XBLA Wednesday 7/2: It’s Soulcalibur Time
By Chris on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 6:30 PM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Games, Microsoft
Today’s Xbox Live Arcade release is a serious mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s Soulcalibur, which they tell me is one of the greatest fighting games of all time. (I suck at every fighting game ever conceived, so I generally consider my opinion to be irrelevant when it comes to fighting games.) That certainly makes it one of the Dreamcast’s best games. And now it’s on Arcade. But… no widescreen support, no online mode, no mission mode; this is about as barebones as they could have made the game without stripping characters and the modes that did make it into the game.
One has to wonder if the size restraints played a role in what made it into the game. Contrary to early reports (which stemmed from an erroneous Xbox.com listing), the game doesn’t require a hard drive to play. But one has to wonder if this release is just a publicity stunt to get people’s minds on Soulcalibur for the release of the fourth game. It’s nice to think about the possibility of Namco Bandai perhaps releasing expansion packs for the game, but that simultaneously sounds unlikely and pricey.
So what do you think? Is the game worth 800 MS points ($10) in spite of all this?
*shrugs*
Well, if this is the original soul calibur which it looks like it is then it’s a fairly old title…this is Dreamcast country here…so about 1998-1999, it’s worth the playthrough to be sure…Soul Calibur sold many a Dreamcast.
I’ve heard conflicting reports on the Mission Mode however, i would like to know your source.
If it’s confirmed to *not* have mission mode, then it’s half a game to be honest…i mean that was one of the features that made Soul Calibur worth buying…without it i would say no it wouldn’t be worth it.
But if it does then yes, it’s an amazing game especially back then.
In regards to Mission Mode, I base that upon both having someone tell me it’s not included, there being no mention in the press release, and not seeing it in the list of different modes in the game’s main menu. So I’m 99% sure it’s not in there.
Hmmm, well it wouldn’t be the first time Wiki is wrong about something, but….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Calibur
“On April 16, 2008, Namco Bandai announced a port of Soulcalibur would be released for the Xbox 360. The game was available for download on Xbox Live Arcade on July 2, 2008 .[1] While the game would include HD updated graphics and various LIVE leaderboards, online play was confirmed by Namco to be exempt which makes it an exception amongst most games ported to Xbox LIVE Arcade. Other features from the Dreamcast version (Museum, etc., with the exception of Mission Battle) are also in the game. All content is unlocked by the start of the game”.
I was all set to buy this one as soon as it released. I loved the originals. But if it’s really stripped down, I don’t think it’s worth the price.
To be honest, Soul Calibur was rather over rated in my book. It’s mission mode was a strip down piece of crap in comparison to the original Soul Blade’s. It seems a lot of people who hold that game is such high regard are (not all) ones who did not play the original. I guess due to the name change some people don’t realize that Soul Edge (or the Playstation version, Soul Blade) was the first in the series, not Soul Calibur. Although the game plays well, it just doesn’t stand up to its senior in terms of features.
@ James
Edge Master mode doesn’t have any more depth than the Mission Mode in Soul Calibur and the differences are minor to be honest…Soul Calibur 2 and 3 on the other hand….well that’s a different story.
Frankly it’s not too surprising that younger gamers -don’t- know of Soul Edge but -do- know of Soul Calibur…you have to remember that Soul Edge came out in 1997/98.
I will agree with you that the Soul Calibur series is losing a lot of ground in terms of depth and story, Namco/Bandi has started relying on gimmicks to sell the same game to multiple consoles to basically bait the consumer.