The Soul Still Burns!

When the Dreamcast first came out, Soul Calibur was the best reason to own one. Fast forward about 4 years, and now we finally have the sequel. Does it stand up next to its predecessor?

I can quite honestly say that it does. Soul Calibur 2 offers a lot of new features and enhancements, but still utilizes the core gameplay elements and many of the characters of the first one. This is a fighter that anyone can easily get into, even people like me who don't usually get into fighting games all that much. Soul Calibur 2 is simply very appealing.

Part of that appeal derives from this game's incredible graphics. The characters are all very well modeled, and even more importantly, well animated. The backgrounds are detailed well enough to provide a rich backdrop in which to fight, and they even feature a few animated elements to boot. With out a doubt, Soul Calibur 2 looks great, but that is only part of the story, as gameplay is also very solid.

I am having a blast playing this game. I have mainly been playing the Arcade and Weapons Master modes. The Weapons Master mode is like the story mode, and it has revealed that there are a huge array of things to unlock in this game. The more you unlock, the more you find that you can unlock. Truly a vicious cycle! This "carrot on a stick" routine actually motivates me to play more in order to get the goodies that are available.

There are a lot of characters here, and each of them have different moves and are useful in different situations. I have heard complaints that the special characters in each console's version, which happens to be Link in the GCN game, don't fit in. Honestly, I don't agree with that statement. I mean, when your roster of characters includes a living rock pile and a un-dead pirate, what difference does it make if you add a fairy boy to the mix? But I digress...

Controlling this game with the standard GCN pad has been no problem. I've heard people moan ever since they saw the pad that it wouldn't be any good for fighting games, but I have had no trouble with it. I honestly don't feel the need to go out and drop $50-$100 for an arcade stick setup.

Well, to wrap this up, Soul Calibur 2 easily looks like it will surpass its predecessor in all categories, which is saying a lot.

Andy Rucker