SoulCalibur

"An incredible game from Namco which really taps Dreamcast's true power"

This game is just unbelievable. It had an incredible impact on me. I used to make fun of Dreamcast back in the day, I was happy with my Nintendo 64. I laughed at Sega's next attempt to create a crappy system. Sega CD failed, Sega Saturn for the most part failed, and Sony and Nintendo ruled the skies (er, sales). But as 9/9/99 drew near, I got sucked into the hype and went Dreamcast crazy after being hypnotized by that little swirl. Anyway, on the glorius day of 9/9/99, I picked up my Sega Dreamcast. The sales clerk advised me not to get Sonic Adventure, as she had heard of many copies being defective, and that a new shipment of fixed ones would be coming in a week or so anyway. So I went back to the great wall of games that Sega had displayed for my playing pleasure. I sadly put back the Sonic Adventure which I had my heart set on, and I had only enough money to buy ONE SINGLE game (hey, shelling out $200 for the system was enough money anyway), so I picked up Soul Calibur, having heard that it was a great game. I went home and hooked up that tiny little system, almost skeptical of what it could do. Then I opened up the jewel CD case that held Soul Calibur, and took it out (I was treated to a nice image of the beautiful Ivy as I did so) and popped it into the system with a sigh. I ALWAYS watch the intro to a game, it's like a tradition almost. I was amazed. Shocked. Blown away. The graphics, incredible. The music, loud and clear, the backgrounds, rich and detailed, and the characters, masterfully put together, not a polygon line in sight. No blockiness, just smooth lines. I was then treated to a menu selection of many different ways to play. I chose Arcade, just for a quick play, and was treated to a nice selection of about 10 or so characters, each different than the last, it was hard to choose, but then my teenage hormones chose for me, I picked Ivy almost instantaneously. The game started, and I saw a screen that showed a picture of Ivy and Kilik, my opponent. Then the match started. No, there's nothing wrong with that last sentence. The game actually started. No load time whatsoever. It just started. The gameplay is amazing. Control is swift and fluid, you can get your character to do just about anything imaginable. The feel is like that of the Tekken series (no surprise, Namco makes both series, the Soul Edge series and the Tekkens, of course), except that you can go anywhere on the arena. Yes, that's right, ANYWHERE. You can circle around your opponent with ease. Jumping does not play a big part in this game, in fact you barely use it, considering that the characters can barely jump a foot. It's very realistic, and I sorta like not jumping around all over the place. But, even without jumping playing a major role, the fighting is fast-paced.

There are endless ways to fight, also. There is, obviously, the Arcade mode, along with a Time Attack mode, Survival mode, Mission mode (which has unique features I will explain later), and even a Practice mode where you can easily get the feel of the game and the characters. Even with all of the incredible graphics and sound, the thing that impresses me most about Dreamcast games is that they are HUGE! They are bigger than any games I have ever played, and they're also better looking than most games I've played. They manage to cram a lot on those little GD-ROMs. Onto the Mission Mode. This mode starts out as a training ground of sorts, where you fight against none other than the Edge Master himself, but quickly turns into a series of twisted challenges. This mode ties in with the Art Gallery. You earn points for completing certain tasks, such as beating an opponent while your life bar slowly drains, beating opponents whose HP can recover, etc., etc. You use these points to buy Art Cards, some of which open up hidden options. The Art itself is beatiful. The first 12 pieces are Japanese Animation (which I love) and tell the story, than the next few galleries are CG Animations of the characters and their costumes. There are over 200 pieces of Art in all, which I plan to collect one day. All in all, this is an incredible game, with nothing bad about it at all. I'm glad I started with this game and not Sonic Adventure (although I own both among other games now). A perfect 10 along with a perfect reccomendation from me, and I really think this should be an addition to everyone's Dreamcast library.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 06/08/03