One of my earliest memories as a Dreamcast owner was playing Soulcalibur and frankly being amazed at how it looked and played. I had never even heard of the "Soul" series before, let alone seen the arcade game it was based on. My purchase had been entirely fuelled by magazine reviews in all their static glory, so finally seeing it running was one of those special moments of awe you'd get as a gamer during that era.
Each edition came with an additional fighter exclusive to that console. For the GameCube it was Link from the Legend of Zelda series, Xbox had Spawn, and the PS2 had Heihachi Mishima, who is apparently from Tekken (who I had to look up for this article as I honestly had no memory of the PS2 special guest).
In an alternative timeline where the Dreamcast had powered through and continued to succeed where we saw it fail, it would've ultimately received Soulcalibur 2 and other Soulcalibur sequels on follow-up Sega consoles. Also in that universe, there is a fan blog of PS2 fans moaning that if only people had been more into DVDs as a concept, the PS2 could have succeeded and Sony would still be making consoles today, rather than eventually being acquired by Philips Electronics...
Anyway, let's get to looking and speculating at the Dreamcast-exclusive characters that we might have had a chance to play as.
Obvious characters tier
Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue
Given that Shenmue was based on Virtua Fighter tech and design principles, it's perfectly conceivable that Namco would've just did the obvious and slotted Ryo straight into the game. The only problem is that Soulcalibur is a weapon-based fighting game and Shenmue is more about advanced fisticuffs, but Ryo does find a sword guard in the first Shenmue, so maybe he could've just pivoted to using a sword? Failing that, he could even just have used one of the forks from the front of his forklift if needed, or the handle bars from a Hang-On arcade machine. To be fair, the PS2-exclusive Heihachi was weaponless in that version of Soulcalibur 2, although this does seem at odds with the rest of the roster to me.
Every bout could have ended with "I won't let you down, Father" or some other stoic phrase about loss and regret, or maybe a "Maybe I'll have some more fun?" This would've opened the way for having Lan Di potentially as a boss too, similar to what they would later do with Yoda, Darth Vader and Starkiller in Soulcalibur 4.
Raziel from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Did you know I am a massive fan of this game and series? You should, as this is —by my count— the 1789th time that I've managed to cram it into something for the Dreamcast Junkyard that I've been involved with. However, Raziel would actually have been a perfect fit. Raziel's moveset seems like it would've transitioned perfectly to Soulcalibur, along with his visual style. In the Soul Reaver games, he combines supernatural powers and weapons he finds, so in Soulcalibur 2, he could potentially have had his weapons change up between rounds or move between the physical and spectral realms. There are quite a lot of possibilities here, people.
Joe Musashi from Shinobi
Given his status as a Sega icon, Shinobi (as most people probably call him over his frankly stupid real name, Joe) would have been a perfect fit for a fighting title such as Soulcalibur 2. Whilst his screen-clearing ninjitsu powers would probably have needed to be stripped back, the rest of his arsenal of moves would've fit well. Hand strikes and leg sweeps, using a sword which he could've followed up with a shuriken star, riding on a horse... okay, maybe not that last one.
Kage-Maru from Virtua Fighter
Given that he is basically based on Shinobi (at least from the looks of it), this feels like another one that would've been easy. Granted, he again would've needed a weapon, but he is a ninja, so I am sure he has used one at some stage. Kage is no stranger to video game crossovers either, as he appeared in Fighters Megamix on the Saturn, and as an unlockable wrestler in Japan-exclusive Dreamcast release Giant Gram: All Japan Pro Wrestling 2. Check out this excellent footage from Game Archive, where you can see him and Jeffry from Virtua Fighter beating the snot out of each other.
Ax Battler, Gilius Thunderhead and Tyris Flare from Golden Axe
A quick search of any of the above shows that many people have already created these in various later Soulcalibur games that feature a create-a-player mode, which shows the popularity of the characters and the series they spawned from. The issue here is that all three characters would've had to have been included instead of just one, and this may have irked owners of the other consoles, as it would've made them feel like they were receiving a lesser version. However, logistics aside, the Golden Axe trio would have been a perfect fit, particularly as they already follow similar conventions of fighting game styles. Ax is an all rounder, Gius is stronger but slower, Tyris is quicker but takes damage more easily. Tyris would've needed the most balancing due to her magic, but this could have easily been resolved by giving her some extra speed or giving her magic-like projectiles or abilities that fit the game. You could even then have included a bonus stage where you boot the living daylights out of that little pixie thing with a bag.
