When the Sega Dreamcast first came out, I was skeptical. I really didn't see what it could do for me that my PC or N64 couldn't. (Keep in mind that this was two years ago. I was young and foolish then.) I didn't really see what the Dreamcast could do that would blow my socks off. Then I was introduced to Soul Calibur.
Despite the fact that it was one of the first games out for the now fading Dreamcast, Soul Calibur was, and still is, a testament to what the Dreamcast is capable of in the right hands. While Soul Calibur is not as deep as an RPG or massive platformer, it is quite deep for a fighting game, and this deceptively simple game does one thing and does it exceptionally well.
Soul Calibur is Namco's only fighting game that it produced for the Dreamcast, and the sequel to its PlayStation fighting game Soul Edge. Presumably, there's some sort of a back story to it, providing some motivation for these people to be beating each other up repeatedly. However, said motivation really only rears its ugly head upon completing Arcade Mode, and otherwise is of no consequence to the actual game.
What people come to Soul Calibur for, of course, is not the story, but the fighting. As far as control is concerned, Soul Calibur keeps things simple. The four face buttons are set to horizontal attack, vertical attack, kick, and block. These buttons, in combination with the d-pad or analog stick, provide a number of different attacks for each fighter. What this means is that the system can be extremely simple for the novice, yet provides a great level of depth for the experienced player.
Basically, this is a win-win situation. Soul Calibur doesn't need handicaps like Capcom fighting games do; even knowing the moves sometimes is no defense against a novice who plays wildly enough to be dangerous. My girlfriend, in fact, defeated a string of experienced players with Nightmare by simply pressing one button repeatedly and staying out of the way of opposing attacks. Of course, that isn't to say that Soul Calibur devolves into a competition of who can mash the buttons more, of course; when two experienced players go head to head, there's a great deal of planning and strategy involved.
The only real problem that I have with the battle system is that once one player is knocked off the edge of the ring, they lose. While this does add another aspect to the strategy of the game, it also cheapens it a bit, because it makes it possible for one person to dominate a bout and then lose to a cheap shot that knocks them off the edge. It's definitely not game breaking, just occasionally annoying.
Soul Calibur provides plenty of replay value for the single player as well. There is a whole set of characters to unlock, by playing through arcade mode repeatedly. What's unfortunate, though, is that most of the unlockable characters are slight variations on the original set. Regardless, it's still nice of Namco to provide that option.
There are also several modes in addition to arcade and Vs. modes, including the requisite Survival Mode, which challenges the player to knock out as many opponents as possible on a single life bar, Extra Survival, which is basically Survival Mode where the first hit wins, and Team Battle Mode, which involves several combatants fighting against each other. While these modes are essentially a novelty, thy do add some replay value.
The mode that does add quite a bit of replay value is Mission Mode. Here, the player plays through a number of specialty stages, some more difficult than others, in order to earn points which can be redeemed for pieces of artwork from the game. Some of these pieces of artwork also unlock extra game modes, costumes, and other goodies. It not only helps to improve the player's skills but also provides a different experience that keeps the game fresh.
Graphically, the game is a masterpiece. The characters move fluidly and are animated quite nicely, and the level of detail, especially in their faces, is quite high. I don't think I've ever experienced any slowdown at any point, either. Soul Calibur is almost as much fun to watch as it is to play. It's a shame that it really hasn't been able to be beaten on the Dreamcast to date.
Sound is also quite good, with the possible exception of voice acting, which is in Japanese with subtitles. While I know some like hearing the original voices, I, being the American pig that I am, like my video game voices in English as well as Japanese. Other than this minor qualm, though, sound is top-notch. Background music, what you can hear over the sound effects, is high-tempo and generally appropriate, while not overpowering. The sound effects and character yells are just over the top enough to be good fighting game sounds, yet not so much so that they sound forced. All in all, Namco did an excellent job on the details.
If you own a Dreamcast, unless you absolutely abhor fighting games, Soul Calibur should b in your collection. It's considered a Dreamcast classic for a reason; there's very little that isn't right with this game. Sure, there's only so much you can do, and eventually it will become somewhat bland, but that will happen much less quickly with Soul Calibur than it will with most other games. Give Soul Calibur a try and see what your Dreamcast can really do with the right material to work with.
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