SoulCalibur

From Sega Retro

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Soulcalibur title.png

SoulCalibur
System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Publisher: Namco
Developer:
Peripherals supported: Dreamcast VGA Box, Dreamcast Jump Pack, Dreamcast Arcade Stick, Visual Memory Unit
Genre: Fighting

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Dreamcast
JP
¥5,8005,800 T-1401M
Sega Dreamcast
US
T-1401N
Sega Dreamcast
EU
T-1401D-50
Sega Dreamcast
AU
$89.9589.95[5]

SoulCalibur (ソウルキャリバー SōruKyaribā) is a versus fighting game developed by Namco and is the sequel to Soul Edge/Soul Blade. Originally released for Namco System 12 arcade hardware, the game was ported to the Sega Dreamcast with improved graphics and extra features. It was a launch title in North America. The European Dreamcast version was distributed and advertised by Sega Europe.

The Dreamcast version of the game has often been cited as one of the greatest fighting games ever made, being the highest rated Dreamcast game in existence. It has since been re-released on the Xbox Live Arcade service. SoulCalibur was followed by SoulCalibur II for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, though did not receive the same amount of praise as its predecessor..

Story

Gameplay

Characters

Voldo
Ivy
Sophitia
Mitsurugi
Kilik
Xianghua
Maxi
Maxi is seen as a replacement for Li Long in Soul Edge, a character who would not return to the series until SoulCalibur III in 2005.
Nightmare
Taki
Astaroth
Hwang
Unlockable
Yoshimitsu
Unlockable
Lizardman
Unlockable
Seigfried
Unlockable
Rock
Unlockable
Seung Mina
Unlockable
Cervantes
Unlockable. Cervantes is exclusive to the Dreamcast version of the game.
Edge Master
Unlockable
Inferno
Unlockable

History

Development

It is thought that SoulCalibur was named as such due to trademark issues with its prequel, Soul Edge. Tim Langdell, owner of video game company Edge Games, had trademarked the term "edge" and aggressively challenged video game media which sought to use the name in the US, leading to Namco releasing Soul Edge as Soul Blade in Western territories. The entire series was renamed SoulCalibur to keep things consistent, and "Caliber" was thought to be purposefully misspelled to avoid a similar situation occuring again. Langdell was forced to drop claims of ownership over the "edge" name after challenged by Electronic Arts and their 2008 game, Mirror's Edge.

Release

While the game debuted at number one in Japan, SoulCalibur struggled to keep a high position in the weekly charts. Namco, disappointed with the game's sales, reportedly pulled out of Dreamcast development (save for some lower-budget titles and compilations) as a result[6]. The decision was controversial, as the game had yet to be released overseas at the time.

Versions

Arcade vs. Dreamcast

Compared to the arcade version, the Dreamcast version features improved graphics, including newly added 3D backgrounds. The gameplay has been tweaked, and enriched with new game modes, new costumes, and an extra character, Cervantes de Leon. New modes such as the Team Battle, Survival and the Training Mode are also included. In Missions Mode the player completes various missions to attain points, which can be used to buy various art and costumes. The new artwork section containins official artwork, fanart and high resolution pictures.

Extra unlockables include "liquid metal' character costumes, a "Battle Theater" mode, the ability to modify the opening introduction theme by changing the characters appearing in it and an "Exhibition Mode" displaying characters performing their katas. In Mission Mode it is possible to add more characters to the "Exhibition Mode", such as Taki and Seung Mina).

Regional differences

The North American version of the game removed one of Voldo's suggestive codpieces featuring a bull. However, it is present in the European and Japanese versions.

Xbox Live Arcade

The Xbox Live Arcade re-release was a port based on the European Dreamcast version and was made available for download on Xbox Live Arcade on July 2, 2008. While the game included high-definition updated graphics and various Live leaderboards, online play was absent which makes it an exception amongst most games ported to Xbox Live Arcade. Other features from the Dreamcast version (Museum, etc., with the exception of Mission Battle) are also in the game. While the intro itself is removed from this port, the intro music still exists. All content is unlocked by the start of the game.