Less obvious characters tier
Eliot G. Ballade from Blue Stinger
Dressed like a crap tribute act to some '80s rocker and wielding a ray sword, Eliot would surely have been a fantastically odd inclusion that would have baffled the gaming cognoscenti of the day, but just imagine him beating the crap out of Voldo. Namco could've even implemented some Dreamcast internal clock trickery that would have had him wearing a Santa suit on Christmas day, or have him turn into mutant form when it's Halloween or something.
Beat and Gum from Jet Set Radio
"Jet set RADIOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
Another one where I wondered if it would've clashed stylistically... until I remembered they put Yoda in Soulcalibur 4 and let you smash up Ivy with a lightsaber.
Whilst the cel-shaded art style may have clashed too much and —on the flipside— fans also wouldn't have appreciated it if Namco had ran these two through some sort of de-cel shading iron mangle, both characters are agile and acrobatic and could surely have translated that into their move sets, along with the obvious use of spray paint as either an attack or something to spray the screen with after a win. The actual weapon they would've used would obviously have been two spray cans tied together by rollerblade laces. Obviously...
Ulala from Space Channel 5
Yes, I went there. Ulala would do anything for a story, even entering a competition to get a soul-harvesting sword. Her agility and dance moves are evidence that she is secretly a capoeira master. Her weapon would've been a blade that pulls out of her microphone, which is probably already canon, because lets face it, she'd not be entering that space station full of aliens without some form of protection would she?
Left, left, left, right, shank.
Axel from Streets of Rage
Picture the scene: your opponent lunges at you, you side step, grab them, and German suplex them for big damage. As you are about to step in and finish them off, suddenly the game starts to cut away to a racing police car that stops and fires off your one special attack, all because you pressed the wrong button...
Okay, that special move would obviously have been taken out, but a huge amount of Axel's other abilities could've remained. Brandishing both a steel pipe and a dagger, he'd have combined both long, slow, but powerful swings with the ability to slash and slice with the dagger as well as throw it and pick it back up, all mixed in with grabs, throws and kneeing people in the head. Can you just imagine it in all its violent glory? I can, and I can already hear the music.
Outright stupid tier
The fishermen from Sega Bass Fishing
I love Sega Bass Fishing, but still have no idea if this pair have actual names. Either way, they could've fought on a platform overlooking one of the stages and would obviously have had a Scorpion-style "get over here!" grappling move, but instead your fisher person would say "it's coming near...", having just stuck the fishing hook into the rival combatant's mouth. There could also have been a away to trigger a special move that sees the fisherman reel up a massive fish that they can wallop the opponent with.
Anyway, that's my irreverent article quota met for another year, let me know either in the comments below or on social media what you think of my choices for Soulcalibur 2 for Dreamcast, or better yet, what would your own choices would be?
11 comments:
two words
DOGS BOWER
Reading this article makes me think could we ever see a soul calibur 2 port to the Dreamcast one day? We just had GTA3 so does that mean the sky is the limit? Great article kev
Wouldn’t that be three words? As in, “Dogs Motherfuckin’ Bower”
It wouldn’t have happened because Sega Hard Girls didn’t come out until like 2013 but Dreamcast would be my vote. She has a sword. https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Dreamcast
Hell, all of them could be included.
The young lad from Toy Commander would have been my shout
Maybe Sonic?
Ryudo would be my pick, I know that Grandia 2 was later released on PS2 but both Grandia 1 and 2 had the better versions on the Sega consoles.
A few other contenders:
Vyse from Skies of Arcadia
The avatar from Rez or Cosmic Smash
HUmar from PSO
Jack Wade from Headhunter
Tyris Flare and Joe Musashi are the right choice for the names and styles!
I would lean towards Joe Musashi or Vyse, because they have weaspons. Heihachi was always a weird choice, because he doesn't have a weapon in a weapons-based fighting game. As much as it would otherwise make sense for Ryo, he has no weapons. Plus, like Marciost said, someone like Joe fits the style and design of a Soulcalibur game more.
Most Likely. He would probably be shorter than the other characters, but it would be okay since they had Yoda in a later installment.
Tyris Flare from Golden Axe (since she has a weapon) or Axel from Streets of Rage (or even Max from Streets of Rage 2) would be cool, but so would one of the playable characters from Altered Beast (I don't think those guys even had official names).
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