Soulcalibur

The Soul Calibur series is a much loved beat em up franchise that as the honour of being one of the most forward thinking games in a genre where classic is happily accepted. Not much as changed since the days of Arcade Beat em Up Gaming (except of course things going to 3D) and that as been both a blessing and a curse. The genre still holds much of its charm yet play another reashed Street Fighter 2 Turbo Boost Extreme Mega Edition (Not a real Game) and you'll see that to often developers will stick to the classic old rules of the genre and are clearly scared to make any huge changes that might upset its fanbase. Thankfully the Soul Calibur series as never been scared to move forward and take a risk or two, of course this as occasionally ended up with below par game modes. But for the most part, many of its gameplay changes have been small and generally accepted by its fans as the Developers look to keep the series fresh and challenging from installment to installment.

The originally titled Soul Calibur is not infact the first ever game in the Soul series, with the original featuring on the Playstation One console and also first in Arcades. The original went under two different names, Soul Blade in Europe and Soul Edge in North America but were the exact same game. Soul Calibur (which was the first game in the series to feature the Calibur name) first appeard on Sega's Dreamcast system and quickly became a famous game for the now mostly forgotten console. It's fair to say that for the most part, Soul Calibur was the first introduction to the series for those who never experienced the first Soul game on PS1. Featuring the great gameplay that made the PS1 Installment such an underground hit, it also saw the introduction of a number of new characters that would become much loved characters by those that loved playing them. The game also featured characters from the original Soul Blade/Edge including Rock, Taki, Cervantes, Mitsurgi, Voldo and Siegfried which despite a few changes both graphically and gameplay wise, still had the same feel that made them such popular characters in the first installment. A number of new characters also appeard such as Kilik, Astaroth, Maxi, Lizardman and Edge Master. Many of these chracters introduced in Soul Calibur are still in the series today and have found a place in fans hearts. For me personally the character of Kilik will always be one of the best in the series.

Many of these characters have surprisingly interesting backstories, a rare thing when it comes to fighting beat em up games. A story arch as also flowed throughout the series and continues with the newest installment, Soul Calibur 4 coming to PS3 and XBOX 360. Thankfully as we wait for its release, we have the original Soul Calibur which as been spiced up a little for XBOX Live Marketplace to play. When it was first announced that Soul Calibur was coming to XBOX Live there was understandably much excitment for a game that was so loved by those who played it and for the most part it does a solid job, even if its missing some big features that you would have expected from a reworking of a beat em up classic. The biggest being no online mode whatsoever, I suspected that there wouldn't be one after watching a Soul Calibur 4 interview where the developer specifically stated that the series would get online play for the first time ever in SC4. So its a blow, but thankfully you can still play with friends if one wishes and for that it is still is a blast to play. Many of the same modes are here including the normal arcade mode, Team Battle mode and Survival Mode. Of course being on XBOX LIVE, there are some nice achievements to get and some are surprisingly challenging and will keep you busy till SC4 comes out on the 1st of August (European Release date). After recently playing Street Fighter on my PSP and then experiencing Soul Calibur again, I forgot what an amazing game it was. Even compare it to the original Soul Blade/Edge and there was a huge advancment in the series with both how it plays and generally feels. In fact much of that feel hasn't changed a great deal as the series as grown older with Soul Calibur 2 an 3 and from early impressions SC4 will stick it the classic style yet introduce some great new features. Of course there as been small but generally welccome changes to how the SC Series plays, it still feels confortable and easy to pick up and play for long periods.

What made the Soul Calibur games so popular was some of the awesome battles you could have, it was friendly for newbies to beat em ups and with certain characters Button Mashing was happily accepted yet take the time to master the characters and you'll find yourself one tough cookie to beat. Thats why despite Soul Calibur missing key features and not getting a total reworking (graphically speaking). I find it hard to be to hard on the game, especially after not having a Dreamcast anymore to play this classic game. So its nice to experience all over again and its a great introduction for those not familar to the series and looking forward to Soul Calibur 4. Its perfect if you want a taste of how the series began.

OVERALL
Soul Calibur for XBOX LIVE will please the majority of fans who haven't played the original Calibur game for a good few years, yet the score as to take into account the simple fact that no multiplayer modes are included and not a great deal as seen a huge graphical improvment. Saying that, you won't find a better beat em up game on XBOX LIVE until Soul Calibur 4 is released.

GAMEPLAY: 5/5
GRAPHICS: 3/5
SOUND: 3/5
VALUE: 3/5

Soul Calibur for XBOX LIVE gets 3.5 Stars out of 5.