With Nintendo Swap 2 bringing a number of GameCube classics to Nintendo Swap On-line Enlargement Pack subscribers very quickly, we seemed into our again catalogue of retro opinions and located we did not have one for top-of-the-line preventing video games ever created…till now. Get pleasure from!
Soulcalibur II, of all of the video games on this mighty collection, was the one that basically cemented it in our minds as a franchise to have sat alongside the likes of Road Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken and the easiest fighters of its period. And another period, let’s face it.
Bringing weapons to the celebration won’t seem to be such a giant deal these days, however again in 1999 when the unique Soulcalibur launched, not many video games had managed to introduce them effectively, never-mind efficiently mix them with a sport that adheres to the flashy, easy-to-learn, super-move pushed fight that was so well-liked on the time – and stays so!
Soulcalibur managed it (constructing on Soul Edge‘s basis). Nevertheless, it was locked in a Dreamcast-shaped jail, so this large, daring, multiplatform sequel was the primary SC that many avid gamers performed. The hype pre-release was one thing to behold because of this, and by chance the sport turned out to be an absolute cracker that elevated all the things about its predecessor into one thing we’ll very fortunately sit down and play, and absolutely take pleasure in, to this very day. Soulcalibur II is the very definition of an all-timer.
Alright. However what makes it so nice?
Effectively, let’s begin with the unimaginable roster: the legendary Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Ivy, Taki (this author’s go-to), Nightmare, Voldo, Cervantes… Truthfully, as quickly as we begin speaking about these characters, we’re whisked again to a wonderful time when preventing video games arrived as full packages, stuffed to the gills with superb fighters and dazzling arenas, all of which we would spend an entire lot of time attending to know intimately. You even get the thrill of unlocking a bunch of fighters by way of beating the arcade mode. Bear in mind how a lot enjoyable doing easy issues like that was?
Soulcalibur’s steady stays one of many best round, too. It is acquired one thing for everybody, with straightforward newbie heroes like Mitsurugi, proper as much as off-kilter brawlers like Voldo and Nightmare. This model additionally arrived with Hyperlink as a particular character and…effectively, he is nothing particular compared to the remainder of the lineup (brutal honesty FTW), however hey, it is a enjoyable bonus, a straightforward ‘in’ for Nintendo followers, and the very best of the platform-specific visitor characters (Sony acquired Tekken’s Heihachi Mishima, Microsoft acquired Spawn).
Every fighter within the lineup is designed to attraction on a really fundamental degree to gamers who’ve been raised on Road Fighter and its ilk, and so the core of motion — moreover the side-stepping 2.5D side and the performing of specials — will come as second nature by design, leaving you with the free brain-space to work your weapon methods into the combination.
And as a substitute of pinpoint accuracy, or fumbling the ball by having the weapons change into overbearing or advanced, they roll with a hack-and-slash model that delivers engrossing and exhilarating fight, large combos, straightforward mixes between weapon and limb assaults, and a few very fancy throws to extremely addictive impact. It is welcoming to newbies, too, making you’re feeling like a proper show-off onerous b*****d who is aware of what they’re doing even whenever you’re truly simply studying and are afraid of all the things.
Enjoying in 2025, that is nonetheless an instantly partaking and spectacular factor, then. Getting into and out of the foreground with a fast double-tap of your D-pad is one thing that also feels fairly novel, even right now, and timing particular assaults that solely happen as you dodge and weave into the again and/or foreground like that is addictive as ever. There are so, so some ways to sneak an assault and switch the tide whenever you open the fight up into three dimensions, even when it is just a bit, as it’s right here.
Having block set to its personal button is all the time a bonus on this form of weapons-based caper, too, providing you with far more management over defence, and forcing you to root your self to the spot at occasions, altering the movement and pace of fights and placing you ready to utilise the advantages a weapon brings. These scraps can get surprisingly (and pleasingly) strategic with all these shifting elements, because of this.
With blocking, dodging throughout a 2.5D airplane and, lest we overlook, ring-outs, there’s various methods to each dominate an enviornment by holding the central floor, or to play possum and lead your foe to their doom with a fast side-step and, “Oops, you have simply been chucked out of the world while urgent the benefit. Dingus.” There’s intelligent fighters after which there’s intelligent fighters, mate, Soulcaliber 2 is a intelligent fighter. Add in weapons that basically do matter, that basically do complement and add choices to a roster of impressively various and technical preventing types, and also you’re in a battle fan’s dreamland.
So, the fight is superb – we’re good to go on that entrance. The roster is a cracker. The levels are nonetheless stunning to behold. And it continues on this vein, even all this time later. There’s an OTT model to how all the things is offered, proper right down to the commentary, that is not aged a day, both. It is all so pompous, grandiose, and self-important. Outrageous enjoyable. We will not flip it off.
Moreover all of the common modes you’d anticipate finding, with commonplace arcade, time assault, survival, group battles and a observe mode, the sport additionally comes with a stellar Weapons Grasp mode, the place you kick a couple of large map scrapping everybody and taking their swag. The collectible weapons and equipment side of this has led to us pumping approach too many hours into this sport up to now – and it is gonna occur once more on Swap 2, consider it.
Weapons Grasp harkens again, in fact, to 1996’s Soul Edge (or Soul Blade for us non-Japan dwellers) and its Edge Grasp mode, in that it once more sees a narrative of kinds supplied alongside the way in which, as you blast throughout a map of Europe choosing fights with low-ranked foes, wading by way of dungeons to face boss battles, and all of the whereas enhancing your little fighter till they’re mega-badass.
This can be a mode that is acquired far more depth to it than you would possibly assume from a cursory look. There are tons of challenges, match modifiers, and difficult hoops to leap by way of to progress by way of its 15 chapters. There’s genuinely masses to sink your tooth into, and it additionally doubles as a really exhaustive tutorial that walks you thru all the things that you must know concerning the core fight.
In truth, we would really feel pretty assured in suggesting that only a few fashionable fighters, proper as much as the arrival of the latest Mortal Kombat and Road Fighter releases, have managed to incorporate something remotely approaching a single-player mode pretty much as good as this. It is nonetheless the very best the collection has to supply on this regard.
When Soulcalibur II first launched, truthfully, we form of had our suspicions. With its flashy console-exclusive characters, extremely attractiveness, and seemingly large promoting funds, was there going to be the depth required to match all of the snazziness? Because it turned out, this is likely one of the really nice 3D fighters, and a primary instance of how the easiest video games do not change into much less fulfilling over time.
