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Soulcalibur II
Box art of the PlayStation 2 version of the game.
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Designer(s)	Hiroaki Yotoriyama
Native resolution	720p (HDTV) (Xbox only) 480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV)
Platform(s)	Arcade, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release date(s)	Arcade July 30, 2002 GC, PS2, & Xbox March 27, 2003 NA August 27, 2003 PAL September 26, 2003
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, two-player
Rating(s)	CERO: 12+ ESRB: T OFLC: M15+ PEGI: 16+
Input methods	8-way joystick, 6 buttons (arcade) Gamepad (PS2 / GCN / Xbox)
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	Namco System 246

Soulcalibur II (ソウルキャリバーII, Sōrukyaribā Tsū^?) is a fighting game developed and published by Namco and the third installment in the Soul series. Soul Calibur is the name of the holy sword, created to battle the evil sword Soul Edge, which the games' story-lines revolve around. The home version of the game features Heihachi Mishima from Tekken, Link from The Legend of Zelda, Spawn from the comic book series by Todd McFarlane, and Necrid, a new character created by Todd McFarlane. Each of the first three characters is exclusive to one of the three consoles the game was ported to (the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox, respectively,) while Necrid is present in all three home versions.

Gameplay

Modes and features

Modes and other features added to the Home Versions:

• Soulcalibur II presented the normal modes from most fighting games: Arcade, Team Battle Mode (similar to arcade, but with teams of up to 8 characters and without cutscenes or endings), Time Attack (fight against the clock to gain records), Survival Battle and Training Mode. There are also "Extra" versions of these modes, intended to allow the use of the Extra Weapons. Worth mentioning is that Arcade's 7th battle is called a "Destined Battle", a battle predefined that never changes. Each character has one according to their story, and are shared by groups of two (for example: Mitsurugi→Taki, Taki→Mitsurugi) with the exception of the console-exclusive characters.
• A returning feature from Soul Edge is the inclusion of Extra Weapons. Instead of Soul Edge's system of different stats, this one is based on power %, defense % and special abilities (drains energy, pass through defense, etc). Each character has 12 different weapons, from the standard (basic) weapons for 1P and 2P to the powerful "Ultimate Weapon". Also, each character was granted a Soul Edge version of their arms and a "Joke Weapon", weapons with bad stats and effect, and with unique, and funny, hit sounds. Each weapon is given a backstory in the "Weapon Gallery".
• The Arcade version has a unique mode called "Conquest Mode". Conquest Mode allows the player to pick an army, fight enemies and gain experience points, allowing it to increase the level of the selected player.
• "Weapon Master Mode" takes the core system from "Conquest Mode" and expands upon it. This mode, made in a similar fashion to Soul Edge's "Edge Master Mode" and Soulcalibur's "Mission Mode", presents a history set in an alternate world, while the player moves in a map divided in "regions" (named after stars) and fights enemies to gain experience points (which raises the "rank" of the character) and money (which can be used to buy weapons, art, costumes and videos). The mode has 10 normal chapters, 4 sub-chapters and 2 extra chapters as well as Extra-Missions (alternate version of normal missions). The plot of the mode puts the player into the role of a swordsman searching for Soul Edge, who suddenly is faced against a powerful mad knight named Veral (who takes the form of Nightmare, then Inferno), who searches for Soul Edge for his own desires.
• As in Soulcalibur, there is a "Museum", containing character artwork, various videos (like Arcade Intro or WMM intro and Ending) and Weapon Exhibition (or "katas"). There is also the "Profile Viewer" (to see character's stories) and "Battle Theater" (to see CPU vs CPU battles).
• Like before, some characters are granted with 3rd costumes, purchased in Weapon Master Mode. Out of the 25 selectable characters, only 13 were granted a 3rd costume: Astaroth, Cassandra, Ivy, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Raphael, Seung Mina, Sophitia, Taki, Talim, Voldo and Xianghua. It should also be noted that Link has four costumes (Green, Red, Blue, and a lavender-like color) and Assassin, Berserker and Lizardman each have 6 different costumes (3 color edits of their 2 standard costumes).
• The game also featured the option to hear the characters speak in Japanese or English.

