Praises to SNK for producing yet another awesome katana battle action game, Samurai Sho….oops, sorry, that new game is called THE LAST BLADE 2. Whatever happened to the Samurai Shodown series? Did this once ground breaking title just dried up? Are the SNK designers (GARAPAGOS Team) on a dry spell lately that they can't even, at the least, juice up a rehashed game? Are they even aware that they end up disappointing a lot of Samurai Shodown gamers and fans worldwide who are thirsty for new action, game engine, play mechanics, fresh array of samurai roster and a new story to bring life to a dying series. But, as a fan and a gamer, I still wish or hope that Team GARAPAGOS would finally wake up and design, develop, and deploy an absolutely fresh Samurai Shodown title that will once again breath new life to the series.

I just got my new NEO-CD THE LAST BLADE 2 and I must say that the game is unbearably cool. The story is well developed with a dramatic flare complete with strategically tuned storyboard, an eye-catching intro, defined background events and seamlessly integrated characters that brings intrigue in the game. The best part is the game actually has an interestingly designed game engine, forgiving joystick movements, strategically function-defined buttons, good amount of somewhat fresh, flashy, well-drawn samurais complementing the beautiful, marvelous backgrounds in the game. I can't help but think that this game is what Samurai Shodown should have been lately. I cannot help but think that the series have been neglected for a long time.

I have complemented Team GARAPAGOS for their effort in bringing out Samurai Shodown III : Blades of Blood, Samurai Shodown IV : Amakusa's Revenge and that NEO-CD jewel Samurai Spirits RPG : Bushidoh Retsuden, but the integrated game engine and gameplay mechanics really is antiquated. Time for some new innovative design elements that will really spice up the game once more. Perhaps like, character stance and fighting style switches, integrate the parry system but improve it more, new generation of warriors related or connected somewhat to their older samurai counterparts, the means to use the game's background as offensive and defensive tactics of attacks, stamina system that gauges a warrior's energy when they are hit with punishing combos (a reward for aggressive players), Ukemi rolls for offensive and escape maneuvers, etc. I still believe that Team GARAPAGOS are still THE innovative group of talents that have more creative juices left if they really listen to fans and gamers out there. Solicit some ideas from expert gamers out there on how to improve gameEngine/gamePlay, design some fresh samurai warriors, ninjas, ronins, Chinese swordsmen, Mongolian marauders, Spanish conquistadores, amazon warriors, anything new for a fresh start, and lastly, a fresh story to integrate these new warriors with complemented with cool, climactic, graphically-presented sub-endings and conclusion scenes. They do not even have to improve character graphical sprites or background sprites because SNK GARAPAGOS have a track record of producing luscious 2D graphics.

I hope SNK GARAPAGOS are listening and seeing this simple realization. If they really know what will make gamers play, just listen and see and take note to what fans and gamers expect on a katana battle action game. For a bigger (or at the least, smaller) picture, all they have to do is sidestep to the next SNK MVS console, The one with brightly-colored marquee with the title "The Last Blade 2".