SoulCalibur II
SoulCalibur II remains the definitive SC experience, and it provided a wealth of meaningful improvements over its predecessor while introducing a host of new characters including Raphael, Talim, Yun Seong, and Cassandra.
No wonder it’s the most popular SoulCalibur game still after so many years, right?
Many of the mechanics in modern games from the series were implemented here, like clashes when two attacks hit at the same time, Guard Break attacks, Soul Charge, and the step and avoid systems.
Even by today’s standards SCII holds up incredibly well, and it helped make a great fighting system even better.
Of course, this was also the first entry to include guest characters, and there were some big gets for Namco. Each system had a different guest; Spawn on Xbox, Heihachi on PS2, and Link on GameCube.
Each of these characters had completely unique designs and movesets that matched their characters well. This helped flesh out the roster in a fun way, which already featured a whopping 25 characters.
In a list of the best fighting games of all time, SoulCalibur II would sit very near the top. It’s the quintessential experience of the series, and even more than its predecessor, would define the series’ future.
