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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Fighting Developer: Project Soul Publisher: Namco Bandai |
“Soulcalibur” has proved over the years that some consoles games have become superior to the fighting games that have always been successful in the arcades. When the game was released on the SEGA
Dreamcast, it proved to be far superior to the arcade version of the game. The arcade version of the game had died and the Dreamcast version went on to become successful, even though the console wasn’t as lucky.
Unlike a large majority of other fighter style games, “Soulcalibur” isn’t about players using their fists to fight opponent after opponent. Instead, each fighter comes equipped with a unique weapon that is their primary tool
for causing destruction to their opponent in the battlefield. The weapon becomes an extension of the fight and in many ways the weapon resembles the personality of the fighter. While Sophitia’s short sword requires
players to get into close range in order to take down their opponents and Kilik’s bo staff gives him amazing length between himself and his attacks, making it difficult for opponents to get in an attack. The weapons even
affect the overall fluidity of the fighter’s style so that, at least when players get to the more difficult levels of difficulty, players will need to use unique techniques for each character in order to survive from one match to the
next.
The genius of “Soulcalibur” is that it is very easily accessible for those that want to jump into a fighting game without having to deal with a high learning curve, yet is still has a considerable amount of depth for those who
have truly dedicated themselves to learning the move sets of each character in the game. Anyone can pick up the game and feel as though they are being successful in the game. There is nothing intimidating in the
game and the 19 playable characters are easily identifiable and, in many cases, are iconic of the series.
“Soulcalibur” runs amazingly well and looks beautiful and thanks to some touch ups, the game overall looks even better than it originally did when it was released on the SEGA Dreamcast years ago. Though it is only in
4:3 with some ugly borders to fill the extra space ont eh screen, it is still a good looking game overall. At the time of its original release, the muscles and clothes movement looked amazing on all of the characters. Of
course, on Xbox Live Arcade there isn’t anything special about the graphics, but in comparison to other games that are available on Xbox Live Arcade, “Soulcalibur” has very impressive graphics. This game proves to be
a game that, though it is getting older, it continues to be a very strong game in the fighting genre.
This is a very strong fighting game compared to those that have come before it and those that have come since its release. Along with the standard arcade mode, which offers players a text story for each fighter unpon
victory, there is a two play offline versus mode, team battle where a succession of up to eight fighters can go at it to determine that last man standing, Time Attack, Survival and Extra Survival. The only ode missing that
was included in the original release for the Dreamcast is Mission Mode. This amazing mode had players fighting through a progressive story under a wide variety of stressful conditions, arenas made of quicksand,
poisoned fighters and much more. Beating missions earned players points to buy more than 300 pieces of artwork which then in turn unlocked new costumes and weapon skins to use in battle. The lack of Mission
Mode is a major loss in the games replay value.
In order to be fair to the game, the blame of the game’s faults doesn’t fully rest on the shoulders of the publisher of the game. When Namco Bandai began porting “Soulcalibur,” Microsoft has a strict limit of 150Mb.
Online play, remade artwork to fit a 16:9 ratio and mission mode pushed the game well beyond those original limits. By the time Microsoft removed the preset limitations, “Soulcalibur” was getting very near to release.
The team managed to offer all of the features that could be unlocked from Mission Mode, which are available from the moment players buy the game from Xbox Live Arcade. Players won’t have anything to work towards
unlocking after they have downloaded the full game, which is more than likely going to make “Soulcalibur” will offer players a very short lived experience. For those who are able to look past the lack of an online play
mode and the absence of the Mission Mode that was so popular for the series in the past, will find that this is still a great fighting game, probably one of the best ever made. In reality, a $10 price tag isn’t too bad of a
price.
Over the past decade, the “Soulcalibur” series has added numerous characters and game play mechanics. However, the main highlights of the series remains in the very first game in the series. It took the ideas that
debuted in other fighting games and evolved them into a full and fun gaming package. Even without the Mission Mode, there are plenty of other game modes that will take up a lot of time. For those who have never
played any game in the “Soulcalibur” series, this is a fighting game that is worth trying out, it has proven to be one of the greatest game of all time, and will continue to be in the future.
