Soul Fighter
I happen to come across this game at Target for the ridiculous price of $2.98. So I picked it up and figured I would give it a whirl. But believe me, Soul Fighter is not even worth the three dollars. It's obvious that most of the development problems went unanswered. And the game was released in a hurry.
The biggest cracks are in the basic fundamentals of this game. Soul Fighter is a one player game only. Who ever heard of a fighting game that doesn't have multiplayer options? Also, the camera tends to sit right behind your fighter (in a 3rd person type of view). Making it difficult to view enemies around you, and usually results in a gang jumping. The camera also moves around in battle meaning you have to keep adjusting your directional movements to keep up with the same enemy. You can't even control the placement unless you want a stupid first-person view. Simply annoying.
The basic scheme is sound despite the camera troubles. You have three unique characters to try out. Each with their own set of weapons and attacks. Most combos involve switching between the kick and punch buttons, which allow for easy attacking. Continuous battle will eventually fill your weapon bar. Which then allows you to pull out your weapons for battle. Though there's not very much reason behind them, since they do about as much damage as your normal attacks. Your enemies are relatively easy. But become a problem when they jump you in numbers thanks to the inconvenient camera angles. The bosses also seem to be a great deal harder than normal enemies and often get away with cheap hits. Unfortunately there's a lack of variety between the bad guys. Most of them attack in the same way despite looking very different.
Soul Fighter just doesn't have anything special to make you want to play it. The camera problems really hurt the overall experience. And most of themes are rehashes from forgotten fighters. You'd be better off getting a hold of a Sega Genesis and a copy of Streets of Rage 2 if you want a real Side-Scrolling Brawler. Otherwise I'd take that three dollars and rent a better game.
(pics by the pros at videogames.com)
| Category | Rating | How & Why? |
| Graphics | 7 | Decent Character & Stage Designs / Awkward Animations & Movements / Animated Cut-Scenes use In-Game Character Models and Look Cheap... |
| Music | 6 | Sound-effects are Okay / "Victory-Victory" Music is Terrible / Same Battle Music Used Over and Over... |
| Gameplay | 4 | Hand-to-Hand & Weapon-Based Combat / Lots of Items & Extras to Pick-Up / No Two Player Mode / Bad Camera Angles / No Camera Controls / Repetitive... |
| Innovation | 4 | The Rebirth of Side-Scrolling Fighting Ain't Happening Here / Camera System Ruins what could have been a Bearable Game / Where's the Multiplayer Options??? |
| Replay | 3 | 3 Different Characters / Good Number of Stages / Too Repetitive and Mundane / Camera Problems pretty much End this Game... |
Overall 4.8
Review written by ShinjiZ for GameyPlace.com on March 01, 2001