been tough to add Earthquake to scail due to how large he would end up, making is tough for the Mega Drive to handle.

[@kokujin-r7254]

That's exactly what it was. He wouldn't have been able to always fit on screen

[@Tempora158]

Retro Core For reference, Earthquake on the SNES is about the same size as Zangief from the SNES port of SSF2. All the "normal" sized character are smaller than Ryu from SNES SSF2. To keep the same character scale on the Genesis version means Earthquake would have to be 1.5 times larger than Zangief's SNES/Genesis sprite and that could result in major flicker and/or massive slowdown.

[@RetroCore]

Tempora158 yep, thought as much. Still, they could have made a babdy Earthquake:) Smaller is better than nothing.

[@DJZeeJay]

The genesis version is hardly better. It was missing a lot of things and the controls were horrid. Despite the SNES version having smaller sprites, it was overall miles ahead of the genesis version. I'll gladly take the SNES version over the Genesis one any day.

[@skins4thewin]

Lol I find that hilarious that ppl criticized the smaller sprites on the Super Famicom version, when I was actually thinking in my head before the video even got to the SNES port that using the zoomed out view would be extremely smart of the programmers as the SNES probably can't do that sort of sprite scaling that the Neo Geo can, not to mention that having big sprites would sacrifice system resources on the sprites instead of the animations and other important things. Am glad to hear that they smartly did so. Bottom line, using the zoomed out view was extremely smart and is likely what allowed the port to be good, as it likely wouldn't have ran nearly as smooth nor would have had the amount of animations it does without the smaller sprites. The critics simply don't know what the hell they are talking about and aren't thinking about the fact that this is being done on hugely inferior hardware vs the Neo Geo.

[@RetroCore]

I like the SFC version of this game. But just to let yoh know, Art of Fighting on the SFC does feature zooming just like the Neo Geo. It isn't anywhere near as good but it does have it.

[@Yukatoshi]

Retro Core Doesn’t it just change resolution to simulate scaling?

[@retrovideogamejunkie]

awww, haohmaru been the samurai showdown ´s ryu (or ken?)

[@RedRanger2001]

Unfortunately, the Mega CD version has a game-breaking bug -- it crashes before reaching to the final battle with Amakusa.

[@RetroCore]

Is that all regions? I'm sure I've completed this on the Mega CD.

[@stephenhall2450]

The new 32 bit systems-3do,saturn and PlayStation were playing catchup on 2d games from the start.neo geo ftw!

[@anonymoususind]

NG Pocket game felt like it's own thing rather than a port

[@RetroCore]

Very true but that's the same with all Neo Geo Pocket fighters. Or at least I feel that way.

[@MVC2fan1]

In my opinion, i've played two ports, The SNES & Sega Genesis.

[@RetroArcadeGuy]

To add some facts... Samurai Shodown/Spirits was Nobuhiro Watsuki's inspiration to create one of his anime/manga hits, Rurouni Kenshin Meijin Kenkaku Romantan (if I spelled it right). Some (if not many) characters from Samurai Spirits were his main inspiration to create his original characters (lazy Watsuki... XD) as well as from many of SNK's fighting games (KOF series, i.e.). And also Marvel characters. Though SNK admits that Shizumaru Hisame is based off from Yu Yu Hakusho series, he still looks that much to Kenshin. Though Watsuki was terrible at fighting games, he enjoyed them a lot. Source: Rurouni kenshin manga series. Also... what's with the poor voice acting for the Mega-CD version...? omg.

[@stephenhall2450]

Could the snes have used mode 7 to zoom the backgrounds? I know it can't do scaling of sprites but the conversion of art of fighting on the snes achieved this

[@RetroCore]

Stephen Hall It may have been possible since Art Of Fighting does it but in doing that I think the background animation would have been lost. Also it may have been too taxing on the SNES CPU.

[@youtubeadmin1588]

Stephen Hall No.

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

Didn't the Mega CD version of Samurai Shodown crash upon reaching the final boss?

[@RetroCore]

***** Maybe some presses of the game did but mine seems to be fine.

[@intec0]

you miss the FM-Towns version :(

[@shinbakihanma2749]

Do more SamSho, Battle of the Port vids, please?? 🤣😂😆 Also, why did you not include the SamSho Anthology version??

