Soulcalibur stabs XBLA through the heart

i'm just going to use this game to reacquaint me to the soul calibur universe and controls before the retail game comes out. I'm a bit out of practice since i haven't had a dreamcast or a ps2 in a while.

rad?

I played the demo and was excited to relive some nostalgia without hooking up the Dreamcast. This seems different from the original game, though. It's been a while, so maybe it's just me.. I don't think so though.

Sounds a bit of a waste of time to be honest, I guess none hdd owners have nothing much to worry about now.

How the hell is this game stripped-down? The original never had online play or 16x9 graphics. The updated HD graphics look superb too.

Everything else is here. The museum where you can hear all the characters' lines, survival, team attack, etc.

According to Metacritic/Gamerankings this is THE best fighting game of all time. For $10 it is clearly worth it. This game is about 10 times better than SFII, online play or not.

The only thing missing is the Mission Mode. But I played through the entire thing on the Dreamcast and honestly it was just to unlock everything. Not having to go through that slog all over again is actually a positive. You have all the characters and modes unlocked from the start, and I think that is exactly what XBLA players are looking for.

I don't know what else to say. I assume the writer has never played Soul Calibur or is just a bit of a dim-wit. I would put Soul Calibur right up there with Rez HD, Castlevania SOTN, Ikaruga, and Vigilante 8 (probably) as must-have XBLA titles.

If they cut out the content from mission mode, I'd hate it. But with all the content there... the only real problem is the lack of an online VS mode.

If a brand new XBLA game came out with quality comparable to SC's graphics, extras, and presentation, it'd be epic.

I feel no problems with the games timing and reactivity. The game loads very fast and seems very solidly ported.

I just hope we get Online play as free DLC sometime in the future, like PS3 got with Tekken DR.

its fighting game, not a mission game. that was just a bonus feature.

the core gameplay is still there, and I dont remember fighting online on the dreamcast.

it would be one thing if you could not fight, but you can. stop crying.

I have to disagree on this one.
Soul Caliber is EASLY the best game available in the marketplace. The only thing missing from the dreamcast version is the intro and edgemaster mode.
At 10 dollars this game is a total steel. SC2 nor 3 managed to produce the magic this game has.
This game looks better than anything in the arcade, the soundtrack is eons ahead of ANYTHING else in the arcade. If you don't have friends that come over and play sorry, it is a bummer it's not online but thats a namco decision probably due to the fact that SC4's online play and sales would most likley suffer as a result. This is my 70th arcade game and I couldn't be more satasfied with this game.
Anything bad anyone has to say about this game either dislikes fighting games or is nit picking.
Anyone that likes either fighters or the Soul Caliber series(whether they still have it on dc or not) would just be stupid not to by this game for multiple reasons.
Amazingly the pile of shit d-pad on the 360 controller works flawless with this game to add to it, unlike SSF2THDR where you will basically need to go and buy yourself something else to play with if you wanna be able to showcase your skills.
Last thing, honestly I'm willing to bet that this version can still hold the "best Soul Caliber game ever" award even after SC4 comes out.
Better graffics don't mean a better game and we learned that leason from SC2 and 3 however small of a graphical enhancement they had over the original DC SC.

This is a HUGE bone Namco has thrown the 360's way and it's amazing to say the least don't bash it for imaginary reasons.

No online mode means no sale.

I'll just stick to my DC version and save $10.

The sad part is that this stripping down will keep me from purchasing it. No online multi is UNFORGIVABLE.

I tossed in Soul Blade into my PS3 the other day to play around. Man have we come a long way. I couldn't bring myself to play it the graphics were so bad.

And this coming from a guy that still plays Galaga from time to time.

Cheap cash in = cheap cash in :/ Not really much else to say. The lack of online multiplayer really hurts the title in my opinion. I have SC for my dreamcast, i'm going to skip this, not worth the money. Not even for nostalgia.

No online multiplayer in this day and age is a joke. I'd rather not have it on XBLA than have it in its current form.

Does it have all the different weapon variations from mission mode? Or are they cut out too? That could be a dealbreaker for me.

I'll get this for now... When Battle Arena Toshinden 5 comes out its going to kick EVERY OTHER FIGHTING GAMES ASS! =) This is coming from a guy that played Battle Arena Toshinden since 1996 and still has and loves it to this day! B.A.T. ages suprisingly well for a fighting game!

Lack of Mission mode kinda stinks, I'll DL the demo though and see if it's worth it... I'll probably buy it seeing it was my favorite DC game... but the mission mode and unlocking things was what kept me playing it.

I was sceptical at first, since SC is one of my all-time fave games EVER. The omission of Mission Mode was a big hit to my euphoria, but since the rest is there, I broke down and got iit.

To be honest, the only reason AFTER unlocking everything was to rack up those survival and extra survival streaks anyway. Since I can do that here AND compare with others on an online leaderboard (which the DC version didn't have), I'm all set.

Too bad one of the achievements involves Ivy's mega-throw, since I always sucked playing her.

Ah, no one noticed Voldo's bull head cod piece has returned. That more than makes up for not having a mission mode (not really, but still, yay for avoiding senseless edits).

It should also be stated that all of the voices are in Japanese with no English option aside from subtitles. Personally, I'm grateful.

It's a fine versus title for local matches, what with the faster load times and convenience of being able to play wireless. Online would have been incredible, but I suppose we'll have to settle for really freakin' great.

As for Ivy's suffering, I once read that it's easiest to think of it as rolling two fireball motions after the initial down-forward, up-back movement. Worked for me, and though I can't pull it off for the life of me during a versus match, the CPU is polite enough to stand there without attacking long enough for it to connect.

What bothers me most about this game is the visuals, if they had added widescreen and prettied up the graphics a little I would have been all over it.