Pros: Deeper than a well
Cons: Cube controller might be slightly odd to use for some
The bottom line: Justice will prevail!...just kidding!
The original Soul Calibur was a modest hit on the troubled Dreamcast, one of the best looking and playing games on the console - and it was a launch release. Very few weapons-based fighters could compete with the deep gameplay and fluid graphics that brought it all alive. The only thing that stopped SC from eclipsing Tekken on the Namco fighting totem pole was the fact that the game was on Dreamcast, and despite lavish praise, the game failed to be a system seller, instead being a huge hit for those already sold on Sega's wonder machine.

For the sequel, Namco has gone all out to assure that the game would get as much attention as possible. As such, Soul Calibur II is being released across all the home platforms - each with one special guest character per console (Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube). This here GameCube version carries the most special of guests, as Namco managed to license one of Nintendo's most famous characters, Link. However, his presence is just icing on the cake for this latest brawler, as Soul Calibur II is just as engrossing as the original, with beautiful graphics, an epic soundtrack, and loads of characters to play as, along with a seemingly endless amount of gameplay types. The Cube has been hurting for fighting games in the past, but with Soul Calibur II, you won't mind, given the insane depth of this epic fighter.

The third entry in the "Soul" series (Soul Edge/Blade for PlayStation was the first, then the original Soul Calibur for Dreamcast) comes loaded at the outset with things to do. The arcade mode is of course the ladder-style progression that's been standard in fighters for years (as well as the place where 2 humans can battle it out without one or both going to jail), so that's there. There's also time attacks for clearing the game as fast as possible, a survival mode to see how long you can play until you finally get knocked out, and of course an option to practice your moves to learn/master a particular character.

However, the Weapon Master mode is the meat of the single player game. It's similar, yet different than the Mission mode of the original SC game, as you travel the world, looking for the Soul Edge, as well as learning new techniques to help you master the game. Along the way you unlock or purchase new weapons for all characters to use in either Weapon Master or the "extra" gameplay types that open up as you progress through the game to use your acquired weapons in the other play modes. Weapon Master is also the only way to unlock the secret characters, unlike the previous SC which unlocked characters after beating the game with another.

Each of the 20+ characters has a purpose for being in Soul Calibur II, but it's not touched on much, as, well...c'mon, there's no time for stories in fighting games! Some are looking to destroy the sword, others looking to use it for salvation or to liberate their world, and yet others are just so evil that they want to rule the world with the sword. There's only a few brand new characters (and some are just different looking versions of other characters, like Cassandra/Sophitia, even though they are sisters), but hey, Soul Calibur had some great characters, so why tamper with it? Of course, there is Link, and Necrid, another McFarlane creation in all 3 versions of the game (there is of course Spawn as the guest character in the Xbox version - apparently Blinx: The Time Sweeper wasn't available, or the blue guy from Azurik), but definitely the focus is on the returning fighters - not a shock as in storyline terms, it's only 4 years since the last game.

The one knock on some weapons-based fighters sometimes is the lack of depth, as many times you can only swing a sword so many ways before you've done all the moves. In Soul Calibur II, this is far from the case. Instead, Namco has carefully balanced the swordplay with a deep combo system, as well as easy to execute short combos that will help newcomers to the series (as in, the losers who didn't buy a Dreamcast and missed Soul Blade on PS1) learn the ropes. It can be argued that perhaps the game is a bit too button-mashing friendly (with some characters, mind you, others are very tough to mash with - like Link actually)), but it evens out against a SC master who can pull of a 10 hit combo in 5 seconds.

While this hasn't changed much from the previous SC game, the refinements are fairly obvious. The guard break is the biggest addition, one that actually can change the face of the game, as effective using of it can mean the difference between a win or a loss, especially against human players. This is the only fundamental change to the formula - but it didn't need to be tinkered with much. Many characters retain the same moves from the previous game (I hopped in with my favorite SC character, Xianghua, and laid waste to both the computer opponents and the "humans" at EB who played the demo kiosk), though some have some brand new tricks hidden for masters who are willing to learn every move in a character's moveset.

