There are lots of one-on-one fighters on Switch, many of which have been released as part of HAMSTER’s ACA Neo Geo series. The Last Blade 2 is another one, giving you a selection of fighters to pick from as you engage in a series of best of three-round fights en route to a showdown with an overpowered final big bad. It may not be filling a gap in the marketplace (and the excellent first game is already available on the eShop), but it shouldn’t be dismissed as it does said fighting very well indeed.
The 12 playable characters from the first game have made it across although the twin-blade wielding Shikyoh has died and returned as the twin-blade wielding zombie Mukuro. Previous end bad guy Kagami is now selectable and there are also three newcomers. As before, the game uses two strengths of weapon attack - a kick button and a repel one - which, with careful timing, can be used to deflect your opponent's attack and hopefully launch a counteroffensive.
There’s good variety amongst the fighters, with the range of blades (small and large), clubs and other weapons giving you different options to try out, whilst Lee mainly favours his fists and feet, occasionally calling on a flaming fan blade. The two fighting styles (Power and Speed) return giving you something else to consider after choosing your fighter.
The Power mode is a good way to break through your opponent's defensives and allows for extra powerful Super Desperation moves should the power gauge be filled. Regular desperation moves are also available with this mode as well as in the Speed one. Speed allows for easier combos as well as special Speed Combos should the power gauge be full. This game also introduces a third 'Ultimate' fighting style (hidden but detailed in the electronic manual) that combines the other two, but at the cost of greatly reduced defensive capabilities. It can lead to swift victory, but also humiliating defeat.
Released eight years after the Neo Geo hardware debuted, SNK knew how to get the best out of the system at this point and so The Last Blade 2 impresses visually, improving on an already stunning first game. Adopting an animated look, the character designs are good, but the fluid animation really helps immerse you in the fights as characters twist around and leap across the screen finding new ways to smack each other about. The various character yells, grunts and different weapon clash and impact noises also help to sell the experience.
There’s a good selection of locations fought on from countrysides to villages and battlefields and burning buildings. There’s lots of detail in the surroundings and good effects like a heat shimmer, scenery reflected in shallow water you are fighting in, grass swaying in the breeze and birds and insects in the air. Subtle camera zooms during fights work well and the music also impresses. There’s a good mix of styles ranging from waltz-like to sombre and adventurous, whilst other times there’s no music at all and the backing track is simply the local wildlife or rushing water.
Playing through the game is a joy as, like its predecessor, there are a number of ways in which fights can play out. You may find yourself exchanging heavy strikes in close-combat, dashing to get the odd move in, keeping the opponent at bay with projectiles or spying an opportunity for a devastating combo attack. Or something else entirely. Your dashing attacks as well as knowing when to block or go for a repel lead to a number of options during fights and even rounds against the same opponent can offer up a different challenge.
If there’s one downside to the game, it’s the lack of balance. The first game balanced the line-up well, but here tweaks and changes have thrown things off. Liked playing as Yuki in the first game? Well, expect to lose a lot more this time around. Of course, this is a bigger problem in two-player matches as in single player you can just enjoy the challenge of battling towards your ending with a weaker character such as Okina. You could also use a stronger character such as Zantetsu as you get to know the game or if you just feel like powering through.
New final boss Kouryu has some very powerful moves that can quickly end your challenge, but generally, the game is quite fair on its default difficulty. As always with these releases there are options for things like button remapping and adding scanlines to the image. The number of rounds can be adjusted, allowing for single round fights or increasing to best of five affairs. The speed the timer counts down can also be adjusted and 'brutal depictions' can be turned off if you’d like less violence; there are blood spurts in the game and final blows can be fatal.
HAMSTER’s usual Hi Score and Caravan modes are here, giving you one credit and five minutes respectively to score as highly as possible to try and move up the online leaderboards. Seeking to improve your point scoring doesn’t have quite the same appeal as just winning more fights, so there’s more replayability from the two-player mode; the second player is able to buy into the regular arcade mode at any time to challenge you.
There are a few secrets on the character select screen (again listed in the electronic manual), the most fun of which is playing as Hagure. Usually, a spirit that appears during Akari’s battles, here Hagure takes on the form of your opponent, turning each fight of your playthrough into a mirror match. There’s also a hidden Time Attack mode. This one isn’t mentioned in the electronic manual. Simply hold all four attack buttons and pressing Start ('R' on Switch) and you will gain you access to it. Here you simply defeat as many opponents as possible before the 90-second timer reaches zero.