[@RetroCore]

There will be more Samurai spirits coming in the future. As for the Anthology, I didn't have ut back then.

[@teeveeparty]

The anthology is emulated, isn't it?

[@Leaddevo]

Bought a 2nd Hand 3DO with a heap of games cheap as chips. I can confirm this is bloody brilliant on it.

[@RetroCore]

It's not too shabby on the 3DO. It's just a shame the 3DO control pad wasn't very good.

[@Doskias26]

If you can get your hands on a Panasonic arcade-stick comptroller then it feels like the arcade.

[@Yukatoshi]

Retro Core 3DO pad’s biggest issue is directional controls. At least on my FZ-10 pad...

[@WWammyy]

The Megadrive version was the first home port I played and I was sorely disappointed but it was either this of the SNES version which wasn't released here. So while it isn't an accurate port of the Arcade I still have a soft spot for it and I also prefer it over the SNES port because of the larger characters. Also better ports of Samurai shodown were not available to PAL regions until the recently with the Samurai shodown collections on ps2 and wii and virtual console. I know there was the 3DO version but that was too pricey I skipped that and went onto the PS1 / Sega Saturn where I waited for it but it never turned up.

[@Jahfariinternational]

Isn't Arcade and Neo Geo the same?

[@RetroCore]

Yes, which is why the AES version is not covered however the Neo CD versions do have differences.

[@jessragan6714]

I wasn't noticing any missing special moves in the Genesis version, although I rarely play anybody other than Galford. I did notice some of his regular attacks were altered... he no longer does a somersault with his sword when you press hard slash. Corners were definitely cut, but with the characters at their size, you can kind of understand why. I've got no love for Samurai Shrinky-Dinks on Super NES. Not only are the characters small, the sound is weirdly metallic and the combat's been defanged. They make a point of showing your opponent getting up at the end of every fight, which is... typically not what happens when you swing sharpened metal blades at someone for five minutes.

[@RetroCore]

I guess in the SNES version everyone is immortal.

[@Maru96]

You missed the PS1 port.

[@iwanttocomplain]

I think they took some moves out. They are on the faq but you just can't pull them off. You can't grab the bird and fly and lots of other special moves. PS. Tiny has 1 t.

[@RetroCore]

I'm pretty sure you can hang from the bird. The timing for the moves is off though.

[@XeCuTioNR]

You seem to miss the PSX version of Samuari Shodown/Spirits (included the Japanese only "Samurai Spirits Kenkaku Shinan Pack")

[@RetroCore]

XeCuTioNR Really? I own both the Samurai Spirits games on the Saturn but never knew Samura Spirits / Shodown 1 was on the game. Do you need to enter a code to access it?

[@RetroCore]

Tempora158 You learn something every day. I had no idea there was a version on the PlayStation.

[@DragonSlayerKyo]

Retro Core They're actually ports of the Neo-CD version, but they load much worse.

[@RetroCore]

they load worse than the Neo CD? Man, that's something I just couldn't be bothered with. saying that the PlayStation is pretty bad for loading and slow for saving to the memory cards too. The Saturn saves instantly to internal memory of cartridge. Never understood why the PlayStation took so long.

[@DragonSlayerKyo]

SNK cached a lot of data after loading on the Neo-CD, so that reduced the data access somewhat, but the PSX didn't have that ability so everything suffered. saving to memory card I didn't find any problems with, those were short. it's just the disc access times that were horrid.

[@1983parrothead]

You forgot the Fujitsu FM TOWNS port.

[@RetroCore]

I probably couldnt find it. I would have liked to have included it.

[@videogamefhiend792]

wasnt there also a port for the PS1? What happened to that?

[@RetroCore]

Peter Hartung No idea there was one.

[@Bloodreign1]

+Retro Core It's in a 2 game compilation that includes 1 and 2 on it.

[@RetroCore]

Oh, i see. I'm not too clued up on the PSX game releases I'm afraid. Saturn I know everything about though.

[@Bloodreign1]

Retro Core I didn't find out about it myself till a few years ago, it caught me by surprise.

[@RetroCore]

It. Use have been one of those quietly released titles.

[@laumpolumpio]

You missed the PS1 "Yubinnan" pack which is an actual port.

