"minor improvements", but that "that's what makes it so darn good." Samurai Shodown II made GameSpot's list of the greatest games of all time and EGM list of top ten cult classics. It was also ranked as the 18th best arcade game of the 1990s by Complex. Retro Gamer included it among top ten Neo Geo games: "With its beautiful graphics, silky smooth animation and eclectic character roster, the second part of SNKs Samurai Shodown series is easily its best. The 202-meg cart featured new fighters, glorious backdrops and even slicker controls than the impressive original. A massive arcade success, Samurai Shodown II was a fantastic two-fingered salute to Capcom and proved that SNKs style and ambition knew no bounds. It certainly lacks the depth of later games in the series, but for sheer fun and accessibility Samurai Shodown II is without equal. A truly monumental fighter that still plays brilliantly today." In 2008, they gave the XBLA re-release a review score of 91%. In 2019, Game Informer ranked it as the 9th best fighting game of all time. According to Retro Gamer, "this incredible game proved that SNK was willing and able to challenge genre conventions and go toe to toe with Capcom in the fighting game arena. The heated competition between the two companies would last through the decade and beyond as both companies tried to out-innovate each other with each new release." The game's awkward Engrish text intro has often been commented on. Chad Okada (Game Lord) stated that efforts to localize the text were stunted as the small profit earned from Neo Geo home versions was not considered worth the time and money needed to fix translation errors. Next Generation reviewed the Neo-Geo version of the game and stated that "Unfortunately, even in its full arcade reproduction, Samurai Showdown II is still just another fighting game. It's definitely a game every Neo-Geo owner should invest in, but not a reason to buy a machine if you don't own one." Notes References External links Samurai Shodown II at GameFAQs Samurai Shodown II at Giant Bomb Samurai Shodown II at Killer List of Videogames Samurai Shodown II at MobyGames Samurai Shodown II at SNK Playmore 1994 video games ACA Neo Geo games Android (operating system) games Fighting games 2D fighting games Arcade video games D4 Enterprise games IOS games Kinesoft games Multiplayer and single-player video games Neo Geo