Conclusion
Like most fighters in the ACA Neo Geo range, there isn't much appeal in the Hi Score or Caravan modes, but that doesn't really matter when the regular game is so enjoyable. Like its predecessor, The Last Blade 2 seemingly simple combat system has a lot of depth allowing for plenty of options in fights with the good selection of fighters and different fighting modes. This game adds a third fighting mode and has some extra characters compared to the first game. Where that first game has the edge, however, is in the fighter balancing. If you'd only like one Last Blade title on your Switch it's a choice between fair fights or more fighting options, but really both Last Blade titles offer varied, enjoyable, engrossing fighting action with superb audio-visual presentation.
Comments 26
SNK's fighting games library was a dream to me in the 90's. This game is excellent and it's nice to hear the port flows great on Switch. A mix of affordability and excellence, I guess.
@John_Deacon
Enjoy your burst of happiness before digital foundry comes in and demonstrate how this port is still an inferior version...
@SenseiDje first, try definitive version. Second, if DF dictates your happiness...that's sad.
@SenseiDje the NEOGEO was a superb machine. If DF says Switch's port is inferior, I'll give them a thumb up and buy this port anyway.
Street Fighter 3, The Last Blade 2, Garou Mark of The Wolves, King of Fighters 'xx', Samurai Showdown 2, Guilty Gear XX, Dragonball Fighter Z, Pokken, Smash Brothers Ultimate, Blazblue Cross battle...ye...what drought?
So guys, what's better Sam Sho II, Last Blade or Last Blade II?
@wasilewski LB2 gets my vote. It's super slick.
@wasilewski I liked the first Last Blade more. I learned to play that one and found that I preferred to play using the Speed mode. They made changes to the Speed mode for LB2 that I didn't like so much, though I can't recall anymore what the changes were. I might have a different opinion if I started with the second. Who knows? You may want to look into how the Speed mode differs if you're deciding between the two.
@wasilewski
I go back and forth about which Last Blade is better, but they both beat Samurai Shodown II.
The Last Blades are the best 2D fighting games ever made. Period/full stop.
@John_Deacon
i'm the exact opposite. i didn't enjoy many of the snk fighters at all compared to say street fighter. something just feels off in all of them.
except waku waku. what a silly fun game that is.
@GrailUK @sdelfin @judaspete thanks guys. I will preview them on MAME and see which one to get. I will probably pick up one of the Last Blade titles. I see Pocket Fighter is coming out this week so I might pick that up too depending on the reviews.
Hands down this is my favorite of the bunch.
Classic, kinda prefer the 1st game though.
This is a total classic. Both games in the series are fantastic.
Recently got this download, such a fantastic NeoGeo classic.
@sword_9mm I usually don't compare SNK titles with Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat or Darkstalkers and the like. They're such different worlds
I mean, another 1v1 fighter. Sounds like a good one. But... 1v1 fighters hold almost no interest for me. Especially if they lack characters I know anything about.
Are these switch ports not good or something? I’ve never heard DF bash them before. Are they disappointing ?
@hippoeater I haven't played all ports that have been released for the Switch but reviews don't say they're disappointing. Some mention that some games didn't age well or that some games in some series are better than others, but nothing harsh about the port itself
@wasilewski POCKET FIGHTER IS COMING OUT? WHEN?!?!
What happened with Digital Foundry? I wasn't aware they considered Hamster ports inferior to the originals. Can anybody put a link or something?
About Last Blade, I have never played any of them, but always read that LB2 is less balanced. Like when in SFIII Gill and in SFIV Seth are cheap characters? Because if that's the problem, I think we are all used to these unbalanced elements.
@Jawessome sorry I meant Pocket Rumble!
@Moroboshi876
i think it was just a snarky comment. i don't know why DF would care about ports/emulation of old neo games.
@wasilewski
@John_Deacon @Pazuzu666 My try at being sarcastic is a failure, I guess.
I value gameplay and feelings over simple technical performance. A soulless game running at 120fps isn’t my thing
@SenseiDje yeah, I really didn't get your sarcasm. My bad.
That's the same for me: graphical perfection isn't everything. What matters is the fun in the gameplay and when it comes to ports, a respectful treatment.
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