Improvements

Compared to Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II boasts improved graphics and introduces new characters, stages, and music.

Key game engine improvements include:

• More powerful "step" and "avoid" systems, which made evading vertical attacks noticeably easier.
• Arena walls, rather than ring-out ability on all sides, and wall-specific moves.
• A three-step Soul Charge system.
• A clash system, one that is used when two attacks would hit each other resulting in a white flash
• Guard break attacks, which put a blocking player into a post guard-impact state
• Just frame moves, which awarded additional hits to players who could time their command inputs well.
• A revised Guard Impact system that removed height-based Impact moves and instead used a more unified system (high and mid attacks are countered using Repels, mid and low attacks are countered using Parries).

Story

The game is set 4 years after the end of Soulcalibur, which based on calculations from a timeline released on the Soul Archive website, puts the game's story in the year 1591.

The wave of slaughters that terrorized Europe reached a sudden end. The knight in azure armor, Nightmare, and his followers were successful in collecting enough souls and were about to start the restoring ceremony on the ruins of the once-proud Ostreinsburg Castle. But just as the ceremony was to start, three young warriors assaulted the castle. After an intense battle Nightmare fell, but then the evil soul inside Soul Edge sent the young warriors into a vortex of hellfire and stood to confront them. As a result of Soul Edge's evil aura, Krita-Yuga revealed its true form: that of the Holy Sword, Soul Calibur.

The intense battle ended with the victory of the holy sword, but at the collapse of the vortex of Inferno, both swords along with the azure Nightmare were sucked in a void and expelled in another place. Siegfried Schtauffen, who was until a moment before the Azure Knight, restored his mind. Recognizing his sins, he set on a journey of atonement. Still the blade held a strong bond, and every night it took control of the body and took souls of those nearby. The efforts made by the young knight were fruitless, and four years later the Azure Nightmare returned.

Around those times various warriors came into contact of the blade's remaining fragments, revealing Soul Edge's ultimate survival after its defeat. Driven either to possess or destroy it, they join a new journey, while Nightmare starts his rampage anew, seeking souls to restore Soul Edge once again.

Characters

Ivy fighting Link in a battle.(GameCube version)

Four new characters were introduced in Soulcalibur II: Cassandra, Raphael, Talim, and Yun-seong. However, while Cassandra and Yun-seong's fighting styles are derived from established characters Sophitia and Hwang Seong-gyeong, Raphael and Talim's fighting styles are entirely unique. Charade, like his predecessors Edge Master and Inferno, switches his style to match existing characters' movelists with each individual round of fighting. Each of the home versions also included Necrid, who was not included in the arcade version of Soulcalibur II. Necrid, like Spawn, was personally designed by comic book artist Todd McFarlane.

Rounding out the characters were returning fighters Seung Mina and Sophitia from both Soul Edge and Soulcalibur. Lizardman returns, but is only playable in VS Mode and certain portions of Weapon Master. From the Soulcalibur character roster, the ones that did not return for Soulcalibur II as characters themselves were Hwang Seong-gyeong, Nathaniel "Rock" Adams, and Edge Master. Inferno is in the game, only this time, he is not a playable character. Nightmare's 3rd costume is Siegfried (though he is still referred to as Nightmare), while Assassin and Berserker play extremely similar to Hwang and Rock. Hwang, Siegfried, and Rock, however, would all return as fully playable characters in the following game.

Reception

Soulcalibur II was rated the 18th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.^[1] Media reviews of Soulcalibur II were overwhelmingly favorable, as the game earned over 91% for all versions on Gamerankings.com, and commercially the game sold well. It has also earned a 9.2 out of 10 from IGN.^[2]

The game also did well in the competitive gaming scene, both in the US and abroad, where it was featured in many tournaments for the years after it came out. The game was particularly noted for its balance, as many different characters placed in top levels in tournaments.

Game Rankings scores it 91.3% for the PlayStation 2,^[3] 92.3% for the GameCube,^[4] and 91.6% for the Xbox.^[5]

• E3 2003 Game Critics Awards: Best Fighting Game^[6]
• X-Play - 10th best GameCube game of all time.
• Screwattack.com - 8th best GameCube game^{[citation needed]}
• Game Informer - 10th best game on the GameCube.

