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PreviousSoulcalibur Review
Xbox 360 Review by Dan Whitehead
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Graphically, it's okay. Kind of funny to think we were once stunned by these rather puppet-like 3D figures, but they do their job and they do it well. Given the subsequent decision to race Dead or Alive down to the bottom of the "Ooh Boobies!" gaming barrel of despair it's certainly worth noting that the ladybumps here are surprisingly conservative in dimension, reassuringly rigid and often fully-clothed. The HD makeover is hardly revolutionary, however, and the 4:3 presentation does leave those big old bars down the side of the screen. Personally, I'm happy to play the game in its original aspect ratio, but with no option to expand the game to fill your lovely telly, it's certainly something that could annoy potential purchasers. Real Soulcalibur purists will be pleased to learn that Voldo's horned codpiece is still in the game, though, so at least we're not being palmed off with the censored US version.
There are omissions though, and fairly glaring ones at that. There's no online play, for instance. There are 60 specialised leaderboards, by way of small compensation. I didn't find this too much of a problem, especially given that I've never really liked - or entirely trusted - the idea of online fighting games. I like my opponent next to me, the old-fashioned way. I suspect it'd also be something of a nightmare to implement, but that's a poor excuse for anyone who was looking forward to retro slash-slash-clang internet excitement. So, a small frown for that.
At least online was never a feature of the original game. Mission Battle was, however, and now it's gone, sacrificed to squeeze into Microsoft's old file-size limit. I'm torn as to how much this negatively impacts the game. On the one hand, this series of conditional globe-trotting challenges was an integral way of unlocking new outfits and weapons. Those are now all available from the start, which leaves this version feeling a little like it's had the training wheels left on.
Hits literally take slices off your health gauge, like a big green liquorice stick of life...
On the other hand, the majority of players will be more interested in normal one-on-one fighting, and may well be thankful that they don't have to slog through a series of quite tricky battles to see all the game offers. I won't pretend to know enough about the ins and outs of Dreamcast code and the Live Arcade process to know what was actually feasible, but I'd gladly have ditched the survival game mode, the museum, the exhibition videos and other nice-but-inessential side dishes in order to have Mission Battle reinstated.
So is this a slimmed down version of a "proper game", suitable for all players and offering instant arcade-perfect enjoyment? Or a crudely chopped-up borked port of an absolute classic, tantamount to cutting the Mona Lisa in half and mounting the tattered remains on a traffic roundabout like one of those rain-smeared "BARBARA IS 40" banners? I'm going to have to go with the first option, simply because Soulcalibur is too much of an awesome game to allow this annoying act of butchery to dull its shine. Could it have been even better, had they waited and used more space to include absolutely everything? Undoubtedly, but a big chunk of Soulcalibur for 800 Microsoft Points is still one hell of a treat.
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Thunderhead
04/07/08 @ 10:23
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How can they classify this as being redone in HD if it has an aspect ratio of 4:3. I am under the impression that to be HD you need to have a minimum spec of 16:10 and 720p, if you are missing one of those then it's not HD.
Am I wrong? |
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I love this! 8/10 is my score on this version as well (10/10 for DC). I mentioned on the forum the border can vanish with a descent HDTV but everyone else is pretty screwed on that one, shame. Online would have been nice but 4 is along soon so not that bothered.
Dan I agree completely with what you said about Live I thrive on the "real" games, such a snob! |
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Brilliant review as always EG. I agree with everything you wrote, particularly about the absence of the Mission Battle mode and the lack of a widescreen option. SoulCalibur is still a great game but with everything unlocked from the start there's nothing to aim for while you're playing so the game has lost a huge chunk of what made it so bloody addictive for me in the first place. It's like I'm playing a game someone else has finished. Thus this game is both awesome, as in it looks, sounds and plays like I remember it, and rubbish, i.e. there's now next no longevity unless you play it with friends.
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ostrasized
04/07/08 @ 10:31
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As if retro-fitting online play into an arcade machine was easy.
If it really is a 'poor excuse' for not including internet play, where there can be 0.2s between a player pushing a button and their opponent even being able to know about it, thanks to the sodding speed of light, then frankly this is a 'poor excuse' for an objective review. Internet forum goons are expected to make silly statements like 'no online play? Waaa!'. Reviewers are expected to know something about their industry. As if anyone would retrofit internet play into a product costing £5! |
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How can they classify this as being redone in HD if it has an aspect ratio of 4:3. I am under the impression that to be HD you need to have a minimum spec of 16:10 and 720p, if you are missing one of those then it's not HD.
