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i LOVED Soul Calibur on DC. But..Was it really that good? (10/10s) Or was it just the time and place?

nogoodnamesleft

nogoodnamesleft

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Oct 25, 2017
7,665
And has it been surpassed? Imo, yes, by its sequel. SC2 was a better game in every way, so why was it not received anywhere near as well as SC1?

Was SC1 really that good or was it just INCREDIBLE at the time (especially visually, coming from really horrible 3d the previous gen, to really nice looking 3d)

Im curious to know what others think!

edit :I think I worded my question wrong. I'm not denying or questioning it's greatness. My question was more "has it been surpassed? And if so, why was that game not received as well as the first game? Is it because of the huge impact the first game had more than the game itself?"
 
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Weiss

Weiss

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It was that good for its time and place.

I wasn't around for it but at the time there was nothing like it.
 
Akita One

Akita One

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Oct 30, 2017
4,628
It was the game that put the final nail in the coffin for traditional arcades...the first game from consoles that met or exceeded the technical standards of the arcade version.

People forget how big a deal arcades were to fighting games in the 90s, but SC, MvC2 and SFa3 ended that for good.
 
EinBear

EinBear

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Oct 27, 2017
1,669
Playing Soul Calibur at Dreamcast launch was like having the future shot directly into your eyeballs.

I still think it holds up really well, though do think that SC2 is a bit better.
 
Lulu

Lulu

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Oct 25, 2017
26,680
what sc2 def was received just as well if not better, especially competitively
 
GamerJM

GamerJM

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Nov 8, 2017
15,640
IMO, it was that good, but so are most of the sequels. One of the best series ever.

sibarraz said:
I have to buy this game on xbox one day
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The XBLA version is just a port of the arcade version which lacks all of the bells and whistles the DreamCast one had that people fell in love with. That version of the game remains truly exclusive to the DreamCast to this day.
 
Huey

Huey

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Oct 27, 2017
13,201
Hard to overstate how smooth and responsive it felt at the time, and how absolutely unbelievable it looked. Just crazy impactful. It's still an incredible game.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

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Oct 27, 2017
11,579
SC2 was also highly praised, but it's not like they can factor in SC2 when reviewing the original, since it didn't exist.
 
| TrusT |

| TrusT |

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Apr 19, 2020
1,901
It's the much better game than SC2 and it was a huge improvement over the arcade version not just graphically but loaded with tons of content.

Seeing that game running in VGA was genuinely breathtaking and one of the biggest looking generational leaps.

But bittersweet, A huge shame Namco did so little on the Dreamcast after it.
 
lobdale

lobdale

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Oct 25, 2017
1,991
nogoodnamesleft said:
Could you elaborate as to why you think it wasnt? Genuinely want to know!
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Better music, better balanced, just overall a tighter more well designed game than 2 in my opinion

(and as has been mentioned it was absolutely revelatory for the time, it looked better than anything in arcades and it was the first time that had happened, and it was leaps ahead of even the best looking console games up to that point... there was nothing like it, felt like it was years ahead of any other game we had seen)
 
sibarraz

sibarraz

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Oct 27, 2017
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GamerJM said:
IMO, it was that good, but so are most of the sequels. One of the best series ever.



The XBLA version is just a port of the arcade version which lacks all of the bells and whistles the DreamCast one had that people fell in love with. That version of the game remains truly exclusive to the DreamCast to this day.
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Oh that sucks
 
Lulu

Lulu

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Oct 25, 2017
26,680
nogoodnamesleft said:
SC1 has a NINETY EIGHT META

thats OBSURD

SC2 has a 93, which is still fantastic, but it definitely wasnt received as well as SC1 by publications anyway
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I mean SC1 was ground breaking in a lot of ways, SC2 was just refining and improving so of course it's not going to be as captivating
 

dasu

Member
Aug 2, 2018
525
All games are evaluated in the context of the time that they are released.

That said, early gaming press was very geared towards uncritical, effusive praise towards product launches. As time has passed, the discourse around gaming has become more sophisticated and thoughtful, and this is a good thing (even if it annoys certain sectors of the gaming community).
 
CloseTalker

CloseTalker

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Oct 25, 2017
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Most games are a product of their time. Ocarina of Time wouldn't score many 10s if it released today either
 
a Master Ninja

a Master Ninja

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Dec 11, 2017
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GamerJM said:
The XBLA version is just a port of the arcade version which lacks all of the bells and whistles the DreamCast one had that people fell in love with. That version of the game remains truly exclusive to the DreamCast to this day.
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The XBLA version is the Dreamcast version with the campaign mode ripped out. The arcade version had much worse visuals and character models.
 

Deleted member 4179

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GamerJM said:
IMO, it was that good, but so are most of the sequels. One of the best series ever.



