A weapons fighter from the NEOGEO era
THE LAST BLADE 2 is SNK's weapons-based fighting game, first released in 1998 on the NEOGEO system as the sequel to THE LAST BLADE. This version is a port of that original game. Fights are 2D one-on-one duels with swords, played in pixel-art style, and the roster holds 18 playable characters: 12 combatants including boss character Kagami carried over from the previous game, 4 new fighters, and 2 hidden ones. The story runs through the twilight of the samurai at the end of the Edo period, where four "Mythological Symbols" face an awakened spirit from the netherworld and try to send it back through "Hell's Gate", the boundary between life and death.
Fighting with friends
The Steam version supports online multiplayer, so players from different places can fight each other over the internet, and local play is available too. Remote Play Together is listed as a feature, which lets people join in from their own setups. Pick a character, pick a style, and go at it — matches are competitive one-on-one bouts, so a group can run a rotation and see who comes out on top.
What to decide before the first match
Each character can be set to one of three sword attack types: POWER, SPEED, or EXTREME. That choice changes how the character plays, so it is worth trying all three before settling. Beyond basic attacks, there is the REPEL mechanic for countering an opponent's strikes, and three ultimate techniques that can swing a round: SUPER SECRET SLASH, HIDDEN SECRET SLASH, and ENIGMA FRENZY-ATTACK. Learning when to repel and when to spend an ultimate is the core of the game system. Expect a classic arcade-style fighter with a story mode to work through alongside the multiplayer bouts.