The thing about Soul Calibur, both this one and its predecessor, that stands out more than anything, is the incredible style and accessibility. Personally, over the years I've soured on fighters - the only exceptions that I've found are Guilty Gear X, King of Fighters, and both Soul Calibur games. Why? Because they're just some of the most fluid, yet tough fighting games on the planet, that manage to be deep, yet accessible to anyone (well, perhaps not Guilty Gear X, given the wacky difficulty of it). Soul Calibur II continues this trend, with brilliant game design. The characters are great, and so many have different styles, so you can either play as a fast, weaker combatant or a plodding, yet strong fighter, or even pick someone more balanced. The variety in the characters is great, despite a few being similar in style. Given how fluid and responsive the gameplay is at all times, and how good the AI is on higher difficulty levels (forget Easy, as they tend to stand there while you beat them up, at least until the Destined Battle as then the AI decides to wake), you'll want to beat the game with every character and unlock everything in this game - a depth so few fighters have nowadays, making fighting games simply multiplayer contests. SCII is the exception to the rule, crafting a fighting game that's great for solo and multiplayer action.

The lone thing that might possibly be bothersome for this GameCube version (besides the button mashing idiots, but this is so easily countered most of the time that it's really not relevant) is the controller. As you know, the Cube controller is...different, designed with an odd button layout compared to the traditional diamond layout of the PS2 and Xbox pads, along with the teeny-tiny D-pad. However, it doesn't take too long to learn the ropes with the pad, as the buttons aren't too badly placed for this game, and the control stick works fine most of the time. Of course, there's always the route of either buying an arcade stick (such as the licensed SCII sticks by either Hori or Nuby, or even X-Arcade, though that's a teeny bit expensive), or picking up a Hori Game Boy Player pad, which has a bigger D-pad, and the same button layout, only in the design of the mighty Super Nintendo controller. It's import only, so hit your local import store to grab one.

Visually, Soul Calibur II is beautiful. Now, it's not as glossy or as technically advanced as some fighters (like the plasticy & shiny Dead or Alive 3), but it's great looking in different ways. It's beautiful simply because of the animations. Each character is animated perfectly and fluidly, creating a fighter with absolutely graceful movements at all times, with the exceptions being of course the brutes like Astaroth. But characters like Xianghua, Cassandra/Sophitia, Maxi, Ivy, and Raphael all have this graceful appeal to them as they pull off their moves, crafting a game that has to be seen in motion to get the full effect of it - screenshots do it no justice at all. They may not have the most polygons, or textures, or bump-mapping or whatever special effect that is the flavor of the month, instead they have style. And style is the important thing.

That's not to say the rest of the game isn't pretty either - the backgrounds are nice and detailed, but not mindblowing at all times - yet some will definitely wow you. The gothic/medieval presentation of the game, and the fly-bys of each stage is what takes the cake, blending in with the graceful swordplay to bring the game to life. Soul Calibur was cute, but Soul Calibur II is smoking hot.

Adding along to the graphical presentation, Namco has loaded this game up with audio goodness as well. The epic orchestrated soundtrack fits in perfectly with the fighting action - while cheese rock that's common in fighters is always a good thing, Soul Calibur II is the exception to the rule. It would just not fit in such a graceful game. Instead, the score just fades into the background, giving yet another backdrop for another epic swordfight.

Different in this game, though, is the addition of English voice acting. The previous SC game had subtitles, but the words were spoken in Japanese. This time, Namco got some English dubs, and while it's fine, it might be better off in Japanese for authenticity's sake. Thankfully, Namco also included Japanese voices, so you can change them if you choose to do so. If you do want the English voices, however, they're actually pretty decent with some characters (Ivy is good, with that British accent), but some are pretty bad. The various grunts and groans are the same regardless of language, but the idle chatter during fights does change depending on your dialect choice.

The Bottom Line

Soul Calibur II will challenge, enthrall, and keep you playing for quite some time. The wealth of characters and gameplay modes is more than enough for single player, to go along with the usual good multiplayer. While some will pass the game off as a rehash, right-minded folks will find that more of the same can't always be a bad thing, if it's this freakin' good. Soul Calibur II just does everything right in every possible area, creating one of the greatest fighting games ever. No matter what version you pick up, you can't go wrong with perhaps the deepest fighting game this side of Virtua Fighter 4. And if you're getting it for Cube, there's simply no other pure fighter in SCII's class.