(LAST UPDATE: 7/13/09)
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Developer(s): Namco
Publisher(s): Namco
Platform(s): Arcade,
Playstation
Release: April
1996 (Arcade), December 1996 (JP PS1), January 1997 (NA PS1)
Characters:
Mitsurugi,
Hwang,
Sophitia,
Siegfried,
Taki,
Voldo,
Rock,
Li
Long, Sueng Mina, Han
Myong, Cervantes, Soul
Edge
Related Games:
Soul Calibur,
Soul
Calibur 2, Soul Calibur 3, Soul
Calibur 3: Arcade Edition, Soul Calibur
4, Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny
Review: Soul
Edge was the first "3D weapon based fighting game",
and was released in arcades in April 1996. Soul Blade was the Playstation
exclusive home
version which was released in early 1997. The
home port included an epic new intro (still awesome to this day),
improved visuals from the arcade version, and a fun and innovative Weapon
Master story mode where players could collect a variety of weapons per
character, each with their own special abilities.
The gameplay
was generally solid for the time, but also seemed to be at a slower pace when
compared to other fighters. The frame rate of 30
frames per second also kept the pace kinda "slow". Still, Soul
Edge/Blade offered some very unique gameplay elements, introducing
"ring outs" to the fighting game world, as well as "weapon
disarms," where fighters actually lost weapons and had to continue fighting
empty-handed. Weapon disarms didn't happen often though, so they weren't a big
part of the gameplay. Ring outs, on the other hand,
were a very significant part of the gameplay, an idea "borrowed" from the
likes of Virtua Fighter. Some players hated the very idea
of ring
outs, though other players that used ring-out strategies to their advantage,
grew to love them. 
The quality music &
sound effects helped create the historic mood for the game. No doubt, Soul Blade on the PS1 was an awesome
presentation from beginning to end, and was no doubt one of the best
console fighting games available at the time (if not the best). The thing that really made this series
stand out, of course, were the diverse characters... Each representing their own
unique brand of weapon fighting. The characters of Soul Edge/Blade were also quite fun to use and
really "stood out" at the time... The diversity of their fighting styles
and appearances made for an interesting match up every fight.
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- Review is for Playstation version of Soul Blade - |
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8.5 / 10 |
Closing Comment:
Soul Edge / Blade was the beginning of
what became an epic 3D fighting game series. Soul
Calibur re-invented the series, bringing it to new heights. It's still
fun to go back to the start of the series for nostalgia, with honorable
mention going to the extra long introduction. That intro song still
rocks!!! They should re-mix that track and bring it back in a future Soul
Calibur game!!! C'mon Namco! ~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
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