Soulcalibur built on the success of 1996s already superb Soul Edge in several key areas; most notably, the game introduced an eight-way directional movement allowing characters to dominate the field in whatever direction they pleased using the joystick. Compared to the lateral rolls of other 3D fighting games, this was a fairly big innovation it meant that using a characters footwork and forcing your enemys back against the edge of the arena became tactically essential. The game ostensibly introduced several new characters, though many of these were based on the styles of characters of the games predecessor. The only completely new addition was Ivy, the illegitimate daughter of the undead pirate antagonist, Cervantes de Leon. The comparison of Ivy with her father is demonstrative of how varied the styles in this classic Dreamcast game are; Cervantes duel wields two medium-length swords while Ivy brandishes a long whip her style therefore lending itself to keeping her opponents on the edge of her long range while her father is better at getting in his opponents face. The diverse nature of this classic beat em up's gameplay meant that it garnered superb critical responses across the board IGN and Gamespot would go as far as to give the game the much coveted 10/10. With a decent trans-historical storyline and the exceptionally rewarding combat, it is no wonder that Soulcalbur is remembered as one of the greatest fighting games ever.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
