SoulCalibur II

Soul Calibur II is one of the best titles on the gaming market. The graphics are killer and the gameplay is superb. When playing on a stage, you get the perfect fight song to kick ass with. Different stages represent each character. The move list is great with a variety of over 100+ moves with each character. Weapon Master is a beautiful feature because this allows you to buy and earn new features, extras, and new weapons. Weapon Master also lets you build up your own character or a variety of characters. Character movements are very smooth and it is a very fun game to play by yourself or with other people. Extra VS. is one of the game's best features because you are allowed to choose your character along with the weapon of your choice. If i had every game system, I would buy Soul Calibur II for each system just to get Link(Gamecube), Spawn(X-Box), and the one I am currently playing Heiachi(Playstation2). If you want a fun fighting game with chanllanges, Soul Calibur II is for you.
 
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The new addition to the Soul Calibur series is here! Soul Calibur is a weapons-based fighting game. It is the third game in the series for Namco. Soul Blade (also known as Soul Edge in arcades) was the first game in the series and was released on the Playstation. This game set new standards in the fighting game genre with greater freedom of movement through sidesteps, realistic stage environments, FMV endings, mission mode, and a great soundtrack. The second game of the series was Soul Calibur, which was released on the Sega Dreamcast. Soul Calibur recieved high praise for its realism, replay value with the mission mode for collecting artwork, and the most balanced character roster of any 3D fighting game. With Soul Calibur 2 it is apparent that Namco listened to feedback from gamers about Soul Calibur for Dreamcast. Weapons master mode brings back the collecting of weapons instead of just artwork by traveling a map and completing missions. Each character has about 11 weapons to collect. Those fans who like the artwork collecting from Soul Calibur are not left out because there is also a museum for viewing the weapons, movies, endings, and art work of the game. The number of art photos is not as great this time around though. Most characters have a third costume. Some characters have several different costume colors such as Assassin, Berserker and Lizard man. Namco has added new moves to each characters old moves list. Seung Mina and Sophitia return to the game for the console version. There are 2 brand new characters Raphael, fighting with a rapier, and Talim fighting with bladed tonfas. The other new characters/console exclusive characters (Cassandra, Yunsung, Berserker and Assassin) are either based on other characters in the series or have a variety of moves from all characters in the game (Charade, Necrid). Take note that if you buy the PS2 version you will not be able to play with Link or Spawn. The Gamecube version has to be purchased to play as Link. The Xbox version has to purchased to play as Spawn. Heihachi from the Tekken series is playable only on the PS2 version. Necrid a new character designed by McFarlane is playable on all versions. Inferno is the boss, but he is not playable in any version. Berserker and Assassin are only playable in certain modes. My rating for the game is a nine out of ten. The areas the keep this game from getting a ten deal mostly with things outside of graphics, gameplay etc. I had certain expectations for this game. An in depth practice mode was one expectation. The practice mode for this game does not have all the features from the previous games of the series, which is sad. Button input display, Button press/timing display and command input training are all missing. Further the features seen in Tekken Tag and Tekken 4 such as picture capture and fight record are not here. It seems that each new game gets more monster/Mortal Kombat style characters. Raphael and Talim are nice additions to roster. I would like to see more characters like them and less like Necrid and Astaroth. The characters talk now more than they ever did. They say phrases before a fight, during and after a fight. The profile section under museum mode lets you listen to about 100 phrase/sounds for each character. This is all very neat, but not an entirely orginial concept for fighting games. I guess it would mean more if the characters body movement matched what they were saying. 1/3 of the voice acting is poor. Some of it is speed up or makes no sense. It should be coherent. There is a storyline here and the characters do have an interaction. On Tekken Tag Namco did a great job of showing th connection between characters in prefight and post fight scenes. I wish more of that was done here or a better job of doing that was accomplished. In weapons master mode you can use one character to go through all the missions. Gold and experience are collected for each mission completed. Then you can shop for weapons, costumes etc. It was more fun in Soul Edge when you had to play with each character to obtain their weapons. It gave this mode a greater sense of purpose because each character had an individual quest. I expected all characters to have at least 1-2 new costumes. Most characters have a 3rd but a few are missing even that for some odd reason. The music in the game is great, but Namco has chosen to encourage you to buy the special edition Brady strategy guide, which includes the soundtrack, rather than make an interface on the game for listening to the music. Namco has chosen to stick with the picture-with-text-only endings from Soul Calibur. These type of endings are seen in many 2D fighting games. Namco stayed with the 2D endings, probably due to the amount of work need to make FMV endings. Exhibition mode is back where we see martial arts katas and forms. However, most of the characters have the same kata that the had in Soul Calibur. Most buyers of the game will be astounded at the number of modes the game has. Closer inspection reveals that a lot of these modes are the same. The difference is that Namco divided the modes between playing with special weapons and fighting with normal weapons. The sub modes just play with the options/variables for the main mode it self e.g. regular survival mode 2 round-60 second-fight count, 1 hit survival, then survival with no health recovery. All of these complaints a very minor. For anyone who played Soul Blade but missed out on Soul Calibur and even for casual fighting game players this game is a must have! The only dilemma is picking a version!
 
