In Samurai Showdown Anthology you have a selection of the six Showdown games, each with the original characters, modes and a few new bits thrown in for good measure.

 

 

Samurai Showdown came out originally in 1993 and rather than the normal fighting games around at the time it was weapons based, allowing for a great clashing of swords, just think of a 2D version of Soulcalibur. The first game has a solid selection of 12 characters to choose from, each one having their own style and weapon. The variety is impressive for such an old game with characters like the popular samurai Hauhmaru, Gen-An the weird looking green guy with Freddy Krueger like claws, Galford and his dog and the huge screen shaking Earthquake. The controls are your basic 3 slashes and 3 kicks, allowing for some good combo's and special moves. You also have the classic SNK POW bar that builds up over the game, allowing you to unleash more powerful moves. The action is fast paced and with a clever zoom camera the game never slows down.

 

Samurai Showdown 2 now offers 15 characters, mostly new ones including the cute Chan Chan with her cat claws, boomerang and monkey sidekick.

 

Samurai Showdown 3 had a slight overhaul, now offering 12 characters but this time adding a choice of a Slash or Burst Technique. You also have a choice of grading your skills before the game with Beginner, Medium and Upper all allowing different handicaps. SNK have also changed the fighting set, you now have 3 slashes and one kick, freeing up the shoulder buttons for building your POW bar and a Sudden Attack.

 

Samurai Showdown 4: Amakusa's Revenge now has 17 characters to play as. The combo system has been tweaked, however there are serious slowdown issues with this version making it impossible to enjoy.

 

Samurai Showdown 5 has 24 characters to choose from, the game has taken a step back and removed the technical modes. There are plenty of new characters to try out including a huge man-eating monster that uses the bone from his missing hand as a weapon. On the downside there are some slowdown issues when special moves are pulled off, again making it a bit unplayable.

 

 

Samurai Showdown 6 hits us with a whopping 41 characters, the variety is staggering with some very creepy character designs in there. Thankfully the slowdown has been eliminated, which is fortunate as this is the best game on the disc. This time around you have 6 Spirits to choose from to help assist with the fights. This game originally came out on the PS2 and looks great for it with an impressive blend of 2D and 3D effects.

 

Each game has an additional training moves list to help you master all of those characters plus a multiplayer ad-hoc mode. There are a few extras including character and game art and songs from all of the games. As with the King of Fighters collection you have a good selection of views and difficulty settings to choose from.

 

Samurai Showdown Anthology is a great set of games, let down by some slowdown on SS4 and 5. The fact that SS6 is on here with all of those characters though is worth the price alone.