PixlBit

Who loves SoulCalibur? I do! I remember playing the first in the series, Soul Blade, on the original PlayStation and it completely took me by surprise. I heard about it because of an advertisement on the back of the manual of Tekken 2. I rented it at Hollywood Video (they always had older titles whereas Blockbuster would get rid of them quickly) and bought it soon afterward used at Funcoland. The second title, SoulCalibur, was one of the first games I bought when I got my Dreamcast and I was addicted to that game. Although I missed the different weapons with different stats, the gameplay was more fluid and better paced. The removal of the weapon health bar and the 8-way movement was really what made that title above and beyond any other 3D fighter and it’s my favorite in the series. SoulCalibur II was something of a disappointment to me but my friends and I had a lot of fun playing that game and since it was released on multiple consoles as opposed to just one, SoulCalibur II is the game that truly propelled the series into the mainstream. SoulCalibur III was a better game but I could never get into it due to a game breaking bug I encountered that kept on corrupting my save file.

With SoulCalibur V coming out soon, the time seems right for a collection of the SoulCalibur series revamped in HD. Now, I actually think that the lower polygonal graphics wouldn’t be as appealing to gamers this generation and in my opinion, they aren’t as endearing as, say, Tekken. Therefore, I think this would be a two disc collection because all four of these games would be completely redone from the ground up graphically. The game mechanics should stay the same and all the modes and features should not be touched but the graphics should be completely redone to look similar to SoulCalibur IV and V and the soundtrack should be presented in 7.1 surround sound rather than just CD quality. This will probably impact the first title the most and that would be the one I would be most excited for. Seeing Cervantes in HD with both Soul Blades and alive (sort of) would be awesome in my opinion as well as to see Li Long again, who was basically replaced by Maxi in future titles. Other updates such as new character select screens and improved presentations would be appreciated. Also, let me map attacks to the right analog stick because otherwise, it’s used for nothing.

I’m aware that SoulCalibur is available on XBLA but this would be a true upgrade into HD and not just the same game with higher resolution and no Weapons Master mode. I would also like a change in the SoulCalibur II port in that there’s no reason to have “Extra” versions of each mode. Just have an option in the settings menu to change whether or not weapon selection is allowed. Also, this should go without saying but in SoulCalibur III, FIX THAT GODDAMN BUG! Completely ruined the game for me. Anyways, what do you think? Would you like to see a HD collection of SoulCalibur? Are you tired of these remakes? Comment below and let me know.