[@AceTrainerX3]

It's "Kenkaku Shinan" Pack

[@lurkerrekrul]

You can get a copy of the FM Towns version from the DopeROMS site. It comes with the disc image and a boot disk. I just played it in the Unz emulator. I'm not an expert as the only other version I've ever played was the 3DO port in an emulator a year or so ago, but it seemed to play OK. It did slow down during some attacks, but I don't know if that was the game or the emulator. I chose Nakoruru and was doing pretty well, despite not knowing any of the moves. Then I got my ass kicked by Wan-Fu. I won the first match, but he beat me every time after that. :(

[@RetroCore]

Really? I visit dope roms too. How on earth did I miss that.

[@lurkerrekrul]

The FM Towns isn't listed on the front page, you have to click the "ROMs" link on the left, or the "More ROMs" link under the list of the most popular systems. It says they have 139 files for the FMT. Samurai Showdown/Spirits is on the third page. To be honest, I didn't know this myself. I actually went to Google and searched for "FM Towns" and "Samurai Spirits" and it was the third result below the video links. EMUParadise is normally my go-to site for ISO files, although they don't have everything. I've found that they're missing quite a few PS1 games, like many of the Japanese "mech" games and some country-specific games, like the two Paris-Marseille Racing games. I found those on a great site called The ROM Depot, which sadly went down shortly after I discovered it. :(

[@RetroCore]

Ooh, I know about the extra system listings on Dope Roms but I never noticed the game. I must have been really sleepy that day. Emu paradise is good but sometimes their computer roms don't work. I like using a French site called GameTronik

[@lurkerrekrul]

I usually go to EMU Paradise first for ISO files, then The ISO Zone and others if they don't have what I'm looking for. For C64 games, I usually go to GB64 first, then the CSDB. For Amiga stuff, Planet EMU is usually my first choice. For some hard to find US and Japanese PS1 games, I found a forum that seems to list pretty much every game every released in those territories. I tried to post the link, but it seems it won't let me. Let's see if I can edit it to get it to post; 128bit.me/index.php?PHPSESSID=bk6b68n0fucp9a6i814fr3fc77&topic=31598.0;nowap

[@RetroCore]

lurkerrekrul cheers man, some good information right there.

[@Frikinautas]

A game I liked back then for my MD... Until I found out about the Earthquake fiasco. Watching this video, I seriously fear that they actually left him out for censorship reasons. Sad.

[@RetroCore]

Possibly for some regions but I think it's mostly due to memory issues.

[@nexusofice9135]

I think we know that Neo Geo CD is going to win this one in comparison to the arcade original. The only caveat is the load times.

[@CaseTheCorvetteMan]

It is identical to the MVS/AES original, with the exception of the music. The game plays exactly the same, and is the exact same code as the MVS/AES version as far as the game goes.

[@nexusofice9135]

@@CaseTheCorvetteMan hence why I am saying it would win.

[@RetrOrigin]

I have no control issues with the MegaDrive or Mega CD versions, maybe it's a combination of input lag from your HD TV and upscaler (which is unavoidable due to the packet transfer nature of any digital signal) Granted, none of these ports are arcade perfect.

[@RetroCore]

SNKega No, not at all because all my systems run through the same set up with none of the others having issues. It's like the SFC / SNES port of Fatal Fury 2. That has some really bad special move timing issues that were fixed for Fatal Fury Special. Also, some moves were changed in the Mega Drive / CD ports.

[@queercommunist]

The guy is obviously biased

[@vasileios6301]

Mega Drive version is good and fully playable,its insane to say not to bother with this version!!! The only drawbacks are ofcourse the drop of Earthquake and the no scaling effects which you didnt bother to mention! Mega CD could make the difference with its extra 12mhz cpu,but it was a lazy md port and nothing more.

[@RetroCore]

Vasilios As The reason why I said "don't bother with it" is because it doesn't play like the arcade. I do actually own the game though. No need to mention the lack of zoom effect because it's pretty obvious the Mega Drive would be lacking this feature.

