Graphically, Samurai Shodown II is improved over its predecessor arenas are more detailed, colors more abundant and the character sprites are better animated. Each character also has a number of new defensive moves, including the ability to roll (double tap diagonally downward), hop quickly upward or backward (press B and C), and lie down flat on the floor to completely avoid projectiles (press down twice.) Hikyaku the delivery man still randomly tosses in items to assist or impede the players during combat. There are also more options during combat, such as the ability to destroy an opponent’s weapon rather than simply disarming them and the ability to taunt the opposing character. The twin slash/kick control system is identical to its predecessor, but there are additional special attacks when the POW meter is filled, which are politely displayed right above the gauge when it is maxed out. Add in Mizuki, the long-nailed, shape-shifting, monstrously difficult final boss, and there are seventeen characters total. This increases the character roster to fifteen playable combatants – not including the judge, who’s playable in the ports. It also keeps most of the characters from the previous game except for Tam Tam, who apparently has been turned into a monkey and fights alongside Cham Cham. There are now four new playable characters – Cham Cham, the cute, green haired, boomerang wielding catgirl Haohmaru’s rival Genjuro Kibagami Caffeine Nicotine, a tiny little old monk in a funny hat and Neinhalt Sieger, who wields a gigantic iron fist.

Samurai Shodown II improves upon the first game in several ways. The game’s storyline revolves around the evil demoness, Mizuki, “The Marauding Deity.” The plot occurs in 1789, (a year after the events of the first game) and picks up after the unsuccessful attempt of Amakusa Shiro Tokisada to lead the world into ruin. Samurai Shodown II (known as Shin Samurai Spirits: Haohamaru Jigokuhen or “True Samurai Spirits: Haohmaru’s Journey to Hell” in Japan) was released in the arcades in 1994.

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