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Soul Calibur II Sparks Subdued Joy

Posted by simoniker on from the love-it-but-seen-it-before dept.

Thanks to GameSpy for their (similar, and in descending score order) Xbox, Gamecube, and PlayStation 2 reviews of the newly-released Soul Calibur II, plus a detailed Soul Calibur II: Pile-On! article, where-in "...a battle royale of GameSpy's biggest SCII fans pick apart a hit." Opinions? One editor suggests: "It's a fabulous game, but the original Soul Calibur wasn't just an excellent game: it started a new age for fighters. On the other hand, SCII - no matter how good it is - is just an incremental upgrade, a fairly routine fighter sequel."

1 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Re:EDGE score and controllers by Moonshadow · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I actually have to agree with the controller thing. I've played the demo on all three consoles (fanboy? Me? Naaaah...) and I've found I like the Gamecube controller best, despite my rather oversized hands. The PS2's 4-button layout is similar to the DC's, which makes the transition easy, but I was having serious problems with the 8-way run on the PS2 - the analog stick seemed to always be "walk", despite double-tapping, and the plus pad seemed to be "run". Perhaps it's just that I'm not used to it, but that departure made it fairly difficult to adjust to. The XBox controller was just a little unwieldy for a fighter - it didn't seem quite right. The GC controller, while layed out differently than the DC, was actually easy to get used to. The A, Y and Y buttons function as horizontal and vertical attack, respectively, with the X as kick, and B and R as block. The addition of R as block was very welcome, as it makes it possible to do both types of throws relatively easy, as opposed to the block/vertical awkwardness of the DC version.

    I do expect, though, that if you are comfortable with a given controller, you won't have a problem with the controls. The Soul Calibur games are hardly known for their clunky controls. :)

    I'm picking my order up today.