[@vasileios6301]

Retro Core I do own it on its days back at 1995 and was very happy with it and played doubles with my friends. First SS's specials werent something special and mostly played with simple moves,with strong attacks and rarely some kicks,so the core gameplay is almost the same and quite enjoyable on md. As for the scaling effect,md could do it with some tricks,there were a few games that utilised scaling,difficult stuff but achiveable on md. I noticed on all your game comparisons that you are comparing them on todays standards and thats not quite right.Its obvious that you didnt enjoyed them back in their days and you judge them too strict. For example Dragon Ninja on Amiga is an ok and playable game,not a terrible port as you said. Also you are using emulators with wrong settings and most games look pixelated and choppy and far off from their original image,at least please check your emulators settings to be more close to the original. Sorry if I sound offensive,I respect your will and time to do your videos,its nice for the retro community,I am just saying my opinion. Thanks pal.

[@RetroCore]

Vasilios As Thanks for the comments. To tell the truth, I've been playing most of the games I cover when they were new. I was very lucky as a child since I had access to many systems via friends although in my home (I have 3 brothers) we did have a few consoles such as the Mega Drive, Mega CD, SFC/SNES, Master System, Neo Geo, N64, Saturn, PlayStation and Game Cube. We never had any computers apart from the Commodore Plus 4 so most of my computer gaming days were done at a friends house. Even back then I thought pushing up to jump was a pain in the ass and never really liked the stiffness of many home computer ports. Some of the games featured in this series are running through emulation. The games look pixelated because others complain when I use filters as it's "Not the true image". So now all filters are off. Jerky image mostly comes from video capturing. In this video the Neo Geo is real hardware as are the Mega CD and SFC versions. Everything else was emulated.

[@vasileios6301]

Retro Core I understand my friend. Indeed many arcade ports on home computers like Amiga were unplayable(like Sf2,Shinobi,Final Fight) but others were ok to very good (Dragon Ninja,Shadow Dancer,Rodland etc). To have a balance on image at the emulators,at least enable scanlines option as it makes quite a difference,for the jerky framerate I understand you cant do anything,the capture utilities need insane storage for 60fps capturing. Thank you again and continue with your comparisons even if some of us disagree with your opinions,thats democracy :)

[@RetroCore]

No problem if people disagree. It would be a boring world if we all though the same :) Scan lines are something I love however they really add to the encoding resulting in bigger files which KZbin likes to compress even more. I'll have a fiddle with the idea and see how it goes.

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

BOTP SSII?

[@RetroCore]

One day I'll get around to doing it 👍

[@MrColorOFF]

PS1 VERSION?????

[@brianwalker7771]

I have always wondered IF the Sega ports got sabotaged to try to give intensive to also buy the SNES port. You can see the blood is missing in SNES and MK proved that blood matters. Honestly that would be the only real reason I see for the missing content in the Sega ports especially the Sega CD version.

[@RetroTuna]

Samurai shodown is my favorete old school beat um up series i had this back in the day on my neo geo i paid £200 for it and hat was a lot then, yea the 3do port is nice but i hate that pad the game boy version looks fun and the snes port is ok for what it is but being a neo geo owner at the time all the ports were nowhere near as good but over time you do learn the appreciate them for what they were on each machine.

[@RetroCore]

Retro Tuna The best thing now is that Samurai Spirits in japan is one of the cheapest Neo Geo games. You can buy a mint complete game for the price of 2 beers!

[@RetroTuna]

that's mad cost me the price of 100 beers but its cool you can get it cheap now and its a great game. the neo geo has gone super expensive if you want to collect all the best games, i was after one again but in the end i just use my super gun and a 1 slot with a multi cart i do have a few other carts like magician lord and world heroes and i have a nice working 4 slot

[@RetroCore]

Retro Tuna I think Multi Carts are the only way to go these days if you want a big Neo Geo collection. While we can get some games really cheap, most of them are going for silly money!

[@RoerDaniel]

you tube is down 1:16 am 06/07/2017

[@RetroCore]

It seems to be okay now. It's 00:38 Japanese Standard Time.

[@ReviewUA-jy7xi]

PS2 version is the best.

[@Mightywhiskaz]

While the gameboy port is great, the time taken between rounds and matches for the win quote/animations and points added up took so long it was frustrating.

[@williamhowe1]

Ippon!

[@skins4thewin]

To be honest, this is pretty much how all fighting games are played professionally now. If you try to use nothing but special moves against a skilled fighting game player then you will get your ass handed to you in most any fighting game. Most fighters rely on using more regular punches and kicks to form combo's than special moves these days, at least for skilled players.

[@RetroCore]

Spamming specials is definitely nit skilled in my opinion.

