Developer: Mad Finger Games

Release Date: 10/21/2010

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Samurai II is a great-looking game but also sports brutal combat. It has a very generic revenge story, so don’t expect anything interesting there. Now, this combat isn’t very deep, but the strategy is key thanks to the select enemy variety, and each one has its own unique moves. As you move through the chapters, you will encounter more powerful enemies and bigger and bigger waves. Each section of every level will block you in an area, and you must defeat waves of enemies. Each wave may have different enemy types like archers (defeat these first), yellow dual sword guys (save for last and dodge a lot), as well as some blue samurais, red ones, and big heavy guys.

The game could have just thrown random things at you and made you hate the game, but thanks to each enemy sticking to a specific move, you can use strategy to defeat each wave and stick with that strategy through the whole game. Once you get to chapter four, you will encounter every enemy type, so from here on out, it’s just about staying alive. You can upgrade up to 8 combos, but there is no magic or power of any kind, and I didn’t like this. You have heavy and light attacks on the chain, so combat is very shallow. The only thing going for this game is the visuals and strategy in combat.

The game looks like Okami with excellent watercolor visuals, yet the overall design is pretty bland and generic. Every so often, you will get sections that give you obstacles to dodge, but the game is really simple but great in 5-minute chunks for on-the-go gaming. The only thing resembling a powerful attack is that at random, the game will slow down and you will do an instant kill, but with this being random, you can’t use it when you’re in a pinch. There are also no health pickups, so you have to stay alive through each wave. Overall, Samurai II is very simple, but it carries great visuals and has a great on-the-go pace.

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