The XBLA version is just a port of the arcade version which lacks all of the bells and whistles the DreamCast one had that people fell in love with. That version of the game remains truly exclusive to the DreamCast to this day.
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I think there's some features missing, but it is most certainly not a port of the arcade version.
 
OP
OP
nogoodnamesleft

nogoodnamesleft

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Oct 25, 2017
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Lulu said:
I mean SC1 was ground breaking in a lot of ways, SC2 was just refining and improving so of course it's not going to be as captivating
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thats what i mean-so, in essence, even if a better game in the series did come along, the fact that it would not be as "impactful" would mean it would not be received as well?
 
super moustique

super moustique

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Oct 31, 2017
8,621
It was and still is amazing, one of the very best games of that generation. Great deal of content from a SP point of view as well.

Digital Foundry made a video on it btw!

 
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DrDarkStryfe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,523
Pittsburgh, PA
It was a feature rich fighting game that was at parity, or greater, in every aspect compared to the arcade version; which itself is one of the greatest arcade fighting games of all time.

It was the only time that I was blown away by a launch title. How it looked and sounded with how fast it moved made it feel like such a canyon between it and the best that was available on the N64/PS1.
 
Artdayne

Artdayne

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Nov 7, 2017
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I played it in the arcade first. A friend of mine and I used to travel for Tae Kwon Do lessons in the summer when I was in high school (we lived in a very small town) and we used to always go to the arcade and play Tekken 3 before we went to class and one day it was replaced with Soul Calibur and at first we were bummed out before we were quickly shocked and amazed at how fun and great of a game it was. So yes, if a game can replace Tekken 3 and I'm not even mad about it anymore I'd say it's a pretty damn good game that deserves recognition.
 
cjelly

cjelly

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Oct 27, 2017
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Seeing it over a VGA cable in 1999 blew my mind.

Every Dreamcast game looked better than the stuff on PS1 and N64 but Soul Calibur looked better than the Arcade. It was glorious.
 

Deleted member 8468

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It was definitely that good. I played Soul Edge and Calibur quite a bit in the arcade, and was crazy hype to have a home version that looked amazing.
 
Lothars

Lothars

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It was incredible and at the time was just a jaw dropping experience. It's a great game
 
IlGialloMondadori

IlGialloMondadori

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nogoodnamesleft said:
And has it been surpassed? Imo, yes, by its sequel. SC2 was a better game in every way, so why was it not received anywhere near as well as SC1?

Was SC1 really that good or was it just INCREDIBLE at the time (especially visually, coming from really horrible 3d the previous gen, to really nice looking 3d)

Im curious to know what others think!
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It was absolutely 10/10 on release, a jaw dropping masterpiece of gameplay and technology.
Graphically mind blowing, deep, responsive, easy for beginners to enjoy and piles of room to grow with a high skill ceiling.
 

rafiii

Member
Feb 7, 2019
498
The score is a way to say were the game is compared to the others at the time of release. A hierarchy if you want.
Soul calibur was just the best thing you could ask for a video game in 1999/2000.
The gameplay and the art direction still old well today.
 
Powerofthecloud

Powerofthecloud

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Oct 27, 2017
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nogoodnamesleft said:
And has it been surpassed? Imo, yes, by its sequel. SC2 was a better game in every way, so why was it not received anywhere near as well as SC1?

Was SC1 really that good or was it just INCREDIBLE at the time (especially visually, coming from really horrible 3d the previous gen, to really nice looking 3d)

Im curious to know what others think!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Scores / reviews for are based on time and place. TOOT is named one of the bast games evermade. If it for the first time came out as is today, I doubt anyone would be calling it one of the best games of all time.
 

KayonXaikyre

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Oct 27, 2017
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Yeah its an easy 10/10 even relative to the time it was out. It still holds up now and brought a lot of fun to fighting games and characters at the time.
 
JJD

JJD

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Oct 25, 2017
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The original Soul Calibur on DC was the best game on the series. For me no other managed to surpass it.
 
skillzilla81

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It's still one of the best fighting games ever. 8WR has yet to be topped as a movement system in fighting games. They nailed it their 2nd game out of the gate.

It's the ST of 3D fighting games, imo. It's hard to go back to most 3D games of that time, but SC is timeless.
 
Aldo

Aldo

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Mar 19, 2019
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Graphics were mind-blowing and had great gameplay. I turned it on again last weekend, and it still looks sharp and snappy.
The lack of a proper story mode like Soul Edge/Blade was disappointing even back then.
 
Unicorn

Unicorn

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Oct 29, 2017
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It WAS that good. The single player content was unrivaled as well with art and fan art to get as well.
 

Deleted member 79451

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Aug 30, 2020
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The content and attention to detail were the best of any Soul Calibur, but later games improved base gameplay a bit, and graphics (other than the animations). And yeah at the time the graphics were the best you could experience in the home (at least upon Japanese release, when I imported it)

It was effectively the peak, but you'd be better off just playing the latest SC at any time mostly.
 
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