[@MrColorOFF]

Neo geo cdz very fast loading times!

[@RetroCore]

Hmm, they're okay but still much slower than a Saturn.

[@MrColorOFF]

Saturn does not have the first part of samurai spirits. In other games, they are approximately equal, Saturn a little faster, while the Saturn is much worse sound in terms of the quality of voices and other effects. Which also takes time to load. On 3DO, graphics and sound are so much worse, hence the fast downloads. At the same time, look at the download speed of the PS1 version of the first samurai. There graphics and sound are close to the neo geo cd version, but the downloads are just awfully long. Of all the versions of SAMURAI SPIRITS 1 is the best on NEO GEO CDZ.

[@EDifyer881]

I have the 3do version

[@Tempora158]

I played the FM Towns version on Unz, and the frame rate is terrible and the game has constant slowdown. The screen scaling can be turned off (so it's always zoomed in at 100%) to improve the frame rate but it's still not completely smooth. I guess the programmers didn't want to do something drastic to improve performance by cutting out nearly all the animations in the background, which is what happened with the Super Street Fighter II port.

[@RetroCore]

Tempora158 really? I remember it looking rather good. Maybe the emulation was a bit choppy?

[@Tempora158]

Retro Core Looks great, but runs badly (still playable) with the scaling on. Other arcade ports I've played on Unz run fine.

[@Tempora158]

Retro Core I just played the game again briefly on Unz and discovered that the screen scaling option and background animation option are both OFF by default! So the developers KNEW the performance of their port sucked and left it up to the player to go into the options menu to turn these features on if they're willing to trade speed for fidelity.

[@queercommunist]

SNES sprites are so ridiculously tiny lol

[@RetroCore]

Yes, they are.

[@sparkfirehot]

The PlayStation port was actually really good port of the game...... SNES version was kinda disappointing for the fact the characters was so small but still enjoyed the game.

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, the size of he characters in the SNES version is a shame but as you said, it's still fun to play.

[@TheRacingOtaku]

The Genesis version was a looker, but, boy, I was pretty disappointed with that version. Plus, It is a mystery to me when the Genesis and Mega CD versions don't include Earthquake while the SNES and GB versions have him. The Sega CD had absolutely no excuse to be missing Earthquake.

[@RetroCore]

Lazy ass development I guess. The MD maybe missed him due to the memorex size of the cartridge but there's no excuse on the CD format.

[@StudioBadGuy]

this is a great fighting game series, too bad the ngp version is so bad. great video.

[@RetroCore]

Studio Bad Guy Thanks. Yeah, I was quite surprised at how bad the Neo Geo Pocket version was and how good the Game Boy version is.

[@StudioBadGuy]

Retro Core I agree, NGP is renowned for its portable fighters, maybe it was used as a prototype? that gameboy version does look great tho.

[@BainesMkII]

Studio Bad Guy NGP version featured isn't actually a port of Samurai Shodown. You could consider it a remix port of the 3D games, or consider it its own series. It wasn't trying to be a direct port, the way that Takara's Gameboy port was. (The title is actually "Samurai Spirits!" or "Samurai Shodown!", with an exclamation mark.) It also came out four years after the Gameboy version.

[@SuperKillerdreams]

Sooo I’m just gonna say this here lol, and you’ll thank me a shit tone later, Go to the PSN store, get all the samurai showdown ports by the company ACA and hamster, there ports are 💯% arcade perfect, no loading times at all, ABSOLUTELY ZERO SLOW DOWN, all frames of animation are present, all the original Neo Geo arcade soundtracks are exactly the same in these ports, super smooth 60FPS game play, again it’s just the smack dab original Neo Geo arcade perfect ports we’ve been wanting for years lol and we’ve finally got them on the PS4

[@RetroCore]

They are not ports. They are the arcade roms emulated on the PS4. Same for the Xbox One and Switch versions.

[@SuperKillerdreams]

Retro Core oh lol :) so what do you think about ACA / hamsters ports retro, did they finally bring Neo Geo arcade perfectly to the home console of the PS4 ? Cuz I have all the samurai showdown games, all the metal slug games, and all the king of fighters, and fatal fury games and the last blade games and judging by my take they seem 💯% Neo Geo arcade perfect :)

[@SuperKillerdreams]

Retro Core and does emulation mean they took the arcade rom actually used on the Neo Geo hardware and just ported it to the PlayStation 4 headwear, thus making it arcade perfect

[@MVC2fan1]

Especially the PS2 & PSP versions.