Ports

Soulcalibur II was ported to Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2. Each version has an exclusive character:

• Heihachi Mishima (from the Tekken game series; appears in the PlayStation 2 version) - Gauntlets
• Link (from The Legend of Zelda series; appears in the GameCube version) - Master Sword and Hylian Shield
• Spawn (from Todd McFarlane's comic book series; appears in the Xbox version) - Axe formed using his cape.

See also

• Soulcalibur II Original Soundtrack

References

External links

• Soulcalibur Series Website
• Soulcalibur II at Soulcalibur Wikia

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Soulcalibur II
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Release date(s)	August 27, 2003
Genre(s)	Fighting
System(s)	Arcade, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen
Preceded by	Soulcalibur
Followed by	Soulcalibur III
Series	Soul

Wikipedia has an article about:

Soulcalibur II

Soulcalibur II is the sequel to Soulcalibur and the third game in the Soul fighting game series. It was developed and published by Namco.

Soul Calibur is the name of the holy sword, created to battle the evil sword Soul Edge, which the games' story-lines revolve around.

Compared to Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II boasts improved graphics and introduces new characters, stages, and music. With respect to game mechanics, the two games are very similar, with Soulcalibur II generally considered an updated version of Soulcalibur.

Key game engine improvements include:

• More powerful "step" and "avoid" systems, which made evading vertical attacks noticeably easier
• Arena walls, rather than ring-out ability on all sides, and subsequent wall-specific moves
• A three-step Soul Charge system
• A clash system, one that is used when two attacks would hit each other resulting in a white flash and no damage to either opponent

Story

The game is set 4 years after the end of Soulcalibur, which based on calculations from a timeline released on the Soul Archive website, puts the game's story in the year 1591.

The wave of slaughters that terrorized Europe reached a sudden end. The knight in azure armor, Nightmare, and his followers were successful in collecting enough souls and were about to start the restoring ceremony on the ruins of the once-proud Osthreinsburg Castle. But just as the ceremony was to start, three young warriors assaulted the castle. In a matter of time the clan was defeated and Nightmare stood in front of the young warriors wielding the Sacred Trinity. After an intense battle Nightmare fell, but then the evil soul inside Soul Edge sent the young warriors into a vortex of hellfire and stood to confront them. As result of Soul Edge's evil aura, Krita-Yuga revealed its true form: that of the Holy Sword, Soul Calibur.

The intense battle ended with the victory of the holy sword, but at the collapse of the vortex of Inferno, both swords along with the azure Nightmare were sucked in a void and expelled in another place. Siegfried Schtauffen, who was until a moment before the Azure Knight, restored his mind. Recognizing his sins, he set on a journey of atonement. Still the blade held a strong bond, and every night it took control of the body and took souls of those nearby. The efforts made by the young knight were fruitless, and four years later the Azure Nightmare returned.

Around those times various warriors came into contact of the blade's remaining fragments, revealing Soul Edge's ultimate survival after its defeat. Driven either to possess or destroy it, they join a new journey, while Nightmare starts his rampage once again, seeking souls to restore Soul Edge once again...

Table of Contents

Box artwork

Xbox.

PlayStation 2.

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Portal: Fighting		Soulcalibur II at Soulcalibur Wiki

Soul Calibur II
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Release date	August 27, 2001 (NA) September 26, 2003 (EU)
Genre	Fighting
Mode(s)	1-2 players, Versus
Age rating(s)	ESRB: T PEGI: 16+ CERO: 12
Platform(s)	GameCube/Playstation 2/XBox
Media	GameCube Optical Disk/DVD
Input	Controller
System requirements	4 Memory card blocks (GameCube)
Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough

Sequel to the Dreamcast game Soul Calibur and part of the "Soul" series. It was a multi-platform game. To spice it up, each console was given a special exclusive character. The PS2 version featured Heihachi of Tekken fame. The Nintendo GameCube version featured Link of The Legend of Zelda fame. The Xbox version featured Spawn from the self-titled comic book, Spawn.

