A tale eternally retold
Joe Merrick
There’s a new Soul Calibur game out! Soul Cailbur 6 is here, getting pretty good reviews and terrorising everybody with horrific, well-endowed lizard men. I’d like to say I’ve met one, but I haven’t played online yet; online fighting games still scare me too much to compete…
Sadly, I’ve not even tried playing SC6 the way god intended: with pals all crammed onto one couch playing endless rounds of versus mode on the telly. That’s because, to my shame, I still only have one Dual Shock 4. Scott’s already gave me into trouble for that, but he was nice enough to let me keep the communal Bit Socket copy of the game this week.
And what a game! Not one but two lovely big story modes to sink my teeth into, and a quiet return to form for a fighting series that has been floundering for quite a while now.
Time was, Soul Calibur was probably the biggest fighting series in existence for me and Scott. SoulCalibur on Dreamcast was one of our most played games on that machine. Soul Calibur 3 gave us many memorable nights playing its turn-based strategy story mode with our custom characters, playing an unintended co-op game that I doubt Namco had envisioned.
I can safely say that 6 is up there with 3.
But… and this might be unfair to say because I haven’t had a magical night on the sofa with my pals playing SC6’s versus mode… I don’t see it toppling Soul Calibur 2.
Every so often a game comes around that defines an entire genre for years to come, and for me Soul Calibur 2 for Gamecube was one such game. Its Weapon Master mode is still the best example of what a fighting game can do for single players. Its versus mode gave me and Scott endless nights of fun; fights we still talk about years later. And while the series has become known for featuring guest characters over the years, nobody comes close to Link’s appearance. His moveset, animation and design is just perfect, and its a shame we’ve never seen him since.
So I’m happy Soul Calibur 6 has brought the series back in style, but my soul still burns for SoulCal2 baby.