But technically it is. It's being output in HD, as the borders are branded and part of the output image, just with a window in it that's showing the game footage. Anyway, it's a brilliant game, got 10 of 12 achievements in the first day, t'other two are too hard for little me. And the filesize thing is bullshit, which is why it's about 180MB and the 'limit' that mission battle was allegedly cut to fit in was 150MB. |
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So, no story mode basically? eg, no character endings etc? That's a shame, I really wanted the story mode cos I have SC 2 and 3 and getting 4. Would have been nice to get the whole story.
The story/character endings are in Arcade mode, which is present and correct. Mission Battle doesn't really have a story as such. It's a series of minigame-type things and scenario challenges (win a fight whilst your health is constantly draining, fight in a stage with rats running around the floor poison you on contact, that sort of thing). It was very long, deep, and great fun, but you're not missing any of the story. |
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monkie_king
04/07/08 @ 10:38
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Can anyone actually do a QCF on the friggin' 360 d-pad? It takes dedicated effort just to find the diagonals on mine.
Yeah, I know it's a stick game anyway, but it's a bit hard to justify the purchase when I already have a DC, stick and Soul Calibur GD-ROM in the cupboard. |
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What the developers should have done with Soulcalibur was to release it sans the Mission Battle mode but still allowed you to unlock characters and third costumes from playing the Arcade mode numerous times. They then could have offered the Mission Battle mode as DLC for the game at a later date with the remaining extras for a small price like how Lumines Live worked. That way we'd have ended up with the full game and had a better reason to actually play it solo.
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Thunderhead
04/07/08 @ 10:42
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Yeah, I have the DC version, VGA converter and arcade stick upstairs anyway too :)
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farticusmaximus
04/07/08 @ 10:42
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I am a little dissapointed the mission mode was cut. I enjoyed mission mode very much on SC2 as it gave me the excuse to play even when friends were not over. The fights were very challenging and forced you to use some moves you wouldnt normally use, like when it said: Conditions: can only damage enemies on the ground, etc..
The 4:3 thing is a bit naff too, but not a dealbreaker. Could'nt give a monkeys nut about online play frankly. Soulcalibur is all about friends sat round the TV giving eachother verbal and virtual abuse! |
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@Razorus - There ARE endings for each character in the Arcade mode though, you just don't unlock stuff like you did with the original. Instead EVERYTHING is unlocked from the off making the game a bit pointless as a solo experience. Shame really because it's a beautiful conversion otherwise. The audio sounds a bit rougher than I remember though but then I didn't have a surround sound system back in 1999!
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WinterSnowblind
04/07/08 @ 11:09
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Mission mode was basically nothing but text, why couldn't they include it? The game doesn't fit the old 150mb limit anyway, it's over 180. Wouldn't be surprised if they make it downloadable shortly.
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DanWhitehead
04/07/08 @ 11:13
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Small pedantic note here; the original SC arcade game was on System 12, which was an upgraded PS1. So the DC and the arcade original really had very little in common hardware-wise, not "the same wirey guts" at all.
My mistake. For some reason I was sure Soulcalibur used the NAOMI board. |
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monkie_king
04/07/08 @ 11:26
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The Dreamcast version was subsequently ported back into the arcade as a Naomi game. So everyone is right. Yay.
edit: Is nobody else seeing the borders at the top and bottom of the screen, as well as at the sides? Maybe they don't show up if your TV overscans the image?
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 04/07/08 @ 12:28
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monkie_king
04/07/08 @ 11:32
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WinterSnowblind: if you remember, progression through Mission Battle was accomplished by winning art cards. You could spend them on unlocking weapons etc., if I remember rightly.
Anyway, they were pretty high resolution (you could zoom in on them on the DC, so they were bigger than SD TV resolution), and there were hundreds of them. So I guess that would have broken the download limit, and mission battle wouldn't make sense without the cards. |
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DanWhitehead
04/07/08 @ 11:45
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It all depends how much memory Mission Battle requires compared to everything else in the game. Like I said in the review, I think its a shame they opted to remove the most interesting bonus feature but left all the others in. I'd happily swap those around.
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login_name
04/07/08 @ 11:51
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I wish someone would make a good fighter pad for the 360 (Hori's pad has the d-pad in the wrong place). It's the only thing that stops me from buying this and pre-ordering SC4 and SF4 or any other fighting game for that matter.
