| Soulcalibur II | |
|---|---|
Flyer of the game's arcade version. |
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| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Designer(s) | Hiroaki Yotoriyama |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| Release date(s) | Arcade July 30, 2002 GameCube, PlayStation 2, & Xbox |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, two-player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Namco System 246 |
Soulcalibur II (ソウルキャリバーII Sōrukyaribā Tsū) is a fighting game developed and published by Namco and the third installment in the Soul series. Soul Calibur is the name of the holy sword, created to battle the evil sword Soul Edge, which the games' storylines revolve around. The home version of the game features Heihachi Mishima from Tekken, Link from The Legend of Zelda, Spawn from the comic book series by Todd McFarlane, and Necrid, a new character created by Todd McFarlane. Each of the first three characters is exclusive to one of the three consoles the game was ported to (the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox, respectively), while Necrid is present in all three home versions.
Contents |
Modes and other features added to the Home Versions:
Compared to Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II boasts improved graphics and introduces new characters, stages, and music.
Key game engine improvements include:
The game is set 4 years after the end of Soulcalibur, which based on calculations from a timeline released on the Soul Archive website, puts the game's story in the year 1591.
The wave of slaughters that terrorized Europe reached a sudden end. The knight in azure armor, Nightmare, and his followers were successful in collecting enough souls and were about to start the restoring ceremony on the ruins of the once-proud Ostreinsburg Castle. But just as the ceremony was to start, three young warriors assaulted the castle. After an intense battle Nightmare fell, but then the evil soul inside Soul Edge sent the young warriors into a vortex of hellfire and stood to confront them. As a result of Soul Edge's evil aura, Krita-Yuga revealed its true form: that of the Holy Sword, Soul Calibur.
The intense battle ended with the victory of the holy sword, but at the collapse of the vortex of Inferno, both swords along with the azure Nightmare were sucked in a void and expelled in another place. Siegfried, recognizing his sins, set out on a journey of atonement. Still the blade held a strong bond, and every night it took control of the body and took souls of those nearby. The efforts made by the young knight were fruitless, and four years later the Azure Knight Nightmare returned.
Around those times various warriors came into contact of the blade's remaining fragments, revealing Soul Edge's ultimate survival after its defeat. Driven either to possess or destroy it, they join a new journey, while Nightmare begins his rampage, seeking souls to restore Soul Edge once again.
Four new characters were introduced in Soulcalibur II: Cassandra (voiced by Debbie Rogers the daughter of Fred Rogers), who is the sister of the Character, Sophitia. Raphael (voiced by Paul Jennings), Talim (voiced by Julie Parker), and Yun-seong (voiced by Jim Singer, the younger brother of Carrie Savage). However, while Cassandra and Yun-seong's fighting styles are derived from established characters Sophitia and Hwang Seong-gyeong, Raphael and Talim's fighting styles are entirely unique. Charade, like his predecessors Edge Master and Inferno, switches his style to match existing characters' movelists with each individual round of fighting. Each of the home versions also included Necrid, who was not included in the arcade version of Soulcalibur II. Necrid, like Spawn, was personally designed by comic book artist Todd McFarlane. Other characters are Voldo, Ivy, and Nightmare.
Rounding out the characters were returning fighters Seung Mina and Sophitia from both Soul Edge and Soulcalibur. Lizardman returns, but is only playable in VS Mode and certain portions of Weapon Master. From the Soulcalibur character roster, the ones that did not return for Soulcalibur II as characters themselves were Hwang Seong-gyeong, Nathaniel "Rock" Adams, and Edge Master. Inferno is in the game, only this time, he is not a playable character. Nightmare's 3rd costume is Siegfried (though he is still referred to as Nightmare), while Assassin and Berserker play extremely similar to Hwang and Rock. Hwang, Siegfried, and Rock, however, would all return as fully playable characters in the following game.
Soulcalibur II was rated the 18th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.[1] Media reviews of Soulcalibur II were overwhelmingly favorable, as the game earned over 91% for all versions on Gamerankings.com, and commercially the game sold well. It has also earned a 9.2 out of 10 from IGN.[2] It received a score of 10/9/10 from Electronic Gaming Monthly: the first reviewer, Shawn Elliott, believed it to be the greatest fighting game ever created, and third reviewer Dan Hsu said that no fighting game "has come close to the depth SC2 has".[3]
The game also did well in the competitive gaming scene, both in the US and abroad, where it was featured in many tournaments for the years after it came out. The game was particularly noted for its balance, as many different characters placed in top levels in tournaments.
Game Rankings scores it 91.3% for the PlayStation 2,[4] 92.3% for the GameCube,[5] and 91.6% for the Xbox.[6]
Soulcalibur II was ported to Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2. Each version has an exclusive character:
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