Update: April 5, 2007
«©NCSX» The expansive battlefields and armies of Shin Sangoku Musou migrate from the Playstation 2 to the confined interiors of the Nintendo DS. SSM: Fighters features the same theme and spirit of the "bigger" Sangoku Musou games but the execution and experience is on a much smaller scale. Prior to the Nintendo DS, Koei's Sangoku Musou has gone portable before on the PSP which was a fairly faithful rendition of the PS2 original. The NDS version can't match the technical aspects of the PSP or PS2 games and sacrifices were made to scale the game downwards. For one, the action is throttled down into a very straightforward and rigid hack fest with the occasional special attack thrown in to mix up the action. Collecting coins from fallen enemy soldiers gives players the currency to ignite meteor strikes, earthquakes, and other specials.View larger photos for this item on the main NCSX website.
NCS Game Notes
» Take control of a general and hit the Warring States territories to slash your way to victory. The crowds aren't as thick as the PS2 versions of the game and the action isn't as impressive but for the NDS, it's pretty much par for the course. The flavor of SSM is retained with generals rushing into battlefields and destroying legions of enemy forces. There's a limit of 20 enemy soldiers on screen at any one time. » Attacks may be chained in 4-thrust sequences. After the fourth thrust, the game engine enforces a half-second lapse before you can attack again. Special elemental attacks are triggered by pressing a single button (Y) while fast-twitch melee attacks are activated by pressing just the (A) button. The (X) button activates and uses the Musou meter on the bottom of the screen which sends out a swirling tornado that wrecks everyone in the local area. » Character cards may be collected and the general that the card represents used in battle. Before each battle, the general cards may be selected to include in your deck. The game features over 100 cards to collect and use. » Armories may be set up on the battlefield to replenish supplies. » Bosses are fought inside a grassy pen that looks like something that farmers would use to corral livestock. Bosses aren't too difficult to beat but you'll basically have to use run, gun, and guard tactics to avoid their substantial attacks while smacking on the fly. While a boss battle is in play, kobun coins and steamed buns appear on the field which may be collected. To defend against attacks, hit the L-Trigger. Collected coins are tracked on the lower-right corner of the screen and may be used to trigger various effects by pressing the (Y) button including a meteor strike and a local area earthquake. The icon for the meteor strike looks more like a flaming cube of caramel than a mighty celestial body. » Similar to the recent PS2 Musou games, the enemies attack aggressively as a group and don't hang back as much as the soldiers in the original Musou games. Archers in the distance also attack regularly and they'll send arrows at you that sail across the air in straight trajectories. » If you smack an enemy soldier into the air you can keep hitting him in a sword swinging juggle until dead. » While battling, the enemy will assail you with magical effects including a freeze effect, slowdown, shadowy magic which obscures your hero, and a "lose control" effect where the d-pad doesn't work to move the hero as it should. » The most enemies we encountered on the battlefield in our early morning testing was 16. The game showed no signs of slowdown as arrows flew through the air, enemies attacked, and our fast moving hero scattered their ranks. » Picking up a steamed bun recovers about 1/5 of your HP. » A combo counter on the lower-left corner of the screen keeps track of your consecutive hits but if you don't score a hit within 1 second of the last hit, the combo chain is broken. » Battles take place on standard battlefields with breakable rocks which reveal secret passageways and some battles take place on a ship that rocks to the left and right. If you don't move while on board the ship, you'll slide to and fro with the seesaw motion of the ship. » A decent effort by Koei to bring the majesty of Shin Sangoku Musou to the Nintendo DS but fans of the PS2 versions looking for the same exact experience won't find it here. Jan Code: 4988615026157 This document is ©NCSX 2007. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.
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