Like many, Soul Calibur grabbed my attention from the minute I bought a Sega Dreamcast. The flexible fighting system, the impressive 8-Way Run, and the accessibility of Namco’s weapon-based fighter made it my game of choice for months after release. The hefty amount of single player content kept me busy for hours, and inviting friends over for versus play led to plenty of memorable victories and crushing defeats.
Since then the series has continued to enjoy a reputation as one of the most accessible fighting games ever created — and Soulcalibur V continues to thrive on that same idea. But perhaps the series’ most important contribution to the world of kickpunch games is the hefty amounts of depth layered within each installment. Sure, a button-mashing novice could… well… mash away at the controller and discover useful moves to win, but a hardcore player could take that knowledge one step further and perform a dizzying series of juggling combos that could crush the soul of any irreverent newbie.
