Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi [Best]

Debuting in Japanese arcades on September 15, 2005, the latest and purportedly last Samurai Spirits game rushes to a home console in record time - a mere 4 months. Are Japanese arcade operators with costly Atomiswave investments angry and peeved at the potential loss of revenue? You bet, especially since the PS2 conversion quality is very good and satisfying. Speedy, responsive, and full of samurai slashing action, SSTK is best played with a joystick but the Dual Shock joypad is acceptable as well.

In addition to all of the fighters from the Atomiswave coin-op original, hidden characters in the PS2 conversion game include Champuru (Mina Majikina's pet critter), Paku Paku (Cham Cham's simian friend), a coiffed version of Gaira aka Kim Ung Che, Shikuru & Mamahaha (Nakoruru's pet wolf and hawk), Rasetsu Galford, Poppy, and EX versions of Mina, Kusaregedo, Yoshi, and Yunfei. The referee with red and white flags returns to the background, watching the action like a hawk. The running courier also reprises his role and throws goodies onto the battlefield. Along with the selectable fighting styles from the Atomiswave source game, the PS2 version also includes three new fighting styles - Beast style for all the pets in the game, Fiesta Style, and Evil Style. «NCS Game Notes»