Bakumatsu Roman: Gekka no Kenshi ("Swordsmen of the Moonlight"), also known as the "Last Blade" everywhere outside of Japan (with the exception of Korea, where it is called "The Last Soldier"), was initially ignored compared to the SNK franchises in the fighting game. Never having the mainstream popularity of The King of Fighters or Samurai Battle, The Last Blade nonetheless gained a substantial cult following in the years following its release. Perhaps it was the combined factors that it was released on a ridiculously expensive console and didn't hit the arcades with the same frequency as Samurai Shodown, or maybe they were released when 2D fighting games were falling out of favor. Whatever it was, it was an injustice, because the series is perhaps the best attempt at SNK.
Instead of being between the Azuchi-Momoyama era (mid 1500s - early 1600s) and the late Edo period (early 1600s - early 1800s) as in most samurai games when samurai were in prime of life, "The Last Blade" takes place during a solemn ceremony. Bakumatsu era in the late 19th century. "Bakumatsu" signifies the end of the bakufu period, and as its name suggests, it was a tragically overlooked era when ancient Japanese culture and traditions were discarded in favor of the Western way of life. The sword was replaced by a rifle, the kimono by a tuxedo. The samurai, who were the very essence of honor and discipline, were not even allowed to carry their swords into the cities, and many were expelled from civilization, forced to earn a living as bounty hunters and assassins.
The dark setting and rather intriguing characters give The Last Blade a very distinct feel. While it looks like Samurai Shodown at first glance, it's almost nothing like SNK's first gun fighting series, both aesthetically and physically. However, some of the characters are similar to Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin manga/anime characters, which makes sense considering they both take place in the Bakumatsu era.
The first thing that catches your eye about The Last Blade is how handsome he is. It was like something SNK hadn't done before. The sprites are probably the most beautiful we've ever seen on Neo Geo, only comparable to Garou: Mark of the Wolves. They are detailed, lush, vibrant, and the animation is silky smooth. The characters look far more realistic and mature than the disproportionate, overly colorful Shodown Samurai characters, and the backgrounds have an insane level of detail.
The game presentation works great. It is dark, solemn and carries an aura of twilight. You can really feel that an era is coming to an end. For example, one stage is set in a traditional Japanese village, but Western influence has already begun to creep down the mountainside as telephone poles make their way through the streets. These settings are inhabited by believable characters with their own unique flavor. The game just drips with style. Each stroke of the sword is executed with the utmost grace, fluidity and exaggerated romanticism. It's like art in motion, too good to be real, and yet more realistic than most other attempts in the genre. While some of the covers were done by regular artist SNK Shinkiro, most of the rest of the artwork was done by Aki Sennō, also known as TONKO.
To match the dark tone of the game, there is a sad, synthesized orchestral soundtrack. Where most other games in the genre use traditional Japanese music, this game reflects Western influences in visual design and follows European compositions instead. Not every battle is fought with music. Some of the battles are tastefully left to the atmosphere of the setting. In Moria's bamboo forest scene, a piercing wind pierces the leaves as a water wheel roars in the background. On the stage at Washizuka, a dog barks in the distance as some other creature is rummaging through the garbage in some invisible alley. The lack of music in some of the battles really adds to the tension. Sounds boring through the Neo Geo AES/MVS synthesizer, but its beauty really shines on the arranged CD soundtrack.
Even with such a beautiful presentation, the star of the show is a fighting engine. Like everything else in the game, everything works great. Since this is a weapon-based fighting game, one would assume that it plays something like a Shodown samurai, but it doesn't. Not in the least. In fact, it's not quite like other 2D fighting games. There are two attack buttons, a punch button and a deflect button. Locking is still done traditionally by holding the joystick back. Reflection is much more effective than blocking as it parries the opponent's attack and creates an opportunity for you. But it requires true mastery of the timing and proper possession.
Last Blade also focuses heavily on long chain combos. The buffer time makes combos a great challenge for the experienced, as you can pretty much punch through the entire button row for a combo you know before you even release your second or third attack and it will go through without interference. Almost every character has a great combo line and you can pick any character on the list that you think looks cool and be a great player with it because it's probably one of the most balanced fighting games ever.
Another aspect is the caliber of the sword. After choosing a character, you can choose from two fighting styles; Power or Speed. Similar to the Slash and Bust system from Samurai Shodown III, the Power and Speed styles greatly change how the character works. With strength as your style, your character is very strong and can use a special super desperation move, but his potential for chain combos is very limited, usually losing momentum after 3 or 4 hits. With speed, your character can perform 8, 9, 10 combos with very little effort, and they can also use their sensor to go into a custom combo mode similar to the X-Ism style from Street Fighter Alpha 3, but the strength of their attacks is significantly decreases.
There is no doubt that The Last Blade is a great game. However, it was outdone by its sequel, which is why it mostly remains forgotten. The only real reason to play this is for any of the specific backgrounds or music found only in this game (or if you want to play as Kaede before his ability gives him blonde hair).
There are several different versions of The Last Blade. The Arcade and Neo Geo versions were, of course, pretty much the same. The CD version of Neo Geo contained a fully orchestrated, arranged soundtrack. This soundtrack is simply amazing and one of the best orchestral soundtracks ever made. However, as usual with Neo Geo CD games, the load times are quite long and the music is reloaded after every round, meaning you're unlikely to ever hear much about it. The PlayStation version was more or less the same as the Neo Geo CD version, but with a (rather unimpressive) anime introduction and an added game feature as Kojiro Sanada (the real Kojiro Sanada, not his sister), who is really just palette. Washizuka exchange. For the most part, the port is fine - there are a few loading screens (with a few cute 4-part comics), and while the action usually moves along at a decent pace, there are some slowdown points. However, Yuuki's stage is almost impossible to play because the added snow effects obviously make the whole game run in slow motion.
In early 2006, SNK released a compilation of both games, The Last Blade, on the PlayStation 2. These are largely ports of the Neo Geo CD versions with online play added. Unfortunately, there is still some slowdown and the quality of the sound effects is quite low. Last Blade has also appeared on the Wii Virtual Console and a PlayStation port is available for download on the Japanese PSN.