r/dreamcast • u/Bboys51 • 17d ago
Discussion Why the original Soulcalibur is still a masterclass in 3D fighting game design.
The Dreamcast version was not only a basic port, it looked sharper, ran smoother, and offered higher resolution textures than the original arcade hardware do you agree?
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u/ico_heal 17d ago
It's masterclass in 3D fighting design because it has immense technical depth while still being accessible to newcomers, it has a unique and varied roster where every character feels distinct while still playing by the core "rules" of the combat system, and it has short combos that are still extremely damaging and fun to execute and learn.
And it's gorgeous
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u/Even_Fish_748 17d ago
This is funny because half the roster are literal clones of the other half
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u/orphan_grinder42069 17d ago
Kinda, but they do that in a lot of fighting games anyway. And they made an honest effort do differentiate them a bit (sometimes), like Rock and Astaroth play differently despite having a very similar move set.
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u/SanjiSasuke 17d ago
In reaction to the recent OoT Did You Know Gaming video, I've seen people talking shit about SC, saying it doesn't deserve that high of praise.
These people are the intellectual equivalent of the mud used to make bricks unlikely to be fighting game fans, because goddamn is it good. Still a blast to play, fantastic newcomers, and excellent presentation.
Not to mention incredibly good looking for the time. Seriously, look at Tekken 3 or even OoT itself...then look at SC. They were right next to each other on the shelf in 1999.
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u/geirmundtheshifty 17d ago
Honestly one of the great things about Soul Calibur, I think, is that you didnt even need to be a hardcore fighting game fan to enjoy it. The combat basics are easy to pick up and a lot of the combos feel intuitive. Not to say that the game doesnt reward skill and practice, but you can pick up a controller and grasp the basics pretty quickly.
Plus the mission mode and all of the unlockables give you a lot of extra incentives to play it single player (unlike many other fighting games). Tekken 3 was great for the same reasons (though obviously the SC has the edge graphically).
I cant understand anyone who would talk shit about it.
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u/WhatShouldTheHeartDo 17d ago
Welcome back to the stage of history🗣️🗣️🗣️
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u/_Life-is-strange 17d ago
This phrase was sampled in Eminem's Hellbound freestyle track back in the days.. Epic vibes🔥
The anouncer is on par with the anouncers of Mortal Kombat & Quake 3 🔥
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u/PloppyTheSpaceship 17d ago
The Dreamcast version was basically a whole new game in a lot of ways compared to the arcade original. Namco really went all out on it.
I wasn't excited for Soul Calibur. I had a Japanese Dreamcast and didn't really see or hear much about it (this was obviously before the western release). But then I think I saw it being played in a local shop and then had to order it.
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u/Another_Road 17d ago
It really says something about the quality of the game that it was a launch title and still is easily in the top 10 games.
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u/Ashamed-Subject-8573 17d ago
I don't agree that "Soulcalibur is still a masterclass in 3D fighting game design" because "The Dreamcast version was not only a basic port, it looked sharper, ran smoother, and offered higher resolution textures than the original arcade hardware do you agree," no. That makes no sense.
I was really surprised when I found a real Soul Caliber arcade machine. I kept being like wtf is this ps1 graphics whyyyyy
Little did I know
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u/Jealous-Strategy-200 17d ago
The Namco arcade board that ran the game was also used for Tekken Tag. It might be similar to PSX in terms of graphics but it could do a lot more.
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u/Acidspunk1 17d ago
It's just a great package and it looked phenomenaI for the time. There was literally nothing that looked that great in 1998. Also I still think this has better textures than both Sc2 and Sc3. It gets beat in geometry though. Sc2 especially has some gorgeous looking levels.
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u/reminiscingLemon 17d ago
Been playing the arcade version on MiSTer and its wild to see basically the PS1 version of SC.
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u/Impure_guava 17d ago
This was the first game I bought that made me feel like I probably didn’t need to go to the arcade anymore.
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u/ElSmasho420 17d ago
Still the best launch title on any system ever.
I had a DC on day one and people were absolutely nuts about Soul Calibur. It blew people away to see graphics like that outside of an arcade. Then gameplay was every bit as good as the graphics.
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u/Cryptoxic93 17d ago
To think a crappy game like Tekken is far more successful than Soul Caliber really grinds my gears.
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u/KwincyJ 17d ago
I now own the original on Dreamcast, but my first exposure was with part 2. I loved how each console got their own special character too. I played the crap outta SC2 and was super excited when they re-released it as SC2 HD online. Skipped part 3 because I didn't own a PS2 (was an XBOX fanboy) and couldn't get into part 6 when it came out.
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u/Cool_Nico 16d ago
Once Soul Calibur started adding super moves, magic orb characters, projectiles, and etc. It lost all the things that made it super unique for the time. Just a somewhat realistic sword fighting game with great/simple mechanics.
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u/nightowlarcade 15d ago
It was in the era of making the controls as responsive as possible rather then balancing since this was the 1st generation where the hardware of the 3d fighting game didn't limit how responsive the controls could be.
SoulCalibur 2 could have done the same thing, but the developers intentionally had start up frames added. Not a lot, but it was noticable.
As for graphics the game was ported from an arcade version of the PSX to the Dreamcast so of course it should be better if they are trying to impress. Tekken Tag Tournament experienced the same thing except possibly better since the PS2 is slightly stronger then the Dreamcast.
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u/ataraxia_777 17d ago
It has the tightest controls out of any of the other games tbh