Soulcalibur II

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since June 2008. Its tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Tagged since September 2008.

This video game-related article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards or the Video Games project's guidelines. It should not contain unverifiable information, nor should it have gameplay instructions or excessive details. (September 2008 )

Soulcalibur II
Box art of the PlayStation 2 version of the game. GameCube and Xbox versions feature Link and Spawn respectively in place of Heihachi.
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Designer(s)	Hiroaki Yotoriyama
Native resolution	720p (HDTV) (Xbox only) 480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV)
Platform(s)	Arcade, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release date(s)	Arcade July 30, 2002 GC, PS2, & Xbox March 27, 2003 NA August 27, 2003 PAL September 26, 2003
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, two-player
Rating(s)	CERO: 12+ ESRB: T OFLC: M15+ PEGI: 16+
Input methods	8-way joystick, 6 buttons (arcade) DualShock controller (PS2) GameCube controller (GCN) Xbox controller (Xbox)
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' story-lines 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.

Gameplay

Modes and features

Modes and other features added to the Home Versions:

• Soulcalibur II presented the normal modes from most fighting games: Arcade, Team Battle Mode (similar to arcade, but with teams of up to 8 characters and without cutscenes or endings), Time Attack (fight against the clock to gain records), Survival Battle and Training Mode. There are also "Extra" versions of these modes, intended to allow the use of the Extra Weapons. Worth mentioning is that Arcade's 7th battle is called a "Destined Battle", a battle predefined that never changes. Each character has one according to their story, and are shared by groups of two (for example: Mitsurugi→Taki, Taki→Mitsurugi) with the exception of the console-exclusive characters.
• A returning feature from Soul Edge is the inclusion of Extra Weapons. Instead of Soul Edge's system of different stats, this one is based on power %, defense % and special abilities (drains energy, pass through defense, etc). Each character has 12 different weapons, from the standard (basic) weapons for 1P and 2P to the powerful "Ultimate Weapon". Also each one was granted a Soul Edge version of their arms and a "Joke Weapon", weapons with bad stats and effect, and with unique, and funny, hit sounds. Each weapon is given a backstory in the "Weapon Gallery".
• The Arcade version has a unique mode called "Conquest Mode". Conquest Mode allows the player to pick an army, fight enemies and gain experience points, allowing it to increase the level of the selected player.
• "Weapon Master Mode" takes the core system from "Conquest Mode" and expands upon it. This mode, made in a similar fashion to Soul Edge's "Edge Master Mode" and Soulcalibur's "Mission Mode", presents a history set in an alternate world, while the player moves in a map divided in "regions" (named after stars) and fights enemies to gain experience points (which raises the "rank" of the character) and money (which can be used to buy weapons, art, costumes and videos). The mode has 10 normal chapters, 4 sub-chapters and 2 extra chapters as well as Extra-Missions (alternate version of normal missions). The plot of the mode puts the player into the role of a swordsman searching for Soul Edge, who suddenly is faced against a powerful mad knight named Veral (who takes the form of Nightmare, then Inferno), who searches for Soul Edge for his own desires.
• As in Soulcalibur, there is a "Museum", containing character artwork, various videos (like Arcade Intro or WMM intro and Ending) and Weapon Exhibition (or "katas"). There is also the "Profile Viewer" (to see character's stories) and "Battle Theater" (to see CPU vs CPU battles).
• Like before, some characters are granted with 3rd costumes, purchased in Weapon Master Mode. Out of the 25 selectable characters, only 13 were granted a 3rd costume: Astaroth, Cassandra, Ivy, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Raphael, Seung Mina, Sophitia, Taki, Talim, Voldo and Xianghua. It should also be noted that Link has four costumes (Green, Red, Blue, and a lavender-like color) and Assassin, Berserker and Lizardman each have 6 different costumes (3 color edits of their 2 standard costumes).
• The game also featured the option to hear the characters speak in Japanese or English.

Improvements

Compared to Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II boasts improved graphics and introduces new characters, stages, and music.

Key game engine improvements include:

• More powerful "step" and "avoid" systems, which made evading vertical attacks noticeably easier.
• Arena walls, rather than ring-out ability on all sides, and wall-specific moves.
• A three-step Soul Charge system.
• A clash system, one that is used when two attacks would hit each other resulting in a white flash
• Guard break attacks, which put a blocking player into a post guard-impact state
• Just frame moves, which awarded additional hits to players who could time their command inputs well.
• A revised Guard Impact system that removed height-based Impact moves and instead used a more unified system (high and mid attacks are countered using Repels, mid and low attacks are countered using Parries).

Story

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 Schtauffen, who was until a moment before the Azure Knight, restored his mind. Recognizing his sins, he set 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 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 starts his rampage anew, seeking souls to restore Soul Edge once again.

Characters

Ivy fighting Link in a battle.(GameCube version)

Raphael and Talim's playing styles are entirely unique, while Cassandra and Yun-seong's are derived from established characters Sophitia and Hwang Seong-gyeong, respectively. 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.

Rounding out the characters were returning fighters Seung Mina and Sophitia from both Soul Edge and Soulcalibur. 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). Hwang, Siegfried, and Rock, however, would all return in the following game.

Reception

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

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]

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,^[3] 92.3% for the GameCube,^[4] and 91.6% for the Xbox.^[5]

• E3 2003 Game Critics Awards: Best Fighting Game^[6]
• X-Play - 10th best GameCube game of all time.
• Screwattack.com - 8th best GameCube game^{[citation needed]}
• Game Informer - 10th best game on the GameCube.

Ports

Soulcalibur II was ported to Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2. Each version has an exclusive character:

• Heihachi Mishima (from the Tekken game series; appears in the PlayStation 2 version) - Gauntlets
• Link (from The Legend of Zelda series; appears in the GameCube version) - Master Sword and Hylian Shield
• Spawn (from Todd McFarlane's comic book series; appears in the Xbox version) - Axe formed using his cape.

See also

• Soulcalibur II Original Soundtrack

References

External links

• Soulcalibur Series Website
• Soulcalibur II at Soulcalibur Wikia