Classic Game Room reviews SOUL CALIBUR for Sega Dreamcast

Classic Game Room season 1. November, 1999. Soul Calibur was released in Japan in 1998 but found its way to the United States at the launch of the Sega Dreamcast video game console on 9-9-99. Remember the ads? Remember the hype about September 9th, 1999? It was like the moon was going to crash into the earth or something... The Sega Dreamcast was launched to start a whole new era in gaming. In its defense it was very good, however Sega could not stop the juggernaut of the Playstation 2 PS2 that was released the following year. Soul Calibur is an excellent fighting game featuring one player and two player combat. Soul Calibur is actually regarded as one of the best fighting games, if not one of the best video games of all time. Soulcalibur is the second game in the Soul series, following the game Soul Edge. It was produced and developed by Namco (the same place that made Pac Man and Dig Dug). SoulCalibur allows players to fight with a traditional arcade feel and style with detailed rendered characters in unique and flambouyant 3D environments, much like Virtua Fighter 5 or DOA2. This was the 4th Classic Game Room episode and is regarded as one of the original pilots for the series. This review of Soul Calibur was done just a few weeks after the game and the system was released and Mark and Dave enjoyed the gameplay, the trailer for the different characters, footage, sketches, and moves. There is a new Soul Calibur IV coming out soon for the PS3 and Xbox 360 Video Game Systems. Enjoy this look back at how excited we were in 1999 long before we'd even imagined a SoulCalibur 4. Soul Calibur 4 hooooo!
Classic Game Room was the FIRST classic video game review show on the Internet in 1999. Classic Game Room HD marked the return of the series in 2008. The original Classic Game Room reviewed Atari, NES, Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Dreamcast and Playstation... too bad they didn't get to Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 or Wii. Now Classic Game Room HD is covering the new systems. list trailers

[@HingleMcCringleberry-f6d]

I remember getting the Dreamcast on 9-9-1999. I got it at a mom-and-pop shop a few miles away. Since back then I had no car and relied on the bus, I had to ride a bicycle to the shop and got there around 11pm. It was the first time I ever went to some kind of mid-night release. There were already a dozen other people in line. By the time I got my Dreamcast (I pre-purchased it in advance but the store wouldn't allow people to reserve or pre-purchase any games), they had already sold of Soul Calibur, the game I most wanted. However, I did get the last remaining of copy of "Power Stone," a game I didn't really know about, but I bought it anyway because it was the only cool-looking game left (the rest were sports game which I had no interest in). I brought it back to my college dorm room and fired up Power Stone, and holy fuckin shit that game was bonkers. My room mate and I played that game until sunrise. While I was at the store, I also pre-paid for the store's next copy of Soul Calibur, so I was garaunteed to get it on their next shipment. Remember, this was before Amazon was a thing. Since the store was miles away, they sent one of their clerks to drive to my dormitory on campus to meet me in the parking lot and give me the game. It was so awesome. Then my friends and I played the ever loving shit out of Soul Calibur. Fucking good times.

[@drunkensailor112]

AnonymousInternetPerson001 awesome story! Those were the days man.

[@sebastiann.8088]

Dreamcast was awesome! I grew up mostly with the NES, then the Genesis, then the Saturn, and FINALLY the dreamcast. Dreamcast totally blew my mind at how advanced it was at the time!

[@zodiac909]

I remember walking into game stores back in the 90's, the smells of those stores + this game being demoed, It was PURE Nostalgia.

[@mohamedabdelfatah7297]

you mean pure magic

[@sebastiann.8088]

@@mohamedabdelfatah7297 Are you Mohammed from Qatar???

[@festushaggen2563]

The undisputed Dreamcast system seller. Lots of great games for the system but Soul Calibur made it a must have. This one blew everyone away.