Production credits

Namco Production Staff
  • Senior Project Director: Teruaki Konishi
  • Project Director: Hiroaki Yotoriyama
  • Production Manager: Koh Onda
  • Motion Design Director: Masataka Ishiguro
  • Mission Battle Mode & Effects Supervisor: Tadashi Iguchi
Character System Design
  • Motion Capture Director: Jin Okubo
  • Motion Management: Naotake Hirata
  • Practice Mode Director: Tetsuya Akatsuka
  • Motion Design Co-Director: Kazuo Takahashi
  • Museum Mode & Enemy AI Director: Yoshito Higuchi
  • Tuning Director: Makoto Kiyokawa
  • Mission Battle Mode Coordinator: Yoshihiro Nakagawa
Programming
  • Lead Programmer: Shinobu Nimura
  • 3D System Programmer: Shizuka Matsuda
  • Stage Effects & Enemy AI Programmer: Yoshihito Iwanaga
  • Motion & Mission Battle Mode Programmer: Takashi Koshigoe
  • Sound & Special Effects Programmer: Tadashi Obama
  • Opening Demo & Camera Motion Programmer: Masaaki Hoshino
  • Interface Programmer: Hiroyuki Kobota
  • CGI Programmer: Teppei Kusakabe
  • Network System Support: Ryuunosuke Okazaki
Motion Team
  • Skeleton Model & Motion Design: Yoshihisa Yaguchi
  • Motion Design: Yukie Misaki, Nobuko Nimura, Tomoe Hirata, Naoko Ishizu, Isamu Sawada, Kaori Satoh, Shouji Nakamura
3D Character Development
  • Lead Artist: Ryoichi Ban
  • 3D Model & Texture Design: Akira Nakajima, Takeya Inoguchi, Yukiharu Taniguchi, Hiroaki Kado, Seido Ozawa, Hideo Yoshie, Masato Inagaki
Stage Development
  • Lead Artist: Kanako Iwasaki
  • 3D Model & Texture Design: Hiroko Noguchi, Tomoko Tomita, Momoko Daigo, Yasunori Yanagawa
Opening Demo
  • Director: Yasushi Shibue
  • Design: Yukiko Yokoo, Fuminori Tsuchiya, Sachiko Inoue
  • 2D Graphics & LCD Character Design: Taro Okamoto
  • Original Character Design: Kouji Mitsunaga
  • Title Logo & Graphic Design: Hideaki Ito
  • 2D Character Illustrations: Kiyotaka Tamiya
  • Package Design: Minako Matsuda
  • Interface Coordination: James Lisle
Sound
  • Music: Junichi Nakatsuru
  • Additional Music Production: Akitaka Tohyama, Yoshihito Yano, Takanori Otsuka
  • Sound Effects: Hideki Tobeta
  • Voice Talent
    • Kilik: Souichiro Hoshi
    • Xianghua: Aya Hisakawa
    • Maxi: Nobutoshi Hayashi
    • Mitsurugi: Toshiyuki Morikawa
    • Taki: Fujiko Takimoto
    • Sophita: Michiko Neya
    • Nightmare: Nobuyuki Hiyama
    • Astaroth: Banjo Ginga
    • Ivy: Yumi Touma
    • Narration: Jeffry Maning
    • Hwang: Wataru Takagi
    • Yoshimitsu: Nobuyuki Hiyama
    • Siegfried: Nobuyuki Hiyama
    • Rock: Takashi Nagasako
