Soul Calibur (Xbox Live Arcade) Review

Posted by Joe Roche on 07.17.2008

One of the greatest fighting games of all times returns via the Xbox Live Arcade, but can it possibly be as great as it was after almost ten years?



Most seventeen year old girls know who said “if you love something let it go, if it was meant to be it will return to you.” Unfortunately while that sentiment packs the pages of high school year books around the country, outside of the confines of your pre promiscuous college years it doesn’t have much meaning. That is, unless you’re talking about the SEGA Dreamcast and most importantly – Soulcalibur.

Whether you’re a fan of fighting games or not there is a very good chance that you’ve at least come across Soulcalibur at some point in your video game travels. After being released in 1999 it quickly became recognized as one (arguable the) greatest fighting game of all time. There are some who have argued that it belongs on the list of best games of all time (although I’m not sure I’d go that far), and it easily tops the list of weapons based fighting games if nothing else. So when word of a Soulcalibur port on the Xbox Live Arcade started making the rounds I could not have been more excited, and for 800 MS points you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you have any found memories of Soulcalibur and you don’t purchase this title.

The XBLA port comes with every character already unlocked which is a bit of a downer but I understand in the interest of condensing the game sacrifices (including “Mission Mode”) had to be made. On the flip side this does allow you to be Edge Master right from the jump which is at least enticing for those of you who get bored trying to unlock characters in a fighting game. For the purist Mitsurugi is still an absolute badass driven by honor and pride while Cervantes (a character I never really understood) is looking great in his new high definition swashbuckling gear. As a quick aside if we’re to believe that the Soulcalibur timeline takes place during the 1500s can anyone explain how one of the characters carries a weapon that wasn’t invented until around 1630?



On the flip side much like all things that you return to after a long time away not everything as is great as it once seemed. First off the D-PAD on your 360 controller is absolutely horrendous, so you will spend the first few fights just trying to get your wits about you. That’s a minor thing though, whereas the fact that the Mission Mode had to be taken out of the game does seem like a bit of a drawback. I understand the condensing that had to be done, and ARCADE mode is still there if you want to see a nice ending sequence for your character, and all the other modes remain from the Dreamcast edition so if you’re a huge fan of TIMED ATTACK you’re in luck.

Some people are going to focus on the lack of online play as a reason to not put down the 800 MS points but frankly even that isn’t enough to keep this from being one of the best games that I’ve played on the XBLA in quite some time. An online fighter is never as fun as it seems in theory anyways, plus with Soulcalibur IV right around the corner the window for online play was probably too small to justify the investment. Instead Namco Bandai has done a good job in porting almost everything that there was to love about the original (Alright, second installment) Soulcalibur right down to the “INSERT COIN” flashing message above the Player 2 position to really drive home the arcade feel.

The 411:

This Arcade port of Soulcalibur isn’t perfect I will readily admit that. The lack of online support is a bit of a drawback, and not having “MISSION MODE” does relegate you to a lot of Arcade battles. However, with 12 achievements to unlock and just for the sheer joy of getting to see some old friends from the Dreamcast back in action there really is no excuse for a fan of fighting games to pass on Soulcalibur. If for whatever reason you missed this classic the first time around and you just don’t understand what all the fuss is about – then spend the 800 MS points because it’s still easier then finding a working Dreamcast, and I promise you will not be disappointed. Also when you take into consideration how close we are coming to the next installment of the Soulcalibur series (even if it has become a whore of its former self) this is an absolutely perfect way to relive some of the glory days of this franchise as you tune up your combo ability for the next iteration of the Soulcalibur story.

Graphics	8.0	I haven't played the Dreamcast version in some time now but this looks just as good, if not better then the original.
Gameplay	8.0	Even the D-Pad can't bring this one down.
Sound	7.0	Admittedly I had forgotten about how tedious the post fight taunts could become to hear.
Lasting Appeal	8.0	You've been playing it for nine years on the Dreamcast, I think you'll get your MS points worth here.
Fun Factor	8.0	It's Soulcalibur - c'mon.
Overall	8.0   [ Very Good ]

Screenshots
All 10 Soul Calibur Screenshots