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This is indeed one of the best fighting games on earth. Soul Calibur II is a story continued, but with some new characters. With three different versions, one for Playstation2, Xbox, and Gamecube, this game is the most unique fighting game ever made. The graphics are incredible, and the sound is definitly something special. Another excellent factor is the control. This game is quite easy to control, unlike other fighting games that take a lot of time to learn the moves. The moves are awsome, and a lot of fun. Overall, this is definitly one of the best fighting games ever created.
 
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~Welcome to the new stage of history~ this game rules by its own This game is a master piece of its own, it has become a classic and it’s not only the best fighting game, it’s one of the best games in the world! Every option in this game is enjoyable! From Arcade to master weapon, this game is nothing to make fun of because it’s hard and challenging, beautiful graphics and it has amazing soundtrack that keeps you in the mood of fighting! I’ve also played its predecessor to death, SC one was already great, now that SCII is out it’s even BETTER! The game got better in everyway! Great storyline, characters, features, items and weapons + galleries. The game play is so smooth and balance and the move list for each characters is given! People who have little interest for SCII really don’t know what their missing! Believe me this game is by far one of the best and it’s the kind of game u give a 9/10 review because it’s just so amazing! Hours of fun to enjoy, whether alone or with friends this game rule! So if u still didn’t got this game, well next time u get your pay, why don’t u spend it wisely for once =) and you know what I mean, this 70$ is worth it!
 
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Been waiting for this game for a long time, now its here I realise it was worth it. There's loads to do and collect, graphics are lush, sound is excellent ( especially thru Theatre system WOW!!) Loads of frustration from Weapon master mode, but its all good. 200+ weapons to be brought and won, numerous quests. Theres even more to get happy about seeing as the US version has extra features not found in the Jap version (3 extra characters!!). This game is a must buy!! Heihachi Mishima can hold his own, no problems!! PS2 owners get it now!!
 
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Graphics: The graphics are gorgeous from the starting screen and the intro movie to the crisp solid looking characters that you control while playing the game. The game from every single point of Soul Calibur 1 in terms of graphics was boosted up and shows distinct differences. There are way more polygons being used since there is a more powerful system present, thus eliminating many jagged edges and making the characters look even more realistic than in the predecessor. The main thing is how well the game looks while actually playing. Your characters do moves that are actually used in certain fighting techniques, and they look realistic. Sound: I dont tend to notice the sound for music that much, but I do know that the music fits perfectly with the theme of the game. It sounds authentic and matches the stage that it is played on, and isn't too distracting though to make you not concentrate on the fight. The main part about the sound that makes it so good are the voices. You get an option to switch between English voices and Japanese voices for the game depending on your taste. The way the game is created, it is easy to pick up, yet once you get more into it, the depth that is present in it will be clear. There are many different things that make this a unique game. The throw system in the game is arguably one of the best. You can break most throws and avoid damage by pressing the correct button in a certain amount of time. That way, throws aren't overpowering, this is the game that they are the easiest to break probably, but they are also useful for damage making a larger variety of things you can use. Also, the game has a guard impact system, which is done by pressing Forward and Guard for High and Mid attacks, and Back and Guard for Low and Mid attacks. This is useful because if there is a move that your opponent has that either does a low or a mid, then by blocking, you only have a 50% chance of getting it right and stopping the attack, but the guard impact system will stop both the low and the mid, and put you on the offense, changing the pace of the battle again, for an intense fighting experience. But your opponent can also predict it and avoid doing any move, and it keeps them on the offense, thus creating another possible mixup on what to do or not, creating huge amounts of depth that is present, yet can still be simple to understand. The game is fun to play for both newcomers and veterans, the many new modes present in the console release leads to hours of fun alone, and VS mode against friends is even more fun, and easily worth it.
 
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This is the best fighter out there and will be the best until Soul Caliber 3 comes out!!! I pity the fools that do not get this game. This game will allow you to resolve conflicts between your siblings, friends, enemies, parents, and whoever/whatever else you may have a grudge against for unknown reasons.
 
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Soul Calibur II is the best fighting game I have ever played. Soul Blade was actually my first introduction to fighting games and I loved it. It had an incredible storyline for a fighting game. Most fighters such as Virtua Fighter 4 have ablolutely no story behind the characters. I want to know what drives the characters to fight . Why does Sophitia leave her family to search for a cursed sword? In Soul Calibur II everything is improved upon. The only thing that dissapointed me was that there wasn't a seperate Weapon Master mode for each character as there was in Soul Blade. But, after playing it for a bit, I found that I preffered it this way. Some missions are just easier to complete with Nightmare than Killik. When I first heard this game was coming out I went to the arcade to play it. Even in the arcade it was a lot of fun. Now that each platform has its own special character, it makes the game even better.
 
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I was greatly pleased overall with the game. I was waiting opitimistically for thw release of soul calibur II and i must tell you it was worth the wait. It is one the best fighting games availble. With the addition of characters unique to each game system, Soul Calibur is a must have. Add it too your collection.
 
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If you like fighting games this is it. They have great characters, great story line, great grapics, and of course great fights. You can't ignore this game. The only possible down side is that school's starting up.
 
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