When I first played Soul Caliber II, I randomly selected and sparred with several of the characters and quickly became aware of the fact that no two characters were even remotely the same. As cool as that was, playing the single player Weapon Master mode quickly bored me, even though I stayed up extremely late several nights to get it finished. Within three days I had unlocked everything and had more money than I could spend. I had beat the game with every character and was beginning to wonder why this particular game had recieved such great reviews from every single noteable review source. I noticed that I was better with some characters than with others, and for obvious reasons...my two hack n' slash brawlers of choice were the menacing looking Nightmare with his massive sword and powerful single attacks or Mitsirugi the samurai, with speedy combos that obliterated foes with finesse. The problem I was experiencing was the game was too easy while fighting with these two characters. So I looked for a challenge, and found my most difficult character was Maxi, the nunchukas twirling pretty boy who continuously swung his chucks after a single attack but was capable of pulling of devastating combos if utilized correctly. So I practiced with Maxi a lot, against every character, by myself, learning his single moves, combos and finishing moves until I was a master. And then I got bored with the game and played something else for a while... Months went by and then, by happenstance, I was at a college social function when I noticed some guys on a couch whooping and yelling at a big screen TV. And there was my forgotten Soul Caliber II, being mishandled by these shameless noobs with untrained gorilla hands. I took my seat and offered to cream the winner, which got me laughed at. Of course, when my turn came I picked Maxi and the drunken ape sitting next to me chose the all-to-likely Nightmare, he kackled at me. I put him down flat within ten seconds both rounds. After that, everyone on the couch would sware they would be the one to beat me, but they didn't, all night I aggressively manhandled each of them with my skill conquering their feeble button smashes. This game, this fighting game, is a game of skill, where the winners are those who know their character and wait patiently for the right moment to strike. I dare anyone to come into my ring and walk out without nunchuka marks all over them.
The Good: Some of the best visuals on the Gamecube, very nice control scheme, nice character roster, Link is the man, some of the best moves/ throws in any game ever, lots of weapons and extras to unlock, lots to do. ... Read Full Review
Geat Multiplayer for lots of you friends Gameplay: Okay, the gameplay is as simple as it gets. See man slash, see man kill, see man win! That sums it up really well. You can use Y, A, X to use attcks. You can do comb... Read Full Review
