Director's Cut

Recently I got picked up the original Soul Calibur on XBLA. I played the original when it was on the Sega Dreamcast (SHUT UP) and thought it was quite impressive - even when stacked up against it's then little brother SC3. So how does it look now being played on the 360?

In all honesty? I have no idea.
Well, lets go with the good: This is definitely a game that has aged well - which is an impressive feat as video-games are a medium wherein things seem to age quicker than a Mayfly. The graphics hold up really well, even for a sixth generation console, and, dare I say it, looks more attractive than Soul Calibur's recent incarnations. And having these gorgeous visuals in HD is even more sweeter.

But there are problems too: Firstly the lack of online play is an exclusion that leans on the near-crippling. And whilst having everything unlocked was a nice idea at first (particularly someone like me who couldn't get those last pieces of artwork), it does make it clear that repeated plays are now redundant. And the Mission Mode has been thrown out for no better reason - all of which makes one wonder why XBLA even bothered to dust off this game for inclusion.

But I'm annoyed that the Opening Direction was taken out. I'm sorry but I would like to defend the Opening Direction and say it was one of my favorite inclusions in the Dreamcast incarnation.
What did I like about it? Simple: for the first time,l the player actually had a say in what had previously been off limits. As I mentioned previously in my post on the best intros of the 16-bit era, an intro to a videogame has the unenviable task of grabbing the gamer's attention and make them want to play the game in question. It's a tall order considering gamer attentions has been forged over the years to have a capacity greater than five minutes - Indeed, many impressive intros have given way to lousy games that suckered many a gamer in long enough before they realised they got screwed.
But what made Soul Calibur's opening special was that for once the gamer actually had a say as to what happens in the opening. Sure it was a case of placing characters at particular points for their portraits and/or to pose with their weapons but to be granted that freedom in an area where the player just and to sit and enjoy the lovely cinematic was indeed a privilege worth grasping with both hands. As such I made many intros with this feature and it never got dull.

It is indeed odd that this unique feature got removed - particularly at a point when games these days are offering a lot more freedoms to the player that were previously unattainable. Indeed, it makes me wonder why I bothered with this XBLA downloaded particularly when I still have a working Dreamcast and the original Soul Calibur.





....And stop laughing