Samurai Showdown has always been a sort of …different fighter. It’s always the one forgotten when people list their favorite fighting games, and some gamers have never even heard of the series. I personally enjoyed the series, even if it wasn’t as much as Street Fighter or Tekken. It had a very unique feel compared to other 2D fighting games.

With that being said, I was very disappointed with Samurai Showdown V. I was expecting a slightly updated look and sound with the classic controls I knew and loved. After some time with the game it seemed to have taken a step back - every aspect of the game is far below average. It doesn’t have much to offer, either, aside from the typical Arcade Mode and multiplayer modes.

Arcade Mode is what you would expect from any fighter: fight one enemy after another with some short story sequences until you finish the game. There is also a Practice mode with a good amount of options to tweak so you can practice just the way you want. This way you can practice your moves on an opponent that won’t fight back, allowing you to perfect your strategy for when you head online.

Samurai Showdown V features an online mode where you can hop on Xbox Live and test your skill against other samurai around the world. Since fighting games are based on competing, adding the online function was a great idea. For gamers like me that can’t find someone to fight locally, the ability to challenge other players online really saves the replay value of a game for me, as well as other gamers in my position.

One thing you notice from the very beginning is how low the quality is on things like text, backgrounds, and sprites. Everything seems to have a really rough edge, like it belongs on an older game system. At the end of the Xbox’s lifespan one would expect a 2D game to look pretty crisp I would think. The backgrounds are appropriate, but still could be improved. We were seeing beautifully animated 3D backgrounds back on the Dreamcast, why can’t we have them on our Xbox?

The sound is a mixed bag, featuring some very moody and appropriate music as well as tunes that don’t fit at all. Some characters have great sound effects for their attacks, while others have an annoying sidekick that emits unbearable squeals during the entire fight. So at times I loved it, and other times I couldn’t stand it.

There are plenty of fighters to choose from in Samurai Showdown V, each with their own unique feel, weapons, and attacks. Samurai Showdown does a great job of providing diversity in their characters. Each character has a different speed, jump distance, dodge speed, and size – not many fighting games feature this kind of variety in their playable characters. There are 26 characters in all, and each one has 4 different costumes.

The gameplay in Samurai Showdown V is very deep, and beginners are going to have a hard time at first. If you’re familiar with the learning curve in Guilty Gear, Samurai Showdown is similar. There are not only moves to learn for each character, but other strategies that all characters share. Once you get a good feel for the game the fights become very entertaining, but at first they may feel slow and frustrating.

Samurai Showdown V is a fun game, but not fun enough to overcome its flaws. I would have a hard time recommending this game to anyone that isn’t already a fan of Samurai Showdown, but if you enjoy 2D fighters and have patience I believe that you could enjoy this game. I consider myself a fighting game fan with patience, and I still had a hard time seeing through the bad graphics and annoying sound. Maybe if there were more gameplay options, unlockables, or any other objective to work toward the good would outweigh the bad, but I’m afraid in this situation it just doesn’t.  

Gameplay: 6.5
Samurai Showdown is a series with a steep learning curve, and the gameplay mechanics are very different from most fighting games, so it doesn’t always give off a good first impression. If you take the time to learn a character the game can be a lot of fun, but not a lot of gamers will do that if they don’t like the gameplay to begin with.

Graphics: 4.0 
I never like to say this about any game, but Samurai Showdown V doesn’t look good at all. The character sprites are extremely rough around the edges, the animations are a bit choppy, the backgrounds are plain, and it just isn’t appealing to look at. It doesn’t look horrible, but bad enough to distract from the actual gameplay.

Sound: 6.0
As I mentioned above, this was a hard shot to call. Some of the music is perfect, while other songs seem way too out of place. And while some fighters sound great, others will drive you bonkers.

Difficulty: Hard
Even on the easiest setting new players can have trouble with this game. The learning curve is what makes the game difficult, and it may take the player some time to get used to the controls.

Concept: 8.0 
Bringing online to a Samurai Showdown game was something the series needed. It can be hard to find a fellow SS player, so having a place where they can all get together and play is a great thing.

Multiplayer: 6.8
Multiplayer saves the day! Having a competitive buddy to play with can make any game bearable, as long as you’re both into it. Plus, with Xbox Live being the main focus of SSV, multiplayer is what steals the show here.  

Overall: 6.0
Unless you’re a big fan of Samurai Showdown, be careful with this one. Even if you love 2D fighting games, this one is not like Street Fighter or Guilty Gear. Samurai Showdown has its own distinct flavor, and it can sometimes be too sour if you aren’t expecting it.