So began the game Soulblade, years ago in the arcades, and then it came to the playstation. And I was hooked.
Then came the sequel, Soul Calibur, the game I bought a Dreamcast console for. And it was good.
Now, finally, the latest incarnation is out, for the current generation of consoles. And I love it.
I did have a quandry with regards to buying this game. Did I get it for the PS2, or for the X-Box? Did it really matter? Probably not, I'd love the game no matter what.
But, I went for the X-Box version. I'm the only one of my friends who owns an X-Box, wheras all the others have PS2's. And I know we're all fans of the Souledge series, so figured someone would pick it up for the playstation 2. So I got the version with Spawn in it. And I'm pretty happy. I was right about my other friends, one did buy the PS2 version...and having played it, I much prefer the addition of Spawn than the addition of Heihachi (from Tekken).
The game itself is pretty simple. A 2 person beat 'em up, but with weaponry. The story is pretty simplistic, evil sword, people want to get it, either to destroy or to wield, and they fight each other for it.
It's more of the same as the last set of games, and they've once again not fixed something that wasn't broken. There's nothing really revolutionary about Soul Calibur II, but it doesn't need anything added. It's great as it is.
I only have two gripes with regards to the game. First is, Soulblade has a wonderful 'rock' intro, and I really missed it in Soul Calibur. And they've not put one in Soul Calibur II. It's a petty gripe, and it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the game, but I'd really have liked a guitar heavy intro like in the original.
Second gripe is with the 'traditional' costume of Taki, the skintight red spandex style one. I dunno why, but I just find it a little too gross for my tastes. I know breast inertia is all the rage since Dead or Alive, but it is just a little too wobbly on Taki. The fact you can see her perky nips through the costume is also pretty tasteless. I'm not happy playing her in that costume any more.
Final Comment: It's the latest version of SoulBlade/SoulEdge, I don't really need to say anymore. It's a beat 'em up, and although it has a limited lifespan with the single player, for multiplayer parties, you just can't beat this game. I'd definitely recommend the X-Box version over the PS2 one though. Heihachi has some really crap moves, wheras Spawn is really nice. I've not played the gamecube version though, so I don't know how good Link is.
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