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Editorials   New Cube Owners, Vol. 11
- By Lander Clinton

Since Nintendo recently sold in one weekend roughly the same number of GameCubes it sold at launch, I thought I'd do a little something for all the new Cube owners out there.

Everyday until I run out of ideas, forget, or am too busy playing a game, I'll update a GameCube game you must own and why you must own it.

Here goes:

Four years later and the soul still burns. Namco's third game in the Soul series continues a tradition of perfect fighting balance that truly rewards experienced players. Soul Calibur 2 is the fighting game for fighting fans and non-fighting fans alike.

The fighting system in the Soul games brakes down to rock-paper-scissors. There's even a character named Rock in Soul Calibur, and one character fightes with scissor-like claws. And don't forget Paper McPaper, the final boss. You can attack high, mid, or low, and each is best for defeating one of the others. Just like in rock-paper-scissors though, you don't want to reveal at the same time if you don't have to. You want to learn moves and predict what your opponent will do, then block or parry and execute one of your own. This is called cheating in the hand game, but it gives Soul Calibur 2 a great sense of rhythm.

The developers included lots of fake-outs for moves and choices of how fast or how slow you want to do the same move so it's not totally predictable what someone will do. Some moves will start out the same as other moves, but then attack at a different level, say, low instead of high. These moves keep the action intense but are only for pros. They can usually discern between the different types of the same move too, so although newcomers and button-mashers will have fun, don't expect to beat an experienced player.

Graphically, Soul Calibur 2 looks pretty dated. It's only slightly more advanced than its Dreamcast predecessor, but that game still rivals most current next-gen offerings. Still, it looks as though Namco only copied and pasted the characters from Soul Calibur and didn't make too many alterations so it could still play on the least common denominator (the PS2). It goes without saying that if you haven't played Soul Calibur, you won't question these similarites and will think it looks great. Likewise, if you've never tasted ice cream, you won't question why ice cream cakes taste better than regular cakes. Wait, that doesn't make sense, you'd want to know what was making the difference, and then someone would explain to you what ice cream was. Just pretend I made a good analogy.

The game boasts a healthy character line-up to newbies, but it's just too similar to the Dreamcast game. It wouldn't have mattered if they had the same people with new moves, but most moves for old characters are the same as well. Still, Talim, Raphael, Necrid, Yunsung, and sort of Cassandra are all new additions, and then there's the Link factor.

Link, the greatest videogame hero of all time, battles the other characters like he's always belonged in the Soul universe. This Link seems to be based on the infamous Spaceworld GameCube Zelda demo that caused a huge uproar when it was revealed Wind Waker would look like a cartoon. Personally I prefer the Wind Waker look. Somehow Link looks more realistic as a cartoon- he looks too wooden in the "realistic" graphics. He's non-expressive. But who cares! He's Link and he rocks (in case you're wondering, he also scissors and papers). You'll see many of Link's trademark items and moves, like bombs, boomerangs, arrows, spin attacks, and downward-thrusts. By unlocking the hundreds of things to unlock in this game, you'll also come across weapons from A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, two very cool swords from Majora's Mask, and even Wind Waker's mirror shield.

It should come as no surprise that the GameCube version of Soul Calibur 2 sold like crazy- Nintendo fans love Link. Do yourself a favor and find out why by getting the Zelda Collector's Disc and Wind Waker.

If you've played Soul Calibur to death and don't want to buy essentially the same game again, rent Soul Calibur 2 first. For everyone else, you won't find a better fighting game (in the traditional sense, not including Smash Bros.) around. Go get it!