VISUALS

Samurai Showdown III, like all entries in its series, looks great, and this port does a fantastic job of emulating the original arcade version’s graphics. Like all recent ACA games on iOS, Samurai Showdown III also has a variety of filters you can choose from, including a CRT filter that gives the game screen a bit of a curve effect; it’s a little cheesy but I like it.

AUDIO

This port of Samurai Showdown III does an excellent job of emulating the arcade’s music and sound fx. If you love the original, ignore the rest of my comments; you will love this too. However, taken as it is, Samurai Showdown III has competent audio, but it’s nothing to get too excited about. The music is fitting but serves as true background; there are certainly no “Ken’s Theme” bangers here.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay of the arcade is well emulated, and when using a controller paired to your iOS device, you won’t notice much of a difference. There is a little bit of slowdown or lag in the controls but it certainly isn’t bad. The touchscreen controls work well enough, but this type of game is harder to play with touch controls than others, given the frantic nature of the gameplay.

FUN

The Samurai Showdown series is one of SNK’s premier fighting game series, and while the third game in the series is not as well regarded as most of the others, it’s still a lot of fun to play in 2023. The only caveat is that the enemy difficulty can be brutal at times, and when you add that to using touchscreen controls, it can turn into a frustrating affair (remember not to throw your controller – since it is your phone).