XBLA Today: Soul Calibur

Today.  rumors were fulfilled as truth as Soul Calibur came to the XBLA for 800 points, and people finally have another reason to put away their Dreamcasts (With an exception or two).  The big questions is, does it still hold up for the rest of us.

Soul Calibur is, for those who don’t know, one of the best console fighting games of all time. Seriously, if you haven’t played any of them yet, you have been missing out. The combat is still fairly fluid, fun, and in case you didn’t know, its not a fist to fist brawler. Each character has their own weapon, that works in a different way then the next. It gives each character its own personality and style. Seriously, if nothing else, check out the demo.

Now that I’ve made the game seem to be the end all, beat all game of all time, let me fix that. There is a few very large issues to me. One, couldn’t they have added online play, it would have doubled the value by far. Two, everything unlocked at first is kind of nice, but it takes away any need for playing it very long at all. Third, and worst of all, why oh why did they take away the quest mode. The mode with the story, and the different kinds of situation fights (the most interesting mode) is gone. I can understand not adding online, and unlocking everything for instant fun, but taking away a full mode, that’s just kind of stupid. Maybe it was done to keep the size down, not sure, but there had to be a way.

Soul Calibur is still one of the best console fighting games, and while it shows some age, it still plays quite well. If the online play was added, and quest mode kept, I would say this is a no brainer. However, in the current situation, as usual, go play the demo. If it catches your fancy, good times could be had with local play, and the different fighting modes. It could also help you hold off until Soul Caliber 4.