[@gc3k]

in 1999, if you wanted to hypnotize somebody, you show them soul calibur on dreamcast. my friends were absolutely frozen when they watched me play this

[@justicerenoux2635]

Ton Rab im 12 and I want a dreamcast I cant believe I missed it :(

[@reshiram202]

Justice Renoux ikr

[@MoezMedia]

Justice Renoux get one, I am 16 and although I had a ps1, ps2 and played many arcade titles mainly Sega ones I have missed it at the time but I have one now :)

[@hash-slingingslasher1374]

oh god i was only five but i remember how amazing Soul Calibur was in 1999, as amazing as Half Life 2 in 2004 or Crysis in 2007

[@minimimimaxiboy1]

​@@justicerenoux263520 now. You ever got it?

[@Darthadios]

Gotta love these old Classic gameroom reviews, absolutely fantastic !

[@quentinhendrix8410]

I bought a Dreamcast to complete my Soul series collection (minus a port and a spinoff), and this game became an instant favorite. it's the most formative and realized game in the series, and for that time, Soul Calibur offered more than other fighters.

[@n64slash64]

haha unbelievable i just did the same 2 weeks ago, man the dreamcast version is just perfect, the fighting is simple and ad the same time deep, no gimmicks and bs! SoulCalibur 2 was also awsome and maybe even better! - those two games are some of my all time favorite games ever! SC 3 and 4 are oke but not great.. but with SC5 it went the wrong way with the series..

[@IdkJustCookingDude]

Much more

[@Nicomanism]

@@n64slash64 soul calibur 1 & 2 are the best in the series.

[@Neutral1]

Man 99 that's insane. I feel old just for remembering people havin that reaction when they came across the dreamcast

[@swagd1337]

Damn makes me wish I was around at this time to see this stuff, I only got to know about impactful this game through older cousins and friends, though that does make me question where are these guys doing now in days, hard to believe 1999 was 25 years ago.

[@lovelorn88nick]

Yeah, mark stopped doing reviews like 7 or so years ago, but recently came back. And yeah dude thr Dreamcast was amazing when it launched, I still have my original system, got it in January of 2000 when I was 11. Still works, had to replace the controller ports though

[@worldofcoyote2556]

November 1999? I was only 2 years old at the time!

[@MrAzazel666]

I remember getting this game for Christmas along with my Dreamcast. It was absolutely stunning. I couldn't believe what I was looking at.

[@lemonslice2233]

"60 fps, which is what, twice as much as the human eye can see?" *facepalm* "It's double the NTSC" *double facepalm*

[@denilson9276]

LemonSlice it's 1999. I doubt you knew what fps meant back there.

[@sebastiann.8088]

@@denilson9276 Exactly

[@sebastiann.8088]

Quit acting like you're all high and mighty. It was a different time back then you jerk.

[@chriscalvert4609]

I knew games played shittier when they were 30fps or lower - I just didn’t know why. But my spidy sense was kicking.

[@TheRealDustinNunn]

I remember SoulCalibur.

[@deckofcards87]

Still the greatest fighting game ever made, period.

[@nygiantsfan6]

The intro when they're talking about how good the graphics are takes me back. I remember playing games like Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye for the first time and the graphics being incredible. :)

[@MrMarrekkk]

I totally understand all excited comments, I’m Dreamcast owner since 2022 and I can only regret not getting it in 1999...

[@drunkensailor112]

It was an unreal time back then. Half my neighborhood stood at my dreamcast at launch and nobody believed it. Looked way better than even the most powerful pc

[@xannidel]

This video convinced me to purchase this game and to give the SC series a chance, I am not normally a gamer who enjoys fighting games but I want to give it a shot and then I might buy the later games, thank you guys for an awesome video.

[@BifrostMR]

is it just me or does soul calibur 1 seem 3x as fast as the other games in the series, it seems like there is very much hitlag after you have attacked in the later instalments.

