there is a pcsx2 fork with online features. Some games work
it would be epic if a new Samurai Showdown goes in the direction of Bushido Blade 2. a more realistic full 3D duel game like Bushido Blade 2, but with Samurai Shodown, would be incredible. heck, SNKP could team up with Square and make a Samurai Shodown X Bushido Blade game. 
Samurai Shodown could be more than a street fighter clone with weapons. with Bushido Blade’s realism, and Samurai Shodown’s body slicing finishers, they could produce something even more epic than both.
anyone have ss4 strats?
pick hanzo, get POW profit!
Wow, so many people in this thread have absolutely no clue about why SS2 is good.
SS2 does, in fact, have combos; that’s one of the main purposes of kicks in that game (you can easily combo slashes or kicks from kick hitstun, and kicks from slash hitstun, while comboing slashes from slash hitstun is much harder). You may not have noticed that because after SS2, kicks were dumbed down to the point of near-uselessness, and the button may as well not even exist. Kicks were taken from an important balance action - jumping kicks stuff reaction anti-air slashes, which is what allows you to jump at people in this game - to a throwaway button. That’s before you even get into the downsides of going from 6 attacks (and 3 different strength for nearly every special move) to 4 attacks.
Turtling jumpback Swallow Slash Ukyo is like the equivalent of superjump Doom photons in MVC2: good at beginner and intermediate levels, easily beaten at high levels. That is not what makes Ukyo good. What makes Ukyo good is his comboable, no-recovery sliding Afterimage slash that can crossup downed opponents. After any knockdown, you can do a (whiffed) Afterimage slash for 50/50 left/right mixup, then either do low D into another Afterimage slash (combo into another knockdown) or tiger knee instant overhead Swallow Slash (also knockdown). Both are safe on block and the low D combo will probably dizzy you. Here’s a rather extreme example (it wouldn’t look quite like this outside of a mirror match, but Ukyo doesn’t have some defensive options that other characters have):
The game is very turtly at intermediate levels (because jumping first loses to anti-air jump slashes) but once you learn to use kicks, the game becomes much more offensive. The ninjas, in particular, have ridiculous throw traps, due to 2 factors: they have a very strong tick throw game, and their command throw has no whiff animation, but cancels normals. So you can throw out their insanely damaging low AB and whiff cancel command throw to make it safe, or walk up low AB/command throw mixup after a knockdown.
this might be my favorite fighting game in existence if:
slowdown reduced dramatically
runs and movement were smoother
ss3 grade sprites
changed throw system
slight ukyo nerf
all very forgivable things…except the overall feel is just soooooooo old. iz hard to get into.
thanks so much for the insight spider dan. i was wondering how high level was so much faster
Throws? Why would you change throws, running throws in SS2 are the best thing ever. Isn’t slowdown just a thing that happens when strong slashes connect, also? It’s been a long time since I played the game but I don’t remember slowdown interfering with normal play.
The only things that really need fixing are the controls, which are too strict, and the random damage. In case of a rebalance not only Ukyo should be toned down a bit, some characters like Nako should get buffs too.
the problem i have with throws i cnt exactly put my finger on. like it seems as awkward as the dash itself sometimes…im not sure what it is…the invincibility frames or something??
the slowdown doesnt exactly interfere with gameplay but it does for me because the pacing makes me queasy sometimes. the slowdown is very exaggerated for strongs and specials and throws and supers disarms etc. even specials on block do it sometimes. i like the idea but it is too much for me. too much time waiting and too much time trying to act coming out of it as fast as i can. again i like the idea, just not how it is done. you might know what im talking about if you played it again.
oh another thing is the clash mechanic that randomly decides who wins. or is it random in ss1 only?
yeah i guess nak needs some buffs too. the rest seems pretty dang ok though. maybe nic too.
Clash in SS2 is decided by mashing.
yeah but isnt the victor randomly chosen…a la mario party? ive read somewhere it is
it’s whoever mashes the most
It 5 and 5 special you can actually see the amount of button presses you do during the clash, in hindsight it would have been the thing to do from the start of the series.
can you confirm that for SS2? i read that that is what was told in manuals and shit, but the computer actuall yjust picks by itsef
If a clash happens and nobody presses anything, then yes it’s random who loses there weapon
You didn’t confirm if it isn’t random if both mash though. Which I read somewhere that it was proven to do so in the early samsho games.
If both mash the one who mashes more wins 100%
It’s what i’ve always seen, what i’ve always experienced, and what i’ve just tested, try it for yourself
There might be a limit you have to reach before it always goes to a draw, because i’d say 60/40 of clashes i’ve seen end in a draw that is the most common outcome
Hopefully you didn’t get your info from the same person or persons that think ss3 is as slow as ss1 also HAHA!!!
Clashes are random in SS1 only.
Throws in SS2 are great to me, dunno what is it that you dislike. They are strong oldschool throws made really good since you can do them instantly while running. So good to keep the opponent guessing and then do a running grab when he doesn’t expect it.
The slowdown as far as I remember is there to emphasize impact, and I see nothing wrong with it. What really annoys me is the input detection, which is really wonky and strict. Dunno if it has a low buffer or if it uses some other system, but whatever it is it could use a fix.
I just think throws FEEL weird as fuck for some reason. Same about the slowdown. It makes it feel less responsive than the game actually is. Yeah the same about the input detection. It just feels clunky ish.
You should just try doing running throws, I’m sure that will make you change your opinion on them. To me they are the best throws outside of something like ST.
The slowdown is similar to the slowdown when you get hit by a projectile in SF2 series. I don’t find it to be an issue (you don’t get dropped inputs like you do in SF2).
The problems I’ve had with input detection (particularly during oki after I throw an opponent) were resolved by negative-edging my specials in that specific instance.
Samsho isnt THAT underrated. I got bored at work and tried looking at some high lvl samsho.
Evidently the most recent one isnt the competitive standard which doesnt back up how underrated the game is. I think there was a lot of innovation as far as bursts, fatalities, OTG and the like but other series ended up doing them well, er better.
Now as far as classic character designs, they have a lot to work with. But not if SNK wants to do another 2.5 thing.
They should really think about outsourcing. I could only imagine how solid French Bread or Arksys could make SamSho.