[@Animated__Freak]

It's a darn shame that the mega driver version was so bad, I think if more time would have been put into them (especially the sega cd version) they could have been great! The fact that they change the movies just ruins it for me. Scale down the content and graphics but aalways try to keep the core gameplay intact. I think the Mega Drive was more then capable of that.

[@RetroCore]

+Animated Freak The MD could have handled a much better port but I think the reason Neo Geo games were ported to the Mega Drive was just so Sega could say "Hey, look. Me too" since the Super Famicom was the main system for Neo Geo ports.

[@chunkycjw]

I think the Mega-CD could have pulled off the scaling effects of the NeoGeo/Arcade version and the bigger fighter (Earth Quake ?). Games like Final Fight had large characters on the Mega-CD and the graphical trickery going on in the driving sections of Batman Returns really showed off the power of the system and were sadly under used. I think Samurai Showdown Mega-CD was sadly just a lazy port of the Megadrive version.

[@RetroCore]

Craig Wilson I agree. The Mega CD could have done the zooming effects qite easily. At least Funcom did redraw the graphics for the Mega CD port.

[@chunkycjw]

Got to say i loved my Mega-CD and wish there had been more arcade ports like Final Fight than grainy fmv games :(. To me it was like the Neo Geo with less colours and cheaper games:).

[@RetroCore]

Craig Wilson Yeah, the Mega CD could have been so much more than it was. Games such as Final Fight, Batman Returns and Japanese releases such as Urusei Yatsura and Lunar Silver Star Story really showed what the hardware could do. Even UK developer, Core Design did some very impressive stuff with the hardware. So sad than most developers basically used it as a cartridge porting system with CD audio.

[@chunkycjw]

Yeah, looking at Core Design they really pushed what the Mega-CD could do then went on to make the excellent tombraider, which blew my mind too, on the Saturn six months before the PS1 came out in the UK. Batman Returns really showed that the Mega-CD could have done a great port of Outrun, Space Harrier or maybe even Afterburner.

[@RetroCore]

Craig Wilson Yep, the Mega CD was never really given the chance it should have. Great hardware that was very rarely used.

[@Khinh-xq6lx]

3do is a good copy of the arcades

[@CaseTheCorvetteMan]

The NEO-GEO Pocket version is a different game. It isn't, and was never meant to be, a port of the MVS game. As great as so many claim the 3DO port to be, it is a bit off the mark, if you played it a couple times in the arcades back in the day then bought the 3DO version you could be forgiven for believing it was just about as good. The frame rate is choppy, the audio is not nearly as good as it should be, and there are things missing. To say it is the best home version is utter garbage, best home "port" maybe, but the AES and NEO-CD are quite obviously the best home versions, given that they are not ports and are 100% identical to the MVS. The NEO-CD version doesn't have long loading times in the grand scheme of things. Ultimately it was the exact same game with a very well done soundtrack enhancement and a tenth of the retail price. There were a few later NEO-CD games that had some very minor changes due to the limits of the console, but this certainly wasn't one of them.

[@AceTrainerX3]

The Neo Geo Pocket game is moreso an adaptation of Samurai Shodown IV than anything

[@skins4thewin]

They stupidly used the same sound chip that's in the Master System & Game Gear in the NGPC, a system that came out like 15 years later. Yeah... dunno why the hell they chose to do that. The freaking Game Boy which came out over a decade earlier had a better sound chip than that one. It was also a bad decision to even bother bringing out a black & white system in that day and age. Thing should have been color and backlit from the getgo. The thing was just underpowered and poorly designed for the target pricepoint from the start.

[@xtremegold2950]

the snes version is a bad port....very small characters....

[@Wan-Fu]

Wan Fu Wins!! Haha😇

[@gabrielzurita429]

genesis version is not good too fanboy...

[@iulianispas8634]

Haha the snes port is a stupid joke what's with that spiritis ?look like a nes port

[@RetroCore]

The real name of Samurai Showdown is Samurai Spirits. They changed it to Samurai Showdown for the West.

[@iulianispas8634]

Retro Core I know was called samurai shodown on the arcades were I love to play it back in the day also own all versions till IV on ps2