Modes

• Arcade: Fight through a gauntlet of characters, depending on who you choose. Features stills and an epilogue about your character's story after completing.
• Versus: The main multiplayer mode. Player one takes on Player two.
• Time Attack: Clear stages with the best time.
• Survival: See how many enemies you can defeat in a row without losing.
• Team Battle: Like Arcade mode, but you choose a team as backup characters in case the others get defeated. You face other teams. No story elements.
• Versus Team: A combination VS. mode and Team mode, still only 2 players.
• Practice: Practice moves on any other character. You can set their AI pattern from "vegetable" to "dodge" and more.
• Weapon Master: A vague story-like mode where you can change characters and weapons whenever you like between events. Each event is at a city or dungeon on an overworld map. The events are basically matches with different objectives. For example, one map will have you knock the enemy off the platform since you can't defeat them. Or maybe you've just been poisoned in the storyline and now you have to fend off enemies with declining health. The story follows you, a nameless fighter, trying to obtain the Soul Edge while running into fights and bad guys everywhere. You do not run into any Soul Calibur characters in this mode, just people who use their character models.

Storyline

The game is set 4 years after the end of Soulcalibur, which based on calculations from a timeline released on the Soul Archive website, puts the game's story in the year 1591.

The wave of slaughters that terrorized Europe reached a sudden end. The knight in azure armor, Nightmare, and his followers were successful in collecting enough souls and were about to start the restoring ceremony on the ruins of the once-proud Osthreinsburg Castle. But just as the ceremony was to start, three young warriors assaulted the castle. In a matter of time the clan was defeated and Nightmare stood in front of the young warriors wielding the Sacred Trinity. After an intense battle Nightmare fell, but then the evil soul inside Soul Edge sent the young warriors into a vortex of hellfire and stood to confront them. As a result of Soul Edge's evil aura, Krita-Yuga revealed its true form: that of the Holy Sword, Soulcalibur.

The intense battle ended with the victory of the holy sword, but at the collapse of the vortex of Inferno, both swords along with the azure Nightmare were sucked in a void and expelled in another place. Siegfried Schtauffen, who was until a moment before the Azure Knight, restored his mind. Recognizing his sins, he set on a journey of atonement. Still the blade held a strong bond, and every night it took control of the body and took souls of those nearby. The efforts made by the young knight were fruitless, and four years later the Azure Nightmare returned.

Around those times various warriors came into contact of the blade's remaining fragments, revealing Soul Edge's ultimate survival after its defeat. Driven either to possess or destroy it, they join a new journey, while Nightmare starts his rampage anew, seeking souls to restore Soul Edge once again...

Characters

Reception

SoulCaliber II was rated the 18th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Powers Top 200 Games list.^[1] Media reviews of Soul Calibur II were overwhelmingly favorable, as the game earned over 91% for all versions on Gamerankings.com, and commercially the game sold well. It has also earned a 9.2/10 from IGN.

The game also did well in the competitive gaming scene, both in the US and abroad, where it was featured in many tournaments for the years after it came out. The game was particularly noted for its balance, as many different characters placed in top levels in tournaments.

After repeated high level play, however, criticisms arose, most notably in some potentially game-breaking bugs which were found, including the 2G bug (which allowed players to block immediately after being Guard Impacted) and G-Step (which allowed players to sidestep vertical attacks and immediately cancel their sidestep, allowing for instant punishment). Many moves in Soul Calibur II are also safe on block (meaning that if they are guarded, their user will recover to a neutral state before the opponent can retaliate), and characters such as Astaroth benefit more from the Guard Impact system than others.

Game Rankings currently scores it 90.6% for the PlayStation 2, 92.9% for the Gamecube, and 90.8% for the Xbox.

• E3 2003 Game Critics Awards: Best Fighting Game
• X-Play - 10th best GameCube game of all time
• Screwattack.com - 8th best gamecube gam

See also

• Soul Blade
• Soul Calibur
• Soul Calibur III

Soul Calibur II GCN box art

Soul Calibur II Xbox box art

References

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Soul Calibur II. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Wikia Gaming, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (unported) license.

External links

• Official Project Soul website
• Official Soulcalibur forums
• Soulcalibur II at GameFAQs
• IGN GC review
• Team Crooked Jester, New Jersey Tournament Community
• The Stage of History - Soulcalibur Fansite with lots of information and Pictures