X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Soulcalibur

by Richard Mitchell { Jul 2nd 2008 at 5:15PM }

This week's XBLA in Brief examines Soulcalibur, the latest release for Xbox Live Arcade. Truly one of the best 3D fighting games ever made, it still shines on XBLA. There's only one problem: it doesn't support online play. Watch this week's episdoe and find out whether or not it's still worth the scratch.

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Tags: arcade, bandai-namco, live-arcade, namco, soul-calibur, soulcalibur, x3f-tv, xbla, xbla-in-brief, xbox-live-arcae

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

pandlcg @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:33PM

As much as i've come to enjoy the XBLA in brief series you guys do it'd be nice if you reviewed a little more than just the demo every time.

Now i know it's titled "in Brief", but i think you could add some useful information beyond what people get just playing the demo themselves.

Richard Mitchell @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:20PM

To be honest, we don't have the time nor the funds to review the full versions of every single XBLA release. XBLA in Brief is really meant to make people aware of games they might like and warn them about games that should be avoided at all costs.

ZEBRA NINER @ Jul 2nd 2008 7:21PM

I don't always download the demos. Some games I just dismiss without looking at them, and I've actually purchased a couple after watching some of these videos.

meh, works for me. :)

DiddlyKong @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:40PM

How does the dreamcast version look better than the xbla one? Didn't they revamp the graphics for xbla?

AoE @ Jul 2nd 2008 7:11PM

Don't quote me on this, but based on the textures and models shown in the screenshots, it looks like they started with the arcade version of the game as a base and not the dreamcast version. I know bloggers like to call it the dreamcast version that got ported... but I suspect that's just because people forget that Arcades used to be commonplace and games like SC are arcade titles first, home console ports second (at least, when SC first dropped this was the case). Nothing in the press release mentions where the game was ported from however, so who's to say really?

The Orz @ Jul 2nd 2008 7:38PM

It's certainly not a beefed up port of the arcade version. The arcade version ran off of the same board as Tekken 3, if I'm not mistaken, and looked really, really awful. Raising the resolution on the arcade version would do very little to improve the look of the game.

Plus Lizardman doesn't look like Sophitia with a giant lizard mask on top of her head.

To sum up, it's a high-res port of the Japanese Dreamcast game (no censoring, no english voices). Online play would have been awesome, mission mission mode is missing, music starts over every round (just kind of odd), and the game loads faster (not saying the DC loading was slow, but there is a difference).

Trekster_Gamer @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:51PM

I still love the DC version, why would it not look as good? Is this because of the space limitations set forth by XBL? I will try the demo but if it is not as polished as a 9 year game should be, then I might just keep playing the DC version....

number9 @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:42PM

I remember walking into Best Buy on Dreamcast launch day, seeing this game running, and instantly buying a DC.

While I love the game to death, I'll point out (I don't remember you mentioning it in your video link above) that it is NOT in widescreen - it's 4:3...not a huge deal, but it should be noted.

pathfinda @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:29PM

..Good point, it should have been Widescreen.

Tiggle @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:50PM

no online play? not worth it for me since the only other person living in my house is my wife... and she sticks to rock band.

RagingStormX @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:11PM

Ok....that last move @ 3:25 was bada$$!!

pathfinda @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:29PM

Soul Calibur is still a great game, even on the XBL. As a die-hard fan, I simply bought the full version and finished the game this morning.

itsburnsie @ Jul 2nd 2008 9:14PM

I'm surprised you mentioned nothing about the missing Mission Mode Richard.

I was VERY close to buying this game even without online play until I found out Mission Mode was axed.

Richard Mitchell @ Jul 2nd 2008 10:41PM

Yeah, I meant to mention that. Not sure why I didn't...

Still think it's worth the 800 points if it suits your situation though.

Architeuthis @ Aug 10th 2008 2:38AM

Mission mode was by far my favorite part of Soulcalibur DC. Sad to see it go, and strange too...

itsburnsie @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:09PM

"Still think it's worth the 800 points if it suits your situation though."

True.

I'd have picked this up instantly back in my college days (and did for the Dreamcast). As it stands, my wife isn't a big fan of fighting games... so I'll be holding out hope for "Mission Mode" DLC.

Conor @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:45AM

I am very surprised to see theres no xbox live support,one of the first XBLA titles to catch my interest in a while and it drops the ball like that.

TreyTable @ Jul 4th 2008 3:01PM

Unlike the Dreamcast version, this version of Soul Calibur does not include Weapons Master Mode; everything is unlocked when you boot it up. Also there NEVER was English voice acting in Soul Calibur. Soul Blade on the PlayStation had English, except for Rock, who just grunted. In 480i there isn't really much difference in graphics, but on the Dreamcast though the VGA Box, it does look good in 480p, but on the 360, I'd say SC looks even better in 720p. I don't know about 1080p since my TV doesn't support that.