    • Seung Mina: Houko Kuwashima
    • Cervantes: Takashi Nagasako
    • Edge Master: Daisuke Gouri
  • Motion Capture Tech. Team: Takayasu Yanagihara, Satoshi Yamaguchi, Miho Nakasaka, Toshiyuki Hagiwara
  • MS Team: Tetsuya Kono, Kumiko Naemura
  • Motion Capture Actors: Kenichiro Tamayori, Takayuki Nakayama, Ken Shibata, Li Tianyuan, Jiang Chi
  • Tuning Unit & Production Assistants: Ryoji Ichikari, George Taguchi, Tsuyoshi Kiuchi, Akiya Ikeda, Satoshi Masukawa, Norikatsu Yoshikawa, Takuji Kanayama, Shinji Takino, Yasuki Nakabayashi, Naoyuki Kondou, Takeharu Kondou, Takashi Arai
  • QA Team (NTSC Version): Takashi Chida, Yusuke Morita, Shinya Suzuki, Shinya Inamoto, Miho Tanaka, Michitaka Motomura, Yasuhiro Komuro, Eriko Shiina, Ryuji Kurokawa, Yoshitomo Nakanishi, James Guirao, Dominic Lobbia
  • QA Team (PAL Version): Takashi Chida, Yusuke Morita, Shinya Suzuki, Shinya Inamoto, Miho Tanaka, Michitaka Motomura, Yasuhiro Komuro, Eriko Shiina, Ryuji Kurokawa, Yoshitomo Nakanishi
  • Special Thanks (NTSC Version): Kouji Kudou, Yokohama Chinese Wushu Society, Toshio Natsui, Yutaka Toya, Junichi Kawamura, Satoru Yamada, Kazuyuki Nikaido, Hiroki Tanaka, Kaname Takai, Yutaka Goto, Taku Tsuge, Kai Tanaka, Tsuyumi Toyoda, Noriko Kobayashi, Koichiro Shigeno, Hiroshi Goshowaki, Asako Ueno, Jason Arney, Masanori Kato, Jeff Miller, Jesse Taylor, Yoshi Homma, And All Namco Staff
  • Special Thanks (PAL Version): Kouji Kudou, Yokohama Chinese Wushu Society, Toshio Natsui, Yutaka Toya, Junichi Kawamura, Satoru Yamada, Kazuyuki Nikaido, Hiroki Tanaka, Kaname Takai, Yutaka Goto, Taku Tsuge, Kai Tanaka, Tsuyumi Toyoda, Noriko Kobayashi, Koichiro Shigeno, Hiroshi Goshowaki, Asako Ueno, Jason Arney, Hiroaki Ochiai, SDL International, Kats Sato (Sega Europe, Ltd.), Roberto Parraga-Sanchez (Sega Europe, Ltd.), Dave Thompson (Sega Europe, Ltd.), Angelika Michitsch (Sega Europe, Ltd.), Kim Shon (Sega Europe, Ltd.), Cedric Marechal (Sega Europe, Ltd.), Jason Cumberbatch (Sega Europe, Ltd.), Ross McLeish (Sega Europe, Ltd.), Sarah Ward (Sega Europe, Ltd.), And All Namco Staff
  • Production Coordinators: Toshiya Hara, Shinichi Tsuruya
  • Assistant Producers (US Version) (NTSC Version): Noriko Wada, Paul Guirao
  • Producer (US Version) (NTSC Version): Yasuhiro Noguchi
  • Translation Staff (PAL Version): Yasuhiro Noguchi, Noriko Wada, Paul Guirao
  • Executive Producers: Shukuo Ishikawa, Shigeru Yokoyama, Katsuo Nakamura
  • Co-Producer: Masuya Oishi
  • Producer: Hajime Nakatani
  • Produced by: Namco

