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Bakumatsu Roman: Gekka no Kenshi
  PS1FightingJ  
  opened by paleface at 05:42:11 09/14/09  
  last modified by paleface at 12:25:50 03/05/24  
  paleface [sys=PS1; cat=Fighting; reg=JPN]
           
Download added: disc.jpg (22518 bytes)
  "Disc shot."
 
The Japanese-only PS1 port of SNK's Neo*Geo fighting game--known as "The Last Blade" in the states on Neo*Geo--exceeds most of SNK's often cut-down PS1 ports in some ways, and not so much in others.
 
This port got some lavish extras: a long CG/anime intro movie, per-character gameplay introduction movies with Japanese narration by two of the game's characters (Akari and eh that big guy with the bat), character bios (I think--they're in Japanese), a fan art gallery, a "Short" mode (enemies have less life, you start with a super attack charge, and you face fewer on your way to the boss, but I'm not sure if you get the final boss, or just the sub-boss; I died on the sub-boss, continued, beat the sub, and no final boss showed up) in addition to the usual Arcade mode, and a "Sudden Death" mode in which it looks like you face each of the game's characters one after the other in a sort of survival-style affair; they start with significantly less than full health at first, but this increases round after round).
 
Alas, it suffers from the usual loss of animation and effects details seen in Neo*Geo-to-PS1 ports. Load times aren't as bad as some of them, but the framerate can get pretty bad at times, and there is no music during battles, which is a significant loss, because the period music in the Last Blade games constitutes a significant part of their atmosphere and style.
 
Not so surprisingly, there is no English-language option, so English-only speakers won't get to enjoy the game's personality-heavy win quotes, which are one of the main reasons you'd bother playing through with all characters.
 
Oh on the up-side though, you can bring up character move lists from the pause menu--a rare feature for Neo*Geo PS1 ports.
 
Some interesting extras, then, but not a great port of the actual game; it would be nine years between the Neo*Geo version and a competent port: the Last Blade 1/2 combo for Japanese PS2 (see entry 1012).
    
downloads:
· disc.jpg
 
references:
· Bakumatsu Roman Dai Ni Maku: Gekka no Kenshi Final Edition (DC)
· Bakumatsu Roman: Gekka no Kenshi 1-2 (NeoGeo Online Collection v.2) (PS2)
· The Last Blade (PCB)
· The Last Blade 2: Heart of the Samurai (DC)
· The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny (NGPC)

 
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