I could care less about online. Even the smallest amount of lag would ruin the whole match, not to mention rage quitters. Also, it's just not the same as playing with a bunch of friends sat around the same TV or huddled around the same arcade cab. |
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monkie_king
04/07/08 @ 11:51
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Is download size the stated reason, then? If the art cards are in already, Mission Battle should only need a tiny bit of space.
Conspiracy theory: maybe they thought leaving Mission Battle in would cannibalise SC4 sales? |
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SleepyMagpie
04/07/08 @ 12:01
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Instant purchase. Damn this game is still fun after all these years. Brought out Taki and found that I still had the moves in, and whipped through storymode in around 4 minutes.
I got this AND I'm getting SC IV! The Soul still burns! Only shame is that everything is unlocked at the get-go. Why is that? Forcing people to unlock stuff isn't casual enough? And last thought: Poor, poor, poor PS3 only lot. The 360 is SO the connoisseur gamers' platform of this generation. I got a black smurf coffin sat in a corner mind, but it only gets to come out when I've purchased a new Blu-Ray! |
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richie9997
04/07/08 @ 12:18
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@ monkie_king
You can get rid of the borders at the top and bottom of the screen, its in the 1st set of options on the 1st screen before you get to the "original" soul calibur start screen, can't remember what its called though and can't check because i'm at work. But it was one of the 1st things I did! Hope that helps, will check when I get home and edit my post if its wrong
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 04/07/08 @ 13:18
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smoothpete
04/07/08 @ 12:20
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"censored US version"
Who in the what now? They censored a codpiece? Or is that a joke? |
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rhubarbandcustard
04/07/08 @ 12:36
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Tekken 5 on the PS3 only cost £6 too I think when it was released on PSN. That was the first dlc I got for my PS3 and I still play it regularly many, many months later. I fully expect Soulcalibur will have the same effect on me. £6 - absolute bargain.
DLC is the shining jewel in this generation of hardware. Never again would I consider spending £40 on a game. |
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monkie_king
04/07/08 @ 12:39
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richie: ah thanks, I've only played the demo for a couple of quick sessions so far, must have skipped past that. What's the tradeoff though? Uglier upscaling? I'm guessing the bordered res was chosen because it's a nice multiple of the original res, so the 2D stuff upscales nicely, or something.
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DanWhitehead
04/07/08 @ 12:50
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Who in the what now? They censored a codpiece? Or is that a joke?
One of Voldo's costumes features a very suggestive bull motif on the groin, with the horns jutting out like a gentleman's hello. Such innuendo was too strong for the US, though I'm not sure if the costume was removed completely or just redesigned slightly. |
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silver jon
04/07/08 @ 12:52
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Dan Whitehead. Are you actually Stevas Mk II ?
Is this the big "Usual Suspects" style reveal ? |
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muscleblade
04/07/08 @ 12:55
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"Nah, I done all that already on DC I'm happy they just got on with the game this time."
Agreed - the achievements is enough for me too keep playing it. A couple of hard ones too. Beating the game on ultra hard without losing a round was easier than expected though. edit: The achievements where rediculously easy 200/200 in about an hour and a half.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 08/07/08 @ 10:33
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silver jon
04/07/08 @ 12:56
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btw: playing this with damage switched off, and time set to 'eternal' is one of the best gaming laughs I've had.
Just the combination of brutal onslaughts and subtle movements trying to entice/bludgeon your opponent to the edge of the arena so you can deliver (or dodge) the blow that leaves them spiralling into the abyss in a fight that can last for 10 minutes. The longer it lasts, the more tense you become. It's absolutely the stuff of gaming legend. Particularly when you've had a few. I am definitely downloading this. |
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Re: "Online play not worth it" "Wouldn't work"... etc
Strange, it appears every other fighting game on my 360 has online play, works great, and I play at least one of them almost every time I am gaming. (SF HD Remix beta test mainly right now :D ) I'm not a huge SC fan at all, but Mission Mode or online play would've been the reason to get this... but released like this it's totally pointless for me. What a waste of an okay game! I ran it back-to-back with the Dreamcast version anyway.. so it was at least cool to see just HOW good those DC graphics were again. :) Oh and the DC opponent AI seemed to be a LOT better, but that may have just been the demo version AI. |
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richie9997
04/07/08 @ 15:25
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@ monkie_king
not sure, but i'm running my 360 at 1080p and it looks fine and dandy to me! maybe not as good as I remember the dreamcast version to be (the stage backgrounds mainly), but that could just be my rose tinted specs. I'm gonna get my DC out tonight and have a bit of a compare lol. |
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