TM & ©1998 1999 Namco Ltd., All Rights Reserved

Magazine articles

Main article: SoulCalibur/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advertisements

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Print advert in Official Dreamcast Magazine (US) #1: "September 1999" (1999-08-24)
also published in:
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Print advert in Famitsu (JP) #555: "1999-08-06" (1999-07-23)
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Print advert in DC-UK (UK) #3: "November 1999" (1999-10-26)
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Print advert in Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel (FR) #2: "Décembre 1999/Janvier 2000" (1999-12-xx)
also published in:
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TV advertisements

Artwork

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
100 №14, p68/69[9]
98 №92, p96/97/98/99/100 №95, p110/111/112
100 №216, p76-79[10]
100 №3
90 №1, p12-17[11]
90 №3, p54-57[12]
100 №1999-25, p17[13]
95 №, p32[14]
94 №2, p54-56[15]
90 №76, p84-86[16]
100
100
100 №556, p40
98 10/14/1999
100 01/01/2000
95
94 №103, p98-101[17]
100 №1, p44-47[18]
Sega Dreamcast
97
Based on
18 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
576 Konzol (HU)
98
[19]
Arcade (UK) PAL
100
[9]
BGamer (PT)
100
[20]
Consoles + (FR) NTSC-J
98
[21]
Consoles + (FR) PAL
98
[22]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
100
[10]
Dreamcast Arena (IT) PAL
95
[23]
Dreamcast Monthly (UK) NTSC-J
90
[24]
Dreamcast Monthly (UK) PAL
90
[12]
DC-UK (UK) PAL
100
[25]
Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel (FR) PAL
100
[26]
Dreamcast: Das Offizielle Magazin (DE) PAL
100
[27]
Dreamcast Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
100
[28]
Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL
94
[29]
Dorimaga (JP) NTSC-J
95
[30]
Edge (UK) NTSC-J
90
[16]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
100
[31]
Entsiklopediya igr dlya Dreamcast (RU)
88
[32]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
100
[33]
Fun Generation (DE) PAL
100
[34]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
88
[35]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
100
[36]
GamesMaster (UK)
96
[37]
GameZine (UK)
100
[38]
Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-U
100
[39]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-J
90
[40]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
90
[41]
Man!ak (PL)
100
[42]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
94
[43]
Neo Plus (PL)
100
[44]
Next Generation (US) NTSC-U
100
[45]
neXt Level (DE) PAL
95
[46]
Next Level (AR)
98
[47]
Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL
100
[48]
PC Expert (FR) PAL
100
[49]
Player One (FR)
94
[17]
Play (PL)
95
[50]
PSX Extreme (PL)
97
[51]
Revista Oficial Dreamcast (ES) PAL
100
[4]
Sega Magazin (DE) NTSC-J
90
[52]
Strana Igr (RU)
95
[53]
Strana Igr (RU)
90
[54]
Video Games (DE) PAL
90
[55]
Sega Dreamcast
96
Based on
43 reviews

SoulCalibur

Dreamcast, US
SoulCalibur DC US Box Back.jpgSoulCalibur DC US Box Front.jpg
Cover
SoulCalibur DC US Disc.jpg
Disc
SoulCaliburDCUSInlay.jpg
Inlay
Dreamcast, EU
SoulCalibur DC EU Box Back.jpgSoulCalibur DC EU Box Front.jpg
Cover
SoulCalibur DC EU Disc.jpg
Disc
Dreamcast, JP
SoulCalibur DC JP Box Back.jpgSoulCalibur DC JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
Soulcalibur dc jp disc.png
Disc

Technical information

The Proving Grounds stage renders up to 1.8 million polygons per second, about 30,000 polygons per scene at 60 FPS.