Dreamcast, it proved to be far superior to the arcade version of the game. The arcade version of the game had died and the Dreamcast version went on to become successful, even though the console wasn’t as lucky.
Unlike a large majority of other fighter style games, “Soulcalibur” isn’t about players using their fists to fight opponent after opponent. Instead, each fighter comes equipped with a unique weapon that is their primary tool
for causing destruction to their opponent in the battlefield. The weapon becomes an extension of the fight and in many ways the weapon resembles the personality of the fighter. While Sophitia’s short sword requires
players to get into close range in order to take down their opponents and Kilik’s bo staff gives him amazing length between himself and his attacks, making it difficult for opponents to get in an attack. The weapons even
affect the overall fluidity of the fighter’s style so that, at least when players get to the more difficult levels of difficulty, players will need to use unique techniques for each character in order to survive from one match to the
next.
The genius of “Soulcalibur” is that it is very easily accessible for those that want to jump into a fighting game without having to deal with a high learning curve, yet is still has a considerable amount of depth for those who
have truly dedicated themselves to learning the move sets of each character in the game. Anyone can pick up the game and feel as though they are being successful in the game. There is nothing intimidating in the
game and the 19 playable characters are easily identifiable and, in many cases, are iconic of the series.
“Soulcalibur” runs amazingly well and looks beautiful and thanks to some touch ups, the game overall looks even better than it originally did when it was released on the SEGA Dreamcast years ago. Though it is only in
4:3 with some ugly borders to fill the extra space ont eh screen, it is still a good looking game overall. At the time of its original release, the muscles and clothes movement looked amazing on all of the characters. Of
course, on Xbox Live Arcade there isn’t anything special about the graphics, but in comparison to other games that are available on Xbox Live Arcade, “Soulcalibur” has very impressive graphics. This game proves to be
a game that, though it is getting older, it continues to be a very strong game in the fighting genre.
This is a very strong fighting game compared to those that have come before it and those that have come since its release. Along with the standard arcade mode, which offers players a text story for each fighter unpon
victory, there is a two play offline versus mode, team battle where a succession of up to eight fighters can go at it to determine that last man standing, Time Attack, Survival and Extra Survival. The only ode missing that
was included in the original release for the Dreamcast is Mission Mode. This amazing mode had players fighting through a progressive story under a wide variety of stressful conditions, arenas made of quicksand,
poisoned fighters and much more. Beating missions earned players points to buy more than 300 pieces of artwork which then in turn unlocked new costumes and weapon skins to use in battle. The lack of Mission
Mode is a major loss in the games replay value.
In order to be fair to the game, the blame of the game’s faults doesn’t fully rest on the shoulders of the publisher of the game. When Namco Bandai began porting “Soulcalibur,” Microsoft has a strict limit of 150Mb.
Online play, remade artwork to fit a 16:9 ratio and mission mode pushed the game well beyond those original limits. By the time Microsoft removed the preset limitations, “Soulcalibur” was getting very near to release.
The team managed to offer all of the features that could be unlocked from Mission Mode, which are available from the moment players buy the game from Xbox Live Arcade. Players won’t have anything to work towards
unlocking after they have downloaded the full game, which is more than likely going to make “Soulcalibur” will offer players a very short lived experience. For those who are able to look past the lack of an online play
mode and the absence of the Mission Mode that was so popular for the series in the past, will find that this is still a great fighting game, probably one of the best ever made. In reality, a $10 price tag isn’t too bad of a
price.
Over the past decade, the “Soulcalibur” series has added numerous characters and game play mechanics. However, the main highlights of the series remains in the very first game in the series. It took the ideas that
debuted in other fighting games and evolved them into a full and fun gaming package. Even without the Mission Mode, there are plenty of other game modes that will take up a lot of time. For those who have never
played any game in the “Soulcalibur” series, this is a fighting game that is worth trying out, it has proven to be one of the greatest game of all time, and will continue to be in the future.
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