Samurai Spirits Zero

Where do I begin with this one? The Samurai Spirits (or Samurai Showdown in the US) series is one of the longest running figthing game franchises in recent times, and is credited as the first one on one beat 'em where all the characters use weapons.

The Game
This is pretty much like every other game in the series. Pick from one of 27 characters, then hack 'n' slash your way to the top. Every character has their own path in storymode, so it'll take a while to finish the game with everyone. But gone is the Bust and Slash system that gives you alternate versions of each character, though noticeably some of the characters are just copies of each other but opposites (Glaford & Hanzo, Haohmaru & Rasetsumaru, Enja & Suija, etc.).
There are four new characters in this edition, Yoshitora, a multi-sword wielding samurai with a bizzare hairdo; Yunfei, a chinese swordsman; Kusaregedo, a huge monstrous demon; and Mina, a scantilly clad female archer with an annoying alien baby sidekick.

Gameplay
No doubt if you've played past Samurai Spirits games, you know how the game works. That pretty much hasn't been changed here. But I will admit it's very frustrating at times as you can just beat your opponent with as many as THREE heavy strikes in succession! The CPU controlled opponnents can also be very difficult to beat, and sometimes you get the feeling the game is cheating because they can kill you off with those 3 strikes, yet you hack away like crazy at them and not do as much damage no matter how deep you are!
I also found a clitch in the game. As Tam Tam, I tried to corner trap my opponent with his jumping fireball, but everytime I get them in a corner and I go for the medium strentgh fireball, the character would suddenly be jerked backwards so that the fireball lands right in front of the opponent, giving them no damage! A heavy fireball would only overshot out of screen!
And theres also the sense that the CPU can read your moves and counter before you get the move out. Which is really frustrating.

Graphics & Sound
The graphics don't look really good for a SNK game. The characters look pasted on in some places and not consistent.
The music is forgetable to me, mostly feudal Japan type themes played on traditional instruments to dance type beat.And the voices range from ok to down right ANNOYING. I really could have done without Mina's sidekick screaming uninteligle non-sense.

Miscellanious
Other than the arcade story mode, theres only the standard versus and practice modes.
I don't know if there are any unlockables cause I haven't even beaten the game yet! That right. After a few days of playing I got so frustrated at the last boss I just gave up on it. What's the point of having a boss in a game that you CAN'T EVEN DAMAGE?!? And yet, he can just charge at you in the corner and all you can do is block until your health is finished. Try to jump over him and he catches you out of the air and impales you on his horn. I haven't been so frustrated with a game boss like this since Igniz in King Of Fighters 2001, and I had a much better chance of beating him than the guy here.

Overall
If your up for the challenge or a fan of the series, you might want to check this one out. Also wise that you have someone to play against in versus mode. Otherwise, the degree of difficulty will have you tearing your hair out and cursing the game. Only recommended if your a glutton for punishment.

Ratings
Graphics - 6
Sound - 5
Gameplay - 5
Lifespan - 3
Overall - 4