External links

References

  1. Press release: 1999-09-02: Sega Dreamcast Launch Titles and Peripherals
  2. File:CVG UK 217.pdf, page 41
  3. File:CVG UK 216.pdf, page 77
  4. 4.0 4.1 File:ROD ES 01.pdf, page 42 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ROD ES 01.pdf_p42" defined multiple times with different content
  5. File:Hyper AU 072.pdf, page 55
  6. File:EGM US 124.pdf, page 58
  7. Official Dreamcast Magazine, "November 1999" (US; 1999-10-05), page 61
  8. Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel, "Mars/Avril 2000" (FR; 2000-xx-xx), page 41
  9. 9.0 9.1 File:Arcade UK 14.pdf, page 68 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Arcade UK 14.pdf_p68" defined multiple times with different content
  10. 10.0 10.1 File:CVG UK 216.pdf, page 76 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 216.pdf_p76" defined multiple times with different content
  11. File:DreamcastMonthly UK 01.pdf, page 11
  12. 12.0 12.1 File:DreamcastMonthly UK 03.pdf, page 54 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:DreamcastMonthly UK 03.pdf_p54" defined multiple times with different content
  13. File:DCM_JP_19990813_1999-25.pdf, page 17
  14. File:Dorimaga_20021011_JP.pdf, page 32
  15. File:DreamcastMagazine UK 02.pdf, page 53
  16. 16.0 16.1 File:Edge UK 076.pdf, page 84 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Edge UK 076.pdf_p84" defined multiple times with different content
  17. 17.0 17.1 File:PlayerOne FR 103.pdf, page 98 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:PlayerOne FR 103.pdf_p98" defined multiple times with different content
  18. File:ROD ES 01.pdf, page 44
  19. 576 Konzol, "Május 2000" (HU; 2000-xx-xx), page 32
  20. BGamer, "Dezembro 1999" (PT; 1999-1x-xx), page 94
  21. Consoles +, "Septembre 1999" (FR; 1999-0x-xx), page 96
  22. Consoles +, "Décembre 1999" (FR; 1999-1x-xx), page 110
  23. Dreamcast Arena, "Gennaio 2000" (IT; 2000-01-10), page 68
  24. Dreamcast Monthly, "September 1999" (UK; 1999-xx-xx), page 12
  25. DC-UK, "November 1999" (UK; 1999-10-26), page 10
  26. Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel, "Décembre 1999/Janvier 2000" (FR; 1999-12-xx), page 72
  27. Dreamcast: Das Offizielle Magazin, "November 1999" (DE; 1999-11-11), page 16
  28. Dreamcast Magazine, "1999-25 (1999-08-13,20)" (JP; 1999-07-30), page 17
  29. Dreamcast Magazine, "No. 2" (UK; 1999-10-21), page 54
  30. Dorimaga, "2002-18 (2002-10-11)" (JP; 2002-09-27), page 32
  31. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1999" (US; 1999-09-07), page 216
  32. Entsiklopediya igr dlya Dreamcast, "Izdaniye chetvertoye, dopolnennoye" (RU; 2002-xx-xx), page 218
  33. Famitsu, "1999-08-13" (JP; 1999-07-30), page 40
  34. Fun Generation, "11/99" (DE; 1999-10-13), page 52
  35. GameFan, "Volume 7, Issue 10: October 1999" (US; 1999-xx-xx), page 20
  36. GamePro, "October 1999" (US; 1999-xx-xx), page 130
  37. GamesMaster, "Christmas 1999" (UK; 1999-11-29), page 65
  38. GameZine (UK) (+0:00)
  39. Gamers' Republic, "October 1999" (US; 1999-09-18), page 74
  40. MAN!AC, "10/99" (DE; 1999-09-01), page 56
  41. MAN!AC, "01/2000" (DE; 1999-12-01), page 88
  42. Man!ak, "Listopad 1999" (PL; 1999-xx-xx), page 20
  43. Mega Fun, "10/99" (DE; 1999-09-01), page 70
  44. Neo Plus, "Styczeń 2000" (PL; 2000-xx-xx), page 69
  45. Next Generation, "November 1999" (US; 1999-10-19), page 116
  46. neXt Level, "November 1999" (DE; 1999-10-08), page 44
  47. Next Level, "Octubre 1999" (AR; 1999-xx-xx), page 38
  48. Official Dreamcast Magazine, "December 1999" (UK; 1999-11-11), page 64
  49. PC Expert, "Hors-série December 1999: Gamespot.fr Magazine" (FR; 1999-1x-xx), page 55
  50. Play, "Lipiec 2001" (PL; 2001-xx-xx), page 17
  51. PSX Extreme, "03/2001" (PL; 2001-0x-xx), page 38
  52. Sega Magazin, "October 1999" (DE; 1999-09-06), page 14
  53. Strana Igr, "Sentyabr 1999 1/2" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 66
  54. Strana Igr, "Sentyabr 2000 2/2" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 21
  55. Video Games, "12/99" (DE; 1999-11-17), page 72