Reviewed on July 25, 2008
Soul Calibur gets the fighting right, but without online play or the single-player mission mode that made it fun to play alone, this XBLA re-release is a flimsy package.
Read Jeff Gerstmann's full review
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Soul Calibur is the second installment in the Soul Calibur series.
Overview
Soul Calibur is the second installment in the "Soul" series with the first being Soul Edge/Soul Blade which featured originally in arcades and would later be ported to Sony's Playstation 1 console. The game was developed and produced by Namco who felt that the newer Sega Dreamcast system would better suit a sequel as it offered better graphical power and it very quickly became one of the most popular and best selling Dreamcast games ever. Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast was also the first time the series found fame with fans as the original installment in the series is generally seen as an underground hit rather then a huge success. Seen by many of its fans as one of the greatest fighting games of all time, it is clear to see why this game has found a fond place in fans hearts and continues to be loved today with newer installments of the series. The name of the game itself comes from the weapon created to help defeat the evil Soul Edge Blade which caused so much pain in the first installment. The game itself is also apparently set around the date 1587, except specific timelines have often been taken with a pinch of salt by the fans. Soul Calibur threw the Soul series into the same leagues as competitors such as Street Fighter, Tekken and Dead or Alive.Strangely enough, when Soul Calibur first saw light in arcades it wasn't greatly recieved and wasn't as popular as Namco had first hoped. This is interesting considering how strong the Soul Calibur fanbase is now and could have seen the beat em up classic not appearing on the Dreamcast at all. The game itself was set 3 years after the original Soul Blade/Edge game and continued a story that would later go on to be a surprisingly deep feature for fans of the series as all of the SC Characters featured to date have somewhat deep back stories. Of course Soul Calibur in itself brought a revolution to the Fighter/Beat em Up genre in the form of the now common eight-way run system which allowed the player to use rolls and sidesteps compared to the fixed and limited third axis system which only allowed the player to move from side to side. It was a huge addition in a genre that as rarely seen great advancements in gameplay with many developers sticking to a classic style of fighter that will always please its fanbase. It's a feature that would be key to the success of future installments and is still today seen as one of the biggest additions to the fighting/beat em up genre.
Story
Taki
Three Years later, the Azure Nightmare and it's crazed minions have gathered enough souls to start a ritual to return Soul Edge to it's formal power. Unkown to Nightmare and his followers, a group of young warriors meet on their journeys to stop Soul Edge and with them three sacred weapons are joined once again.
Features
Soul Calibur has many familiar features that currently exist in the fighting genre. Modes such as Arcade Mode, which consists of choosing one of the sixteen characters found within the game and fighting through 8 rounds with the 7th round opponent being based around the character your playing and the story they tell. The game also feature other classic modes such as Vs Mode, Time Attack, Team Battle, Survival and also Training Mode which allows you to practice with your favourite fighters.The Game also featured a Mission Mode, which allowed the player to move through various levels where fighting and fullfilling tasks earned you special points which could be spent on new costumes, artwork, CG Portraits, fanart and sketches. Another interesting feature not seen in any other fighter was the 'Exhibition Videos' or 'Katas' as they were also known. These videos allowed the player to see various characters performing Katas with the weapon of choice.
Strangely, Soul Calibur is the only Soul Calibur game to be without the extra weapons feature. A feature that existed in Soul Blade/Edge, Soul Calibur 2 and Soul Calibur 3.
5 of the 19 characters avaliable will given an extra 3rd costume to unlock using the Mission Mode. These characters were Maxi, Voldo, Siegfried, Sophitia and Xianghua. Also each character counted with an extra 'transparent' version of their costume in the arcade Version and in the Dreamcast Version counted with a 'Liquid Metal' version of the characters costume.
Versions
SEGA DREAMCAST
Soul Calibur was first released in Japan on the 5th of August 1999 and would be a launch title in North America on the 9th of September 1999. When released it was highly praised and became a fine example of a port being better then its original with much improved graphics, game modes, gameplay changes and new costumes, not to mention the inclusion of a new extra character in Cervantes De Leon. At the time of release, the Dreamcast version was cited as being one of the best looking games of all time. It was also a version which saw new modes such as Team Battle, Survival and Training Mode. An 'Artwork' section was also added which included character based artwork, FanArt and general high-res art. A 'Liquid Metal' version of characters costumes was also added along with a Battle Theatre which allowed the player to watch battles between two characters played by the A.I. Another interesting note is that in the North American release of Soul Calibur, one of Voldo's suggestive codpieces which featured a bull was removed, while both the Japense and European Versions kept it in the game.XBOX LIVE MARKETPLACE
April 2008 saw Namco Bandai announce that a port of the classic fighter would be released on Microsoft's XBOX LIVE Marketplace which features on the XBOX 360 Console. It was made avaliable for download on the July 2nd 2008, and featured improved HD graphics and LIVE leaderboards. To the dismay of Soul Calibur fans Namco Bandai confirmed that no online mode would be added to the game, this, added to the fact that the Mission Mode found in the original Dreamcast Version is missing, meant that the port got less than impressive reviews from both the gaming media and fans. The game did feature most of the modes avaliable from the original and also saw everything unlocked from the beginning which allowed a player to use characters that were originally locked in the Dreamcast version from the start. Despite the missing modes, Soul Calibur still stands the tests of time and is a great XBOX LIVE game for Beat em up Fighting fans.This version features the following playable characters:
- Hwang
- Yoshimitsu
- Lizardman
- Siegfried
- Rock
- Seung Mina
- Cervantes
- Edge Master
- Voldo
- Ivy
- Sophitia
- Mitsurugi
- Kilik
- Xianghua
- Maxi
- Nightmare
- Taki
- Astaroth
Success
Soul Calibur went on to be a huge hit on Sega's Dreamcast system, selling over 1 Million copies in 1999 alone. For the first time the series got its just deserve and was seen as one of the best fighting games out there, for both newbies and experienced players. It is to this day still seen as one of the greatest Beat em up's ever made and is a fine example of the genre done right. At the time of release, it got glowing reviews from all around the world and began what would become a famous series of fighting games still going strong to this day.
| Game Name | Soul Calibur |
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| Original US Release |
Sept. 8, 1999
need a fuzzy date? |
| Original US Release |
know the real date? |
| Aliases |
SC Soulcalibur |
| ESRB |
ESRB: T
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