Racketboy

SNK is continuing their series of 2D fighter ports to the PS2. The latest to reach Japan is The Last Blade 1 & 2 pack. While these two fighters are marvelous games, they not seem to be true “ports”, but emulated versions instead. The unfortunate news is the emulation did not turn out well.

NeoGeoForLife.com reviews the PS2 Collection…
“The reason why there are no real load times once the game has loaded is because both games appear to be emulated… but disappointingly neither game seems emulated all that well. The PS2 is perfectly capable of successfully running a proper *port* of ANY Neo Geo game perfectly, however with its lack of RAM etc it isn’t really capable of emulating it as well as a PC or even the Xbox. To me it seems like the game is either slightly slower than it should be, or perhaps the frame rate is slightly lower, but something just feels very wrong. Add to that the fact that everything sounds horrible too, as if it is downsampled and quite muffled.”
(Read the full review of Last Blade 1 & 2 for PS2)

NGFL also states that if you don’t have a Neo-Geo, you are better off with the Dreamcast version of part 2 and/or emulating both games on a modded XBox.

I don’t remember reading similar comments on previous SNK PS2 ports, but I may go back and research them before I turn people away from the Dreamcast and Saturn for a superior 2D fighter library. Maybe we will see a superior port to the XBox in the near future as well.

For those of your that are not familiar with the Last Blade series, check out the Wikipedia entry and here is a piece of the review of the Neo-Geo version of Last Blade:
“This is truly an incredible fighter. The Last Blade (”Gekka no Kenshi in Japan) is a work of art, and delivers in all areas with the ferocity and power of any Samurai Shodown game. This game specializes in details in all areas. From character animation, backgrounds, sound effects, to even stage presentations, this game delivers what very few 2D fighters have been able to capture… Graphically this game is awesome and is a visual treat for the eyes. The game comes to life like an intricate animated painting.”
Full Review

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PS2, SNK, fighters