20 Best PlayStation Games Of The 2000s

18. Soul Calibur III (2005)

Soul Calibur III was the perfect fighting game for the PS2. Its gameplay was fast paced, technical and well balanced, which has always been a trademark attribute of the series. But with the addition of smooth animations and graphics, players could better time their moves and execute killer combos.

One of the standout elements of the game were the fighting arenas, which were set in jaw-dropping environments, be it floating around in raft in Venice to battling inside a cage in a dungeon. Namco really pushed the envelope with regards to the PS2 graphical prowess.

Soul Calibur III adds 3 new players to returning cast of 30 characters, which makes for a staggering amount of fighting styles and weapons to choose from. The popular characters such as Kilik, Mitsurugi, Maxi, Ivy, Nightmare, Astaroth and Siegfried are back and their moves aren't that much different than past iterations.

All Namco could do was fine-tune the fighting to the point where only hardcore gamers would notice. Many character-specific animations were reused from past iterations of the franchise, which gave the game a sense of familiarity, as fans of the franchise could literally pick up the controller and feel right at home again.