[@KGRAMR]

I was Thinking the same,this may be the fastest game in the series

[@quentinhendrix8410]

your name is Tira's stained glass weapon and one other weapon that I don't recognize..hmm I'm going to look for it

[@writeronfire]

Dave was cool but with him the reviews are less structured. The banter is funny but uninformative. Still, it's classic for a reason

[@reshiram202]

Juat remember this is when they started doing this. They had no medium or style to go off on so they had to worknwith what they had. And yes, it is very classic indeed.

[@Skriak]

The Dreamcast had a great selection of games considering it was barely out 2 years when it was cancelled, but the PS2 was definitely worthy to steal the crown. What I don't understand is why more crazy games like ChuChu Rocket weren't made on PS2. A lot of Dreamcast ports came out, but few original silly titles. That's sad :(

[@sonicadv27]

Best fighting game ever, period.

[@nhydock]

I'm so happy I still have this game and a dreamcast. I've never played another fighting game as much as I have this one.

[@Jaydenyeah]

Classics FTW!!!

[@Retrogamer71]

Loving the Dreamcast reveal at the start of the piece. DoA2 and SC and the best fighting games on DC.

[@bleach6bleach]

"He looks like he'll throw you somewhere very far alway." That's genuis, I like these guys.

[@isaiyas]

I had to buy a Dreamcast on ebay tonight just for this game. You don't know how much fun nostalgia this game brings back. I hardly use my ps2 or ps3 but this one is making me go back to my days of enjoying great arcade games on Dreamcast in a times of tiresome FPS this days. Can't beat that

[@IndigoVibes]

Youve been at this for awhile. Congratz.

[@Game_Night_Chuckles]

BEST CLASSIC GAME ROOM INTRO EVER!!!

[@skaterdulla]

i love the soulblade/soulcaliber series thanks for yet another awesome review. you should seriously do a review of killer instinct for the snes for sure. its my favorite game of all time it would b a real pleasure 2 c u do a review of it. you rock AWESOME

[@NeoHoshi]

It is now. Pre 1995 the original playstation was known as PSX or rather the project was, because they intended on making more than 1 from the start, the x standing in place for the increment PS = PlayStation, X = 1,2,3,4,5, as it would be used in algebra, or to refer to the advertising reference, PlayStation eXperience, which was likely derived from the project name. The term PSX was around at least 10 years before the 2003, japan only system existed. All the gaming mags used it.

[@Synathidy]

10:35: Cloud isn't lame, YOU'RE lame.

[@Mfdude716]

I love this game im glad i bought this game and my dreamcast :)

[@notyoursavior78]

Classic Game Room is my favorite online review show. It's just full of so much win.

[@gothhater]

This is the best soul calibur, even today. I have it for ps2,gamecube and ps3 but none of them are as fast and slick as this one - super smooth controls.

[@gumdeo]

One of the greatest games of all time.

[@hp123434]

I miss David, he was great. Better than some of the CGR reviewers these days...*cough*TJ*cough*

[@Retrogamer71]

Mark and Dave were HAPPY BUNNIES with Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast!!!

[@bl4ckw1ngz64]

Recorded in November 1999. Posted online November 19, 1999.

[@NeoHoshi]

Yes PS1, PSX is the code name for the series of consoles which was used before the release of the PS1, hence the misconception many people have.

[@ImperishableDani]

Oh this review. So charming

[@kR0B45]

Ah, good to know. I'll be sure to look out for the Dreamcast version when I shop for games.

[@Jaydenyeah]

I know no one will care but the dreamcast i have have is green and its actually a clear kind

[@sebastiann.8088]

Sounds rare

[@chaosan18]

Intro cutscenes were the greatest back then...

[@GamerAnalysis]

Back in the days when David was around

[@D_____________887]

Mmm... Soul Calibur... just mmmm.

[@DraculaXHunter101]

Mark is one damn good artist.

