Soul blade (Soul Blade (PS))

Member Name: froggytori

Product:	Soul Blade (PS)
Date:	08/09/08 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphics, fast paced, unique

Disadvantages: Ring out can be a nightmare

Soul blade also known as Soul edge in Japan and was developed and published by Namco and released in 1996. The first game from the Soul series, Soul blade is a fast paced fighting game. It is one to two players and rated a 15+. Coming from the same makers as Tekken it has the same feel to it yet more unique as in weapons and battle conditions. Soul blade comes in two main game modes Story (edge master) and arcade, but you do also have practice, team battle, Vs, Survival, Time attack and weapon room where you visit to see what weapons you have obtained in edge master mode.
Story mode: Soul Blade's events take place in 1584. The story is of warriors searching for the ultimate sword, Soul Edge. Many warriors have searched for years, but very few actually found it. The sword, which at the moment is in the form of a twin pair of long swords and they were taken by Captain Cervantes. Nine warriors from around the world is searching for the sword for there own different reasons, for revenge, some searching for its support, and some seeking it for its destructive power. You start as anyone of these ten characters (one is cervantes himself) and you must travel the map to find the clues to get Soul edge collecting better more powerful weapons along the way and ultimatly defeating cervantes. Certain stages have certain condition that have to be met like don't take a hit, complete before timer runs out etc etc.
Weapons: Depending on the character you will use, depends on the weapon. For instance, Heishiro Mitsurugi has a standard sword but others like Li long has nunchucks and Rock has a hugh axe he can swing. If you play Edge master mode and gain weapons certain weapons have advantages and disadvantages, some will poison enemys, some will heal you and soul edge is the most powerful weapon in the game but will drain your life. Each weapon you pick up will take a different appereance from your last one, lengh is different, shape or you can even get invisible weapons.
Arcade: Standard arcade defeat so many enemies win. However if you complete it with every character you will get Soul Edge, which is the ultimate evil under Cervantes.

Battle: The battles are very fast paced. The ring you fight in can be a variety of different sizes and if knocked to the side you can get knocked out causing the opponent to win by ring out. There are many different backgrounds and stages. Certain battles will have conditions of battle which make for a more interesting game.

Controls: The controls are just kick, guard, horizontal attack, vertical attack and when you hold the attack buttons you can grab. You can also sidestep around the ring by quickly pressing up, up or down, down. There are a wide range of moves to do some Arial and some can do devastating damage if pulled off just right.

Overall I think this an excellent game; the story mode is the best, how ever I do think the ring out ever though a good idea can be silly when you want to fight properly. The graphics are great for its time way surpassing Tekken 1 and 2. You can get this game from next to nothing and well worth it. You can view a trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4GtNuZyPDY

Summary: Great game