Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#10: Soulcalibur II

Rating: T

Players: 1-2

Price Range: ~$27 USD

A 3D fighting game.

Starting off the top ten is a stellar game from the generation.

I'll just say right off the bat that this is a truly special fighting game.

However, before I go into mechanics, at least the way I understand them to the best of my ability, I'll start off with the presentation.

For the time? It looks amazing.

The models and effects look generations ahead, and look insanely detailed. The fact that it is all 60 FPS is astonishing given how beautiful the game is. Truly a treat to the eyes and showed Namco as technical wizards for how they cracked the code for using the GameCube discs to their fullest potential, only rivaled by Nintendo themselves. The orchestral soundtrack is also really well put together and insanely memorable, and that's in addition to decent English voice acting for all of the characters. Truly a treat for the eyes.

Now, before I go into any detail about the characters, combat system, and unique elements, all with a shocking amount of polish, I'll go over why you should play the GameCube version specifically as opposed to any of the other ones.

You see, the people behind the game made an extremely bold decision, being the reinforcement of the concept of guest characters, something that is now commonplace in fighting games today. While Soulcalibur II didn't introduce the idea, it was possibly the first time that it felt like a cultural event, one that both brought together everyone to see who would come out just as much as it divided people over which version people chose.

It was a truly special moment, a lightning in a bottle if you will.

You see, each of the three home consoles at the time, the PS2, the Xbox, and, of course, the GameCube, all had their exclusive guest character.

The PS2 had Heihachi from the Tekken series.

The Xbox had Spawn from Todd Mcfarlane.

And, of course, the GameCube version had Link, yes, Link, making it one of the only times a Nintendo character has ever appeared in a non-Nintendo game.

I'll just say upfront, he is easily the best one.

The others either feel poorly implemented or just...underwhelming.

Heihachi is easily the worst of these three, which is ironic given the fact that he is from a fighting game series himself. Everything about him just feels so disappointing. Given that the game is all around people using weapons to fight, what does he have? Arm guards, yes, arm guards, which, while I couldn't think of any weapon he could use besides that, it just feels like a cop-out. Even then, he's fine, but he isn't one that really fits either.

Spawn is...better but not by a whole lot. He uses an axe, which he does in fact fight with in canon, and seeing a comic book character, especially one like Spawn, one of the most iconic comic book characters outside of Marvel and DC, a special handful only held by Judge Dredd, Hellboy, and, of course, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is very cool. However, it doesn't change the fact that none of that potential is ever used, becoming a really missed opportunity. While yes, using an axe is fine, that is it, and given that there are wells worth of creativity and ideas form the comics that never get utilized is rough all things considered. His retractable chains don't get used, he uses guns that aren't in the game for obvious reasons, and, perhaps worst of all, he doesn't have his cape around. Why? It is easily one of the most iconic parts of the character. He just feels...bare without it. And that's all considering the fact that he is literally a person reincarnated as a demon from Hell. So many ideas, but they are left squandered unfortunately.