''The Last Blade 2'' is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and released by SNK in 1998. Like its predecessor, ''

The Last Blade ''The Last Blade'' is a fighting game developed and released by SNK for the Neo Geo (console), Neo Geo system in 1997. It was also ported to several home systems. A sequel, ''The Last Blade 2'', was released in 1998. The game takes place during t ...

'', it is a weapons-based

versus fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

originally released to arcades via the

Neo Geo MVS The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

arcade system, although it has since been released for various other platforms.

Gameplay

Gameplay elements remain the same as its predecessor with some minor adjustments. An "EX" mode was added to play, which is a combination of "Speed" and "Power". The mood is grimmer than its predecessor through the introduction to the game. The characters are colored slightly darker, and the game's cut-scenes are made longer to emphasize the importance of the plot. Characters are no longer equal, hosting greater differences of strengths and weaknesses than before.

Plot

The game is set one year after the events of the first game. Long before humanity existed, death was an unknown, equally distant concept. When death first came to the world, the "Messenger from Afar" was born. With time, the Sealing Rite was held to seal Death behind Hell's Gate. At that time, two worlds, one near and one far, were born, beginning the history of life and death. Half a year has passed since Suzaku's madness, and the underworld is still linked by a great portal. Our world has been called upon. Legends of long ago told of the sealing of the boundary between the two worlds. The Sealing Rite would be necessary to hold back the spirits of that far away world.

Characters

Three new characters were introduced: * Hibiki Takane: daughter of a famed swordsmith, she is searching for the silver-haired man that requested the final blade her father would ever make. * Setsuna: a being believed to be the "Messenger from Afar", he requested a blade to be forged by Hibiki's father, and is out to slay the Sealing Maiden. * Kojiroh Sanada: Shinsengumi captain of Unit Zero; investigating the Hell's Portal.

Home versions

''The Last Blade 2'' was made available for various consoles, including SNK's own

Neo Geo AES The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

and

Neo Geo CD The is the second home video game console of SNK, SNK Corporation's Neo Geo family, released on September 9, 1994, four years after its Neo Geo (console), cartridge-based equivalent. This is the same platform, converted to the cheaper CD format ...

. The Neo Geo CD version includes an extra quiz mode, voiced cutscenes, and a gallery section featuring art from both ''Last Blade'' titles. Most of these additional features were also included with the Dreamcast port titled ''Last Blade 2: Heart of the Samurai'', released in 2001. The Neo Geo CD and Dreamcast versions added an additional character named Musashi Akatsuki. ''The Last Blade 2'' was subsequently bundled with the original ''Last Blade'' for a PlayStation 2 compilation released only in Japan; both games are arcade perfect emulations of the original games. At PlayStation Experience 2015,

SNK Playmore is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...

announced

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

versions of ''The Last Blade 2'' developed by Code Mystics.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''The Last Blade 2'' on their December 15, 1998 issue as being the second most popular arcade game at the time. According to ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'', the Neo Geo CD sold over 9,379 copies in its first week on the market. Blake Fischer reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'', rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "A unique 2D fighter for Dreamcast which is a welcome break from the plethora of ''Street Fighter'' variants we've seen in the States. Too bad you'll have to track down an import to play." In 2012, '' GamesRadar+'' included ''Last Blade 2'' among the little-known classic fighting games that deserve HD remakes, calling it "one of the Neo Geo’s prettiest, deepest fighters."

Notes

References

External links

*
''The Last Blade 2''
at

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''The Last Blade 2''
at Giant Bomb
''The Last Blade 2''
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''The Last Blade 2''
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