Consolation Prize

In preparation for the forthcoming release of Soul Calibur IV the second game in the successful melee weapon fighting game series by Namco, Soul Calibur, was unleashed onto Xbox Live Arcade last Wednesday, 2nd July.

As mentioned this was the second game in the series following in the footsteps of Soul Edge (PS1) and is probably most fondly remembered by Sega Dreamcast owners with which it became an instantaneous hit during 1999 because of its stunning visual beauty, great character roster, fantastic character animation, and its instant pick-up-and-play fighting techniques.

The story, as with most fighting games, is virtually non-existent but revolves around an evil mystical sword known as “Soul Edge” wielded by its host “Nightmare”. The characters in the game have there own altruistic or selfish reasons for joining the quest to stop Soul Edge and the player jumps into that role, progressing through a series of one-on-one rounds until the final showdown.

What really differentiated this game from the masses, apart from the visuals, was the freedom afforded to player movement. Prior to Soul Calibur movement was generally restricted to a 2D playing field, with some depth of movement into 3D sometimes allowed. However, Soul Calibur introduced complete depth of field and thus the player could easily circle around an opponent looking for tactical opportunities.

I absolutely loved this game on the Dreamcast and from what I’ve sampled on the Xbox Live port this is every bit as good to play now as it was nine years ago. It’s just as easy to pick up a character and have a modicum of success without having an intimate knowledge of their move-set whilst having a great deal of fun. However at the same time expert gamers will always overcome “button mashers”, and thus Soul Calibur manages to bridge the divide between casual and hardcore fighting games being the best of both worlds.

Soul Calibur was jaw-dropping when it was released nearly a decade ago and was certainly one of the showcase titles for the Dreamcast. On most occasions when playing a fondly remembered retro title I’m usually somewhat disappointed with the games visuals as in most cases the rose tinted image in my mind isn’t representative of the actual game. Fortunately however I’m pleased to report that Soul Calibur still puts on a good show today thanks in part to its high definition overhaul.

This still feels like one of the great fighting games of all time and it is a great addition to Xbox Live Arcade. If you missed out on playing the Dreamcast original then I highly recommended you give the trial game at least a cursory glance. The soul of this game is still burning bright!

Soul Calibur costs 800 Microsoft Points and is 188MB to download.