[@vutgeta]

i got goose bumps jus watchin this agian thaxx god i still have this game

[@andy7666]

It could have run it easily! If you look at Shenmue, the Dreamcast actually had alot of power.. I loved that machine, I worked in a gmaes store at the time so I had a Neo-Geo Pocket at the same time, you could link up the two machines with games like Capcom VS SNK, swap characters and stuff.. Those were happy days - the peak of arcade conversions.. I miss it man, I'm going to get another DC (with arcade stick of course!) - saying this has made my mind up!

[@Olivander12]

Yes, that is why I talked about this retrospective point of view. Today, it does not really matter if you buy a Sonic Adventure 2, or Crazy Taxi, since both will be cheap. But in the 2000, it used to make a real big difference for the customers, and today the real classic arcade games only can be found at things like PSN or Xbox Live, so they seem to be kind of uncomparable to "normal" games.

[@GameGamers]

W00t!! One of the best Dreamcast, also one of the best games ever made. Coming to 360 soon too!!!

[@AceySucks6606]

Soulcalibur does not need any Blood or Gore. It's Awesome that Way it is. DREAMCAST FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice Reveiw. XD

[@christianorthodoxy4769]

Classic

[@brickmaster24]

whats the music playing during the beginning i really like could someone please tell me?

[@sfknns]

I don't understand why they ported soul edge to playstation but didn't port soulcalibur to it as well. all the soul series games are on sony except this one.

[@xOmniCloudx]

Originally this was supposed to be for the PS1 but it couldn't handle Ivy's snake sword animations so, they moved it to the more powerful arcade hardware. Then they ported it to Dreamcast and improved upon it further. For some reason Namco lightly paid homage to this by releasing SC1 HD for 360 on XBL but would not put it on PSN for PS3. Yet they made SC2 HD Online for PS3 and 360 for their online stores.

[@quentinhendrix8410]

+xOmniCloudx interesting. I was wondering why this title wasn't available on a Sony console. I have invested about 140 bucks to be able to play this game in 1080p

[@Armal1]

holy crap i want this game! Im so happy with myself for buying a dreamcast on ebay!

[@AnnCatsanndra]

I'm always amused by the reviews of Classic Game Room. The gaming taste is almost like the inverse of my own, but I get to see a lot of games I've never heard of because of it. But it's goofy enough that I still like it.

[@newjack1879]

Wow, ten years since this review

[@N0NEoftheAB0VE]

Seconded - I love the reviews man but the intros are just self indulgent!

[@aureliabishh]

"Here...here I am....standing in a field....what am I doing here....?"

[@Skriak]

2:38 "Wooooaaah! Look at that!"

[@crookedson]

Yes, follow these steps. 1. Make sure you have a PC 2.Turn on Dreamcast & insert disc 3. Put Dreamcast on top of PC 4. Enjoy (The most important step) Now you can play Soul Caliber on your PC.

[@Majora_T]

Thank you for teaching the world how to draw cartoon love dog with blood. Soul Calibur could use more of that. Still classic though.

[@morpDprime]

BEST INTRO EVER!

[@rexthesheep]

It's missing some modes and other things too. It's not the same as the Dreamcast release.

[@Zephaniah700]

This shit still looks good; to me at least.

[@SitarKnight]

Mark's quite the artist....

[@3yE]

Basically, every game that ran on both PS2 and GC can also be ported onto Dreamcast, with a slight loss of framerate. For PS2 exclusive titles, it's not quite as easy. The real reason conserning GTA was probably that as the game was in the middle of development, it was already known that the Dreamcast was going to be discontinued by release date.

[@hp123434]

One small step for Dreamcast, one giant leap for console-kind.

[@TuranciHareket]

1999 puhhh long time ago...it passed so fast

[@andy7666]

Shenmue, all the great arcade games, Phantasy Star ONLINE (yes, online!), How about Samba and all the other games with peripherals? At the time the PS2 didn't have those kind of games.. Both were great machines and are still good to own in the 21st century!

