Customer Reviews

Soul Calibur

5 star:		(241)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Wow. I pride myself on my vocabulary skills but this is the only one-word definition I could come up with for this game. Soul Calibur is the best fighting game ever made...hands down. It also ranks in my top five favorite video games of all time, which is saying a lot because I've played hundreds of games. Now that I've said that, I can get down to the big question: why should you spend your hard earned cash on this game? I'll tell you why...

Graphically, Soul Calibur has some of the best visuals on any system, including PS2. The first time I saw this game in action I was amazed. I've simply never played a game that looks this good. The character animation is incredibly lifelike, both during fighting and in the pre-rendered opening and victory scenes. The backgrounds are very realistic and add to the overall atmosphere of the game.

The music is well done and the sound effects are tremendous. The sounds of blade hitting blade, blade hitting air, and blade hitting flesh are dead-on accurate. I mean I've never actually heard somebody being hacked into with a broadsword in real life, but I'm willing to bet that it would sound pretty close to the sound you hear in Soul Calibur. Other impressive sound effects are the character voices both during and between battles. From the grunts and roars of the hulking Astoroth to the Bruce Lee-esque high-pitched hooting and hollering of the nunchaku-swinging Maxi, these characters come to life.

Control is extremely tight and responsive. Which makes it a lot easier to learn new moves. Every move in the game is easily accessible through the in-fight move menu. Just push pause during a battle and the entire arsenal of moves for your character is available for the taking. The characters are also very well balanced each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

There are 19 characters in all, although nine of them must be unlocked through beating the game in arcade and mission modes. It's through all of the unlocking hidden characters, levels, costumes, options, art cards, game modes, etc., that the game shows its true depth. Each character has his/her own unique weapons and fighting styles. Each character also has hundreds (yes, hundreds) of attacks, combos, and special moves to keep you coming back for more.

As if you needed any more reason to pick this game up, I will mention that the menu system is very streamlined and straight-forward, the two-player mode is a blast, the art gallery is surprisingly well done, the story lines are more than adequately interesting, and at the recently discounted price you'd have to be crazy to pass this one up...Wow.

Beautiful graphics and music, unbelievably diverse range of character (all well balanced in ability), mind-boggling extra options...all these were to be expected of the company that brought us the superlative Tekken games. And Soul Calibur exceeds these expectations.

I've never mastered the game, finding the 3D system hard to adjust to, and I still dislike fighting games that use the block button (eg. Mortal Kombat) instead of the Street Fighter system. Also, the game endings in Soul Calibur are on the flimsy side, with beautiful hand-drawn art for all the characters, but somewhat unsatisfying story endings for many of them (Astaroth and Lizardman, for example). But this is cosmetic. despite my lack of skill in this game, I keep coming back to it. And like in the Tekken games, the intuitative control scheme allows for much improvisation so that even if you're an amateur 3D-fighter player like me, there's still plenty you can do. All in all, even though I'll probably never master this game, it's still a lot of fun. And that's all I ask!

Believe the hype, SoulCalibur is the real deal. It is...exactly what everyone has been saying it is, and more: a truly stunning game visually, extremely fun in single-player mode, not hard to catch on to, etc. However, the reviewer (below) who gave it only two-stars has a very valid point. Button-mashing is rewarded, often quite frustratingly (wanna make people really mad? Use Kilik and just press Y and up repeatedly. You'll see... ;). However, I disagree that the veteran cannot overcome this. One of the best parts of the game is that every character has an implicit weakness--the strong players are slowest, the fast players weakest, the longer-range attacks are slow-developing, etc.--and therefore it is up to the opponent to find and exploit it. I've played this game one-on-one with friends upwards of 48 hours combined and there is not yet one dominant character or player. That is indicative of a well-balanced game, I think.

So believe the hype, buy the game, and remember: every diamond has a flaw, if you closely enough. In the end, though, it's still a diamond.

If you even remotely enjoy the fighting genre Soul Calibur is THE game to buy when Dreamcast finally launches in the West.

Soul Calibur scored 40/40 in Famitsu, Japan's leading video game magazine. Famitsu rarely hands out perfect scores, so you can bet this game caught my attention. I've been lucky enough to sample the delights of the Japanese version first hand a few days back and I can say it's simply stunning! I've been playing Soul Edge, Soul Calibur's predecessor, on PlayStation since it came out in Europe and have enjoyed it immensely. Soul Edge (Soul Blade in Europe) is one of the best fighting games on PSX, but after having played the sequel I can say Soul Edge and Soul Calibur aren't even in the same league!

Everything about Soul Calibur is top notch: The introscene (Namco's trademark), the ingame graphics, the music, the sound effects, the characters. But there's one element that really stands out, the element that's the hardest to grasp unless you've played the game itself: the gameplay. The sheer control you have over your character and his or her moves is simply incredible and the characters are incredibly diverse yet remarkably well balanced.

I really can't wait to get my hands on an American Dreamcast and a copy of this game so I can play this amazing game whenever I please. Soul Calibur is a MUST-BUY title. If you still aren't convinced you should get away from your Monitor & keyboard right now and run to a place where the game's up and running. If that doesn't convince, nothing will. I certainly know that convinced me.

