SoulCalibur

n/a

SoulCalibur
System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Publisher: Namco Namco Hometek (US)
Developer: Namco
Supporting companies: Price Design Team (US packaging)
Distributor: Sega Europe (Europe)
Original system(s): Namco System 12
Peripherals supported: Dreamcast Arcade Stick, Fishing Controller, Jump Pack, Dreamcast Modem, Dreamcast VGA Box, Visual Memory Unit
Genre: Fighting/Kakutou (挌闘), 3D Buki Taisen Kakutou/3D Weapon Fighting (3Ｄ武器対戦挌闘), Action
Number of players: 1-2
Official in-game languages: 日本語 English Deutsch Français Español
Release Date RRP Code JP 1999-08-05 ¥5,800 (6,090)5,800e T-1401M US 1999-09-09 $49.9949.99 T-1401N EU 1999-11-26 T-1401D-50 DE 1999-11-26 T-1401D-50 ES 1999-11-25 8,990Ptas8,990 T-1401D-50 FR 1999-11-24 T-1401D-50 PT 1999-11-26 DCJS22927 UK 1999-11-26 £39.9939.99 T-1401D-50 AU 1999-11-30 $89.9589.95 FSOU02DCS
Non-Sega versions Arcade

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.

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. The decision was controversial, as the game had yet to be released overseas at the time. It would go on to sell over 1.3 million copies worldwide.

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 Talents
  • Kilik: Souichiro Hoshi
  • Xianghua: Aya Hisakawa
  • Maxi: Nobutoshi Hayashi
  • Mitsurugi: Toshiyuki Morikawa
  • Taki: Fujiko Takimoto
  • Sophita: Michiko Neya
  • Astaroth: Banjo Ginga
  • Ivy: Yumi Touma
  • Narrator: Jeffry Maning
  • Hwang: Wataru Takagi
  • Yoshimitsu/Siegfried/Nightmare: 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

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: SoulCalibur/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advertisements

GR print advert

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #122: "September 1999" (1999-08-10)
also published in:

• Official Dreamcast Magazine (US) #1: "September 1999" (1999-08-24)
• GamePro (US) #133: "October 1999" (1999-xx-xx)
• Official Dreamcast Magazine (US) #2: "November 1999" (1999-10-05)

Print advert in Famitsu (JP) #555: "1999-08-06" (1999-07-23)

Print advert in DC-UK (UK) #3: "November 1999" (1999-10-26)

Print advert in Next Level (AR) #10: "Noviembre 1999" (1999-xx-xx)

Print advert in Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel (FR) #2: "Décembre 1999/Janvier 2000" (1999-12-xx)
also published in:

• Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel (FR) #3: "Mars/Avril 2000" (2000-xx-xx)

Print advert in Neo Plus (PL) #30: "Marzec 2001" (2001-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Neo Plus (PL) #31: "Kwiecień 2001" (2001-xx-xx)
• Neo Plus (PL) #32: "Maj 2001" (2001-xx-xx)
• Neo Plus (PL) #33: "Czerwiec 2001" (2001-xx-xx)
• Neo Plus (PL) #34: "Lipiec-Sierpień 2001" (2001-xx-xx)
• Neo Plus (PL) #35: "Wrzesień 2001" (2001-xx-xx)

Print advert in PSX Extreme (PL) #43: "03/2001" (2001-0x-xx)
also published in:

• PSX Extreme (PL) #44: "04/2001" (2001-0x-xx)

TV advertisements

File:SoulCalibur DC JP TVAdvert.mp4

JP

File:SoulCalibur DC JP TVAdvert.mp4

File:SoulCalibur Commercial.mp4

US

File:SoulCalibur Commercial.mp4

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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 576 Konzol (HU) 98 Arcade (UK) PAL 100 BGamer (PT) 100 Consoles + (FR) NTSC-J 98 Consoles + (FR) PAL 98 Computer & Video Games (UK) 100 Dreamcast Arena (IT) PAL 95 Dreamcast Monthly (UK) NTSC-J 90 Dreamcast Monthly (UK) PAL 90 DC-UK (UK) PAL 100 Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel (FR) PAL 100 Dreamcast: Das Offizielle Magazin (DE) PAL 100 Dreamcast Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 100 Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL 94 Dorimaga (JP) NTSC-J 95 Dreamzone (FR) NTSC-J 98 Dreamzone (FR) PAL 98 Edge (UK) NTSC-J 90 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 100 Entsiklopediya igr dlya Dreamcast (RU) 88 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 100 Fun Generation (DE) PAL 100 GameFan (US) NTSC-U 88 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 100 GamesMaster (UK) NTSC-J 96 GamesMaster (UK) 96 GameZine (UK) 100 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 92 Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-U 100 MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-J 90 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 90 Man!ak (PL) 100 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 94 Neo Plus (PL) 100 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 100 neXt Level (DE) PAL 95 Next Level (AR) 98 Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL 100 PC Expert (FR) PAL 100 Player One (FR) 94 Play (PL) 95 PSX Extreme (PL) 97 Revista Oficial Dreamcast (ES) PAL 100 Sega Magazin (DE) NTSC-J 90 Strana Igr (RU) 95 Strana Igr (RU) 90 Video Games (DE) PAL 90

	96
Based on 47 reviews

SoulCalibur

Dreamcast, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc File:Soul Calibur DC JP Manual.pdf Manual

Dreamcast, US
Cover
Disc File:SoulCalibur DC US Manual.pdf Manual Inlay

Dreamcast, EU
Cover
Disc File:SoulCalibur-DC-EU-Manual.pdf Manual

Dreamcast, PT
Cover
Disc File:SoulCalibur-DC-PT-Manual.pdf Manual

Dreamcast, AU
Cover
Disc

Technical information

Main article: SoulCalibur/Technical information.

External links

• Sega of America webpage: Dreamcast
• Sega of Japan catalogue pages (Japanese): Dreamcast