The Basics
Well, let's see...I'm working 4 nights a week now...I'm not really spending much money on anything other than
gas...which means I should have some loose cash at hand. I think I'll buy a Dreamcast. Why? Two words:
Soul Calibur
Yes, the game impressed me that much.
Before I start going on about how much I love it, I had better explain what it is.
Take Tekken. Add weapons. Change fighting style from typical 3-D fighting to something more martial-artsy.
Change characters from typical fighting game times to warriors from various historical periods. Make it more defense based.
Congradulations. You now have Soul Calibur.
Well, somewhat. There's a bit more to it than that. The game is very much based on the Tekken engine. Two
fighters circle each other on a basic arena (which edges they can fall off, thus causing them to loose). There
are light, medium, and strong attack buttons, as well as one that activates throws, a defense button, and
one the charges the character up. The number of matches required to win can be changed (traditionally, it's two.).
At this point, you start to notice serious differences. First of all, Defense is more essential to winning fights, not
to mention more elaborate. In most fighting games, all you have to do is run up to your opponent and beat them
into tar with your special move(s), and the extent to which you defend is by either jumping over a fireball or blocking
that flurry of punches. Even 3-D fighters don't usually vary too much from this format (Virtua Fighter, anyone?).
In Soul Calibur, you have to roll (Roll, roll, you gotta fill my soul) under a swinging sword, jump back out of range of a dagger,
side step a falling ax, and if at all possible, position yourself next to your opponent so as to get a few hits in.
This can be very difficult, given that some characters have incredible speed (Maxi), incredibly long range (Siegfried),
or both (One of my two faves, Seung Mina)
The weapons themselves are not only varied, but rather creative in themselves. Mitsurugi carries a Japanese samurai sword,
Rock (different Rock) wields a massive ax,
Maxi has Nunchakus, Kilik has a Rod, Siegfried has a two-handed sword has the same dimensions as Cloud's Buster Sword
from Final Fantasy VII, Nightmare has a demonically possessed blade that steals souls, and Ivy has a strange weapon that
functions as (I kid you not) both a whip and a sword. Variety, indeed.
Technically, this game is outstanding. I believe it came out around the same time as DC, and yet it looks as good as
some PlayStation2 games I've played (and even better than the arcade!). The characters, weapons, and arenas are all incredibly
detailed (right down to strands of hair and individual fingers), and the detail goes beyond just that. Characters' breath is visible
on "colder" levels, bodily movements are realistic and not exaggerated (except jumps, but that's different), each character has an actual
fighting style as opposed to just different versions of the same throws and swings, and the weapons themselves
even bend slighly while flying through the air and hitting targets. Add to that some genuinely good lookin' CGI characters like Sophitia
(My other fave, and not just because she's great eye candy), and you have one of the best lookin' games this side of SquareSoft.
Not only does it look good, but it sounds good, too. The music is generally exciting (although not as good as, say, The Legend of Zelda), voice acting
is done well (although hearing that commentator say, "(Character) was wounded, but the soul still burns" gets REALLY irritating), and the sound effects are good, too.
IGN gave this 10 out of 10 overall. I'm inclined to, too.
I finally got a Dreamcast and Soul Calibur in the year since I updated. I still stand by the 10/10 rating. Woohoo!
