Soul Calibur II Review

Soul Calibur has been heralded as the best fighting game ever or the best game on the Dreamcast. The choice to make a sequel to a near-perfect under-rated title on an ill-fated system and giving its successor a better chance by launching on next-generation consoles across the board was a great choice. Namco hit the spot.

If you played the original, Namco did very little to change the sequel. While this makes it feel like nothing more than an expansion pack in a sense, changing the whole premise of a near-perfect game would be insane. Namco decided to focus on improving the already impressive graphics, add a bonus character, and design new levels.

Not even a clueless person could say that SC II wasn’t a beautiful looking game. Each environment has an original design, with a high amount of detail in each area. Many of the animations are recycled from the previous game, along with the feel of a normal match.

Each fighter has a different weapon, longer weapons tend to belong to the slower characters, so that they can reach their opponents easily and fast characters tend to have the shorter weapons, forcing you to move in on your opponent to attack, but easily dodging attacks from your foe.

While SC II offers only four basic attacks (horizontal slash, vertical slash, kick, and guard), there are plenty of combos to keep you busy mastering each skill. Weapons Master Mode, a mission-based mode, has you defeat your opponents while complying with certain conditions, whether it is to not fall off of a windy edge or something else. Passing missions will unlock new modes and hidden characters.

While SC II is a game that is more than worthy of mention, it will not be remembered as greatly as its predecessor. Fast-paced battles will keep you busy for hours, but after going through the game for a couple weeks, SC II will begin to tarnish and you will probably be ready to move on to some other new hit PS2 title.