Even though it's over a year old, Soul Calibur is not only the best-looking Dreamcast game there is, it's the best 3D fighting game on the planet. Period. Nothing comes close. A lot of people say Tekken Tag for the PS2 is a better game, but Tag is merely a rehash of Tekken 3 with updated graphics, and Dead or Alive 2 just doesn't have the same shine. Soul Calibur introduced so many new ideas to the genre of 3D fighting that it's hard to think how anyone will surpass it: the 8-Way run system and Guard Impact are just two of them. The graphics are flawless 60 fps glory, the sound crystal, the backgrounds enthralling. Mission Mode and the huge unlockable Art Gallery send replay value through the roof, but the true treasure here is the combat system. Helped by pinpoint control, beginners and veterans alike will find no end to the depth of the fighting engine that the 8-Way Run system opens up, allowing your fighter mobility across the entire surface of the arena. People are still talking about the huge leap Soul Calibur represents for fighting games. Namco has produced a work of art that also happens to be the most flawless game I've ever played -- a year later it's still the most played game on my Dreamcast and I'm still discovering new moves and techniques. Soul Calibur has sold many Dreamcast systems (my own and all my friends' as well), and at the price the system and the game are now, it's an ABSOLUTE STEAL. Everyone who's even remotely interested in gaming owes it to themselves to experience this piece of history -- games like this don't happen often, folks.

So is it..or isnt it...well if you just looked at the five stars that i gave the game you would probably think it is...but Soul Calibur sadly is not the best game ever...However it IS the best fighting game to grace ANY console at this moment in time..the gameplay is superbly balenced...button bashing will win a few fights but experienced players will be able to counter and attack back forcing the button basher to try and get the moves that are needed to win consistently.The graphics are for the first time on a home console actualy arcade standard and the music,whilst being very much in the back of the players mind,suit the game very well.But it is the excellent replay value that makes this game so special.The one player mission mode is superb with lots of varying battle modes and loads of things to uncover.This game is an absolute MUST buy and a credit to NAMCO for bringing it to the DREAMCAST,not only arcade perfect,but building on the solid platform and giving extra's to the home user.

This is a really amazing game, and I'm not even that big of a fan of fighting games.

The graphics, moves, settings, and so on are just incredible. I've played some 3-D games where bad camera angles gets to be an annoyance, but this game seems really smart about that - you don't even notice it most of the time, feels very cinematic.

A good variety of characters, each of which is very unique in style, moves, and controls.

I think the best thing about it is the wide variety of modes. There is a regular arcade mode where you strive to beat computer controlled enemies, or duel with your friends. There's a practice mode where you can learn all the cool moves for your character (including lists of all the moves and demos of how to do them and what they do). There's a mission mode where you have to achieve various goals in the fights (such as, number of hits rather than life totals decides the fight) or some things are different (the one where the rats crawling around will bite the characters in the feet and bring them down is hilarious). Achieving the goals, or defeating the solo arcade version of the game, can make available new characters, costumes, and settings. And some other modes that I haven't explored yet!

The tight outfits and realism of the graphics make for a fair bit of beefcake/cheesecake, so if you find that sort of thing offensive, be careful. It's still pretty tasteful in that regard. If you're offended by violence, well, this is a fighting game! Although there's no gore, you do get to do things like whack your opponent a couple of times after you've defeated them so that you can watch them writhe in agony.

Thanks to the practice mode, even an old clumsy person like me can learn enough of the wild moves to make it really fun. Of course, I still get destroyed against people who know what they're doing (there's a lot of depth to the blocking/countering strategies), but it's still a blast. I'm always seeing new moves and other things that surprise.

I first played Soul Calibur in a local arcade several years ago, not really knowing anything about it. After recieving a Dreamcast for Christmas I made sure that I bought this game. I was floored. Definately the finest video game I have ever played (with the exception of Neo-Geo's arcade version of Samurai Showdown II), Soul Calibur packs in all that a fighting fan could ever wish for. First off, the characters. All conform to the basic archetypes of fighting games. Their edge: each is totally different from the others, their moves, stances, voices and dialogue completely unique. Second, the graphics. This game takes every advantage of the Dreamcast's 128-bit ability. The scrolling is flawless, the 3D effects phenominal. The music and animations, as well as the Japanese voice-overs, are superb and the art gallery, mission mode, and other special features are totally amazing. The gameplay is important as well. Each character has such a varied range of moves and motions that you can play the game for quite a while and never get bored. My current favorite characters as Mitsurugi, Kilik, and, a secret character, Yoshimitsu. However, I do have a few bones to pick with this game. While the nine secret characters available are superb and fun to play, there is not yet an all-inclusive code to access all of them, meaning that you must play through the game close to 20 times to achieve all of them. Also, the secret characters are, though bodily different, subtle rehashes of the original characters, with a few exceptions. Another downfall: I have not yet discovered how to save all of the secret characters onto a VMU. My unit stops after the first 4. This means that after you have gotten all the characters, you'll have to start all over again once you turn the Dreamcast off. The HORROR! Also, the cheapness rating of this game is rather hight. Characters such as Kilik have a distinct advantage over many other "slower" characters and have the ability to continuously thrash their opponents while they're down, virtually upopposed. Players new to the game have a high liklihood of being taken to the cleaners by a more experienced opponent. Despite these downfalls, the game's virtues more than make up for its flaws. If you're looking for a good fighting game with an added dash of panach, check Soul Calibur out. Enjoy!

soul caliber is a beautiful game with incredible control, graphics and game play, when you first play the game its easy to mistake if for button masher but if you take the time to master the moves and understand the controls (witch isn't that hard to do) this game will do things you never thought possible in a fighter. if you buy one game for the dreamcast soul caliber is the only choice!

Soul Calibur is the Best Fighting Game ever Created. It is even BETTER than then the arcade version. Every character is PERFECTLY finished right down to the last detail. They move and look increadibly realistic. Their weapons and moves put a whole new edge on fighting games, but an edge than any other game on any other system will have a hard time matching. Even those that don't like fighting games will be hooked by Soul Calibur

If you own a Dreacmast go and rent this game so you can be reassured that this truly is the best fighting game ever created, and then go and buy it and own the greatness that is Soul Calibur.