Soul Calibur II

Story

Nightmare

Modes and Features

• These include the classic Arcade Mode, Team Battle Mode (this is very similar to Arcade mode, except up to 8 fighters can be used and there are no cutscenes or endings), Time Attack (fight against the clock to gain records), Survival Battle and a Training Mode (which allowed the player to train with a specific character of choice) were also included. There were also 'Extra' versions of these modes, which allowed you to use extra weapons. Another worthy note is the fact that in the Arcade Mode, the 7th Battle was also known as the 'Destined Battle' and was a battle which was predefined and never changes. These battles featured different fighters depending on the characters backstory, this feature was also found in previous Soul games.
• Another feature that has returned from the original Soul Blade is the inclusion of extra weapons. But instead of Soul Blade's system of different statistics, the Soul Calibur II system is based around Power and Defensive percentages and also has special extras including such abilities as Energy Drain and pass through defense. Each of the characters found in the game has 12 different weapons of choice, which generally range from the standard first and second player weapons to the ultimate power weapons which would be eagerly wanted by fans of the game. Each character is also granted a Soul Edge version of their arms as well as joke weapons,  which are often riddled with bad stats but have humorous effects. All of the weapons found in Soul Calibur II have some sort of back story that can be read at the 'Weapon Gallery' found within the game.
• The Arcade Version of Soul Calibur II also added an extra game mode in 'Conquest Mode' which allowed the player to choose an army, fight enemies and gain experience as they played along. These experienced points allowed the player to gain the levels of the selected fighter they had chosen.
• Much like the original Soul Calibur, a Museum could be found which contained Character Artwork, various videos and weapon exhibition (also known as Katas). There was also a 'Profile Viewer' and 'Battle Theatre (Which allowed you to watch CPU vs CPU Battles).
• Soul Calibur II also featured the ' Weapon Master Mode' which built upon the 'Conquest Mode' found in the Arcade Version of the game. This was a similar mode to the 'Edge Master Mode' found in Soul Blade and also Soul Calibur's 'Mission Mode'. The mode offered an alternative take on history, and allowed you to travel the map which was split into different regions (and named after stars), the player would fight enemies to gain experience which would raise the rank of the fighter. Money would also be obtainable in this mode, which would later be spent on new weapons, new costumes, art and videos. The structure of the mode had 10 normal chapters, 4 sub-chapters and 2 extra chapters. There was also 2 extra missions which were an alternative version of Normal Missions. The Actual story of this mode saw the player control a swordsman on the journey searching for Soul Edge, but he is soon faced with a powerful mad knight named Veral, who searches for the sword to use in his own desires.
• As in Soul Calibur, a number of characters were given a 3rd choice of costume, purchasable in Weapon Master Mode. Out of the 25 characters found within the game, only 13 were actually given an extra 3rd costume choice. Link  had three different costumes, same as the three found in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, with only the black costume not found in the game.
• Another interesting note is that the game also allowed players to listen to voice overs in both English and Japanese.

Universal Success & Criticism

Link as he appears in the GameCube version

Multiplatform Releases

• Link from the Legend of Zelda series is the exclusive character in the GameCube version of the game. Link uses the Master Sword and Hylian Shield as weapons.
  
• Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series is the exclusive character in the PlayStation 2 version of the game. His weapon was the Gauntlets. Heihachi wasn't the Namco's first choice to use in the PS2 version, as they initially wanted to use Cloud or Squall from Final Fantasy.
• Spawn, from Todd McFarlane is the exclusive character in the Xbox version of the game.

• Astaroth - Great Axe

• Cervantes de Leon - Long Sword and Pistol Sword
• Chai Xianghua - Chinese Sword
• Heishirō Mitsurugi - Katana
• Inferno - Imitati on
• Isabella "Ivy" Valentine - Snake Sword
• Kilik - Bo Staff
• Lizardman - Sword and Shield
• Maxi - Nunchaku
• Nightmare - Broad Sword
• Seung Mina - Guan Dao / Naginata / Halberd
• Sophitia Alexandra - Sword and Shield
• Taki - Dual Kodachi
• Voldo - Dual Katar
• Yoshimitsu - Katana and Sashimono

New Characters

• Cassandra Alexandra - Sword and Aspis|Shield
• Charade - Imitative Power
• Hong Yunsung - Dao
• Necrid - Transforming energy called Enigma
• Raphael Sorel - Sword-Rapier
• Talim - Dual Elbow blades / Bladed Tonfas
• Berserker - Great Axe