SoulCalibur

"You'll never look at fighting games the same way again"

When Soul Calibur hit the market, it was nothing like people had ever seen before. Never had people seen such a beautiful weapon based fighting game with such perfect balance and depth. It earned high scores and even a few game of the year awards from magazines and websites, many claiming that it was the best fighting game ever. It was the main reason to own a dreamcast (along with Sonic Adventures). Even after its sequels came out, it still remains one of, if not the best fighting game ever! Read on to find out what a masterpiece this game is.

Game play

Like all fighting games, Soul Calibur pits you in a fighting arena against another guy and you two duke it out until one of you die. The only difference is this game does it better. The fighting in this game is amazing. Newbies will love the fact that they can instantly pull off sweet combos just b pressing a few buttons, but that doesn't mean this game is only for button mashers. Skilled players who take the time to learn the combos are going to be rewarded for their patience. You can pick a variety of characters the moment you start up the game. You want a guy in armor with a huge sword? You've got it! Or maybe you'd prefer the quick, short ranged ninja instead. This game's got that too. Each of these characters play with very unique fighting styles (and I'm talking about the cast of characters before you unlock any secret ones, because then you will find characters that play like each other), which makes sense. I mean, I doubt we would see someone with an ax fighting someone with a sword-whip. When the fighting actually starts, you can pick from your 4 buttons; block, vertical attack, horizontal attack, and kick. Press two at the same time, in a certain order, or with the analog stick (or D pad) and you'll be able to pull of some mad combos. You also have full 3D space which you'll have no problem maneuvering around thanks to the 8 way run away feature which has you and the camera changing constantly. Another feature that Soul Calibur has is guard impacting. When your enemy attacks, you block and push the analog stick in their direction and you parry their attack which usually gives you a quick chance to attack (though they could guard impact you right back, so watch out). Some other features that the game has are air control, throwing, unblockable attacks, and a few other surprises that I'm not going to go into detail about. Now that I've talked about the combat system, I'll tell you about the stages. There are no barriers in this game. Your fighting on a platform in a geometrical shape where a ring out could come from any sides. The levels, like the characters, come in huge varieties; a coliseum, a lava filled temple, the top of a mountain, and in a money pit are only a few examples.

Now, these features wouldn't mean much if the game had shallow single player and multiplayer, but you don't have to worry about that because this game has one of the deepest, most entertaining single players that you'll ever see. It has all of the normal modes of a fighting game (Arcade, survival, practice, etc), but Mission mode is where the single player really shines. You'll start off in a practice area as the game teaches you all of the basic skills of the game, and then the game will pit you off into a mission. At first you only have access to one or two of them, but as you get farther you're able to pick from several at once. Each mission has its own unique twist such as beating your enemies within very short periods of time, fighting while poisoned, only being able to hurt your enemy with throws or unblockable attacks, or fighting without being able to see each others weapons. There is such a strong variety that you'll probably never get tired of it even long after you beat it. Each time you complete a mission, you get points. You can use these points to buy art. As lame as this sounds, it's actually quite interesting. Besides the fact that the art looks great, some art holds unlockables, so you'll always be encouraged to buy it. The mission mode is actually more fun and addictive than multiplayer. That's not to say multiplayer is bad. No, it's great! I especially like the fact that two people can play during practice so that two people can duke it out without ever having to worry about health bars. Overall, the fighting was, and still is revolutionary.

Overall: 10/10

Story

In any fighting game, there needs to be a reason why these people decided to beat each other up. Most game designers take the easy way out and say they're fighting in a tournament. Not Namco (or at least for this game). This game has a very unique story for a fighting game. There is a weapon called the Soul Edge in the world. It is said to be the ultimate weapon, so warriors from everywhere are after to either claim it or destroy it (because it is evil you know). Each character has his or her own story line for arcade mode, each with a destined battle and a match with Inferno (A Fire Monster who the Soul Edge in a walking form or something. I didn't get it). A fighting game that doesn't take the easy way out (making their story a tournament) automatically gets some free points from me, but when the fighting game has a good story that doesn't take the easy way out, there's no reason it shouldn't earn the highest score that I can give it. Overall, this story is good enough to be in an RPG.

Overall: 10/10

Graphics

Here's a fact; Soul Calibur has the best graphics on dreamcast. Nothing, and I mean nothing comes close to how good Soul Calibur's graphics. If you do think there is a game on the dreamcast that does have better graphics then Soul Calibur, please tell me your address so that I can come over and punch you in the brain. Nothing beats them. First of all, the character models are absolutely breath taking. Everything is so clean and detailed. You'll find a truck full of details such as lifelines, scars, tattoos and of coarse, jiggle breast. The animations are gorgeous as well, some of the best in video games in general. Now for the stages, they are just as good if not better than the character design. In the background of each level you'll find beautiful Japanese statues, strong storms, rippling water, blowing leaves, waterfalls, lava bubbles, amazing water and lighting effects, and much, much more. Everything just looks incredible. Overall, these graphics are good enough to hang with the PS2's, and show the true power of the dreamcast.

Overall: 10/10

Sound/Music

If Soul Calibur beats its sequels at anything, this has got to be it. While its sequel's music was really good and catchy, it didn't always fit what was going on and didn't use very much live orchestra. This game makes none of those mistakes. No tune is too fast or too slow. Each tune is done with beautiful live orchestra. Every tune fits the stage, and I guarantee you will get this music stuck in your head. The sound effects are just as good. Like the graphics, you'll see (or in this case, hear) a lot of them in the background. You'll hear water rushing, lava boiling, mice squeaking, and much, much more. The voice overs are excellent as well. Due to realism, none of the characters speak English (don't ask me what language they do speak. I don't know), but I like it and it's really well done. None of it sounds like it's being read right off the script, though this may be because I don't speak their language. Everything else such as sword clashing and slashing are great as well. Overall, the sound's production quality is top notch and deserves its own concert.

Overall: 10/10

Game Length, Difficulty, and Replay Value

Well, the two main modes (mission and arcade) should keep you busy for a good 20 hours, but it will increase drastically because this game has great replay value. Mastering all of the characters, unlocking all the extras, two player battles, and just the will to replay the whole game will keep for ages you busy even if you own the game's sequels! And like any good fighting game, this game lets you choose the difficulty level so even master players will find a good challenge. Overall, only the pickiest of the hardcore fighting fans will find something to complain about in these factors, and they'll struggle finding it as well.

Game Length for Single Player: Long
Difficulty: Variable
Replay Value: Extremely High

Overall

Be warned! When you first put this game into your dreamcast, you're probably not going to get much sleep for the next few weeks, you'll start to smell bad, and lose your appetite, but that's ok. Every second of this game is worth it.

Final Score: 10/10

If there is such thing as a flawless game in the world, Soul Calibur is one of them.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/25/05