[@dimitripapadopoulos5180]

Some of the team from tekken did work on soul calibur yes. In fact we have the head of tekken 7 to thank for soul calibur 6. he said something along the lines of "you have to do something with the soul calibur 6 franchise now or people are going to forget about it"

[@Anradak]

wich is the name of the music from the intro?

[@angryDAnerd]

Can someone please tell me the name of the music track that's playing at the start of this video?

[@blurlistener]

i love soul calibur. ive been fan since Soul Edge

[@furiousmat]

you know what is amazing? this game was out.... more than a decade ago.. it was on an old ass console from SEGA.. Jee look at that. The graphics and movements in this game could actually challenge the best games that were made this year. The textures would need to be stepped up a notch but come on. Since SC1 they really haven't added much on the next SC. The movements for most characters remained EXACTLY the same. thats to say how ridiculously ahead of its time this game was.

[@collinsrv]

@karadanianoI that´s true in fact, some of the best looking titles for the wii are gamecube games, such as metroid 1 and 2, RE 4 and Zelda TP....then of course you have the wii mario games, red steel 2, maybe, no more heroes and DKCR and that´s it...

[@caligoclarus]

"60 fps, which is twice what the human eye can see?" "I believe so" "It's twice that of NTSC, that I do know." What in the actual fuck guys? LK I'd re`up this one with a quick audio edit removing those lines. It's damaging your street cred. ;-)

[@AshitanoJonas]

Well the review is 19 years old.

[@reshiram202]

Tech geek street cred

[@Randolph_]

no matter what, soul blade still owns all soul caliburs. i'm not saying i hate SC's, but the epicness of soulblade is legendary.

[@Synathidy]

I can't believe it took until 2:23 to actually get past the weird cartoon-drawing cam. Pretty awful, but hey, it was an early review.

[@pimp3609]

NIGHTMARE is my favorite character to use in soul calibur series

[@Tremont24]

Karnage you are quite the artist

[@Theoriginalthought]

They still need to work on the hair. In 2019.

[@dorbei]

This was the game with which Sega tried to lure back the fans they lost to Sony (Soul Blade was a major showpiece for the PSX just like SC was for the DC) and initially it seemed that the plan would work - until the PS2 was released.

[@Calvesy]

Love dat intro!

[@Indead]

Lol, "Log" it's Tetsujin Mark ;) Still love watchin' this video, s'probably my third time watching this.

[@dr3w399]

my favorite figting game

[@jackpfoto]

i really wish i had a dreamcast when i was younger

[@Buss713]

Worth getting if you played SC2?

[@GadGades]

It's interesting hearing people gush over it in present tense

[@FloDan60]

What... th- that intro has left me lost for words.

[@permexOQ]

it's funny how i enjoy SC1, SC2 & SC3 more than SC4 & SC5, lol.

[@GuitarLordB]

How come when i play i only have 1/2 the characters they do?

[@irvinspider54]

someone know the song at the beginning of the video?

[@3yE]

One cannot really say that it is technically better. One thing one can say though, that it was WAY ahead of its time. When the development started in 96, there was nothing at all that could produce similar graphics, while SONY stepped into SEGA's footsteps in 1998. SONY saw the arcade/dev board version of DC and knew whet ther target was, namely to equal or beat that. Also Dreamcast came equipped with an Internet connection in 98/99, something that SONY and MS only caught up with in 2002/03.

[@Retrogamer71]

SC is one game I'll never sell on ebay. Top title.

[@maxheadroom1987]

The Dreamcast is a great console. It has soul!

[@GamblerofFates]

the log character's name in tekken is Mokujin

[@RealRaynedance]

@Mantelis1255 You spelled "scratched" right, but not "characters"??

[@Magnetorheological]

such a shame no one says "schooled" anymore... :( good times.

[@micster87]

I have sc2 sc3 and sc4 also im thinking about getting soul blade and soul caliber 5

[@KGRAMR]

Please,put this game on EVO 2015