wth??? did they even play this game before rating it? Kengo is THE BEST fighting game to date.
To me it constitutes one of the games from my golden years, one wich I still play to date. This is by far one of the most fun games out there if you like arcade fighting games, samurais and/or swordfighting. Kengo isnt just a swordfighting Arcade game, Its also an Action RPG, there's Arcade mode, VS mode, Tournament mode, and the main course: Story Mode.
In Story mode you can have 4 diferent attack combos at any given time, wich are customisable (there's a wide array of techniques to learn and use), collect swords, train your MC's stats in many fun minigames, Compete in Tournaments, Bout against other Dojos, basically its all just the same but with many fun diferences that make you not loose focus/interest in the game.
The difficulty doesnt disapoints anyone, newbie or pro. You cant choose a dificulty, it changes has you advance the game, seemingly depending on your wining/loosing streak, and it doesnt lowers much when loosing either
The gameplay is just perfect, you have complete control over your character's movements, you can either avoid by slightly moving/sidestepping or by agesively runing/jumping out of reach, and you wont hear anyone wining ever about "that didnt hit me!" since you wont get hit unless the sword graphically comes into contact with the character model, you could even avoid or miss by an inch, and prepare for a counter attack. You can also not just block but parry your oponents
Graphically the game was avant garde when it was just released, and it still looks very cool nowadays
The sequel Kengo 2 Legacy of the Blade (or Sword of the Samurai) is also worth checking out, with a similar but radically changed (enhanced id say) gameplay system, and watered down graphics, it is about a 9-10 points too, Just like the original.
This is a MUST GET for not just sword/samurai freaks but also fans of Arcade Fighting games. If you arent too sure since Gamespot gave it a ridiculous score compared to my review, then just check Youtube and see for yourself lol =)