Soulcalibur (video game)

Soulcalibur
European flyer
Developer(s)	Namco (Project Soul)
Publisher(s)	Namco Dreamcast JP/PAL: Namco NA: Namco Hometek Xbox 360, iOS, Android Namco Bandai Games
Director(s)	Jin Okubo Yoshitaka Tezuka
Producer(s)	Yasuhiro Noguchi Hiroaki Yotoriyama
Designer(s)	Tetsuya Akatsuka Tsuyoshi Kiuchi
Programmer(s)	Shinobu Nimura
Artist(s)	Ryoichi Ban
Writer(s)	Yoshihiro Nakagawa
Composer(s)	Junichi Nakatsuru Yoshihito Yano Akitaka Tohyama Takanori Otsuka
Series	Soulcalibur
Platform(s)	Arcade Dreamcast Xbox 360 iOS Android
Release	July 30, 1998 Arcade JP: July 30, 1998 NA/EU: 1998 Dreamcast JP: August 5, 1999 NA: September 9, 1999 EU: October 14, 1999 Xbox 360 WW: July 2, 2008 iOS WW: January 19, 2012 Android WW: November 20, 2013
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system	Namco System 12

Soulcalibur^[a] is a 1998 fighting game developed and published by Namco. It is the second game in the Soulcalibur series, preceded by Soul Edge. Originally released in arcades on July 30, 1998, it ran on the Namco System 12 hardware, and was ported to the Dreamcast console in 1999 with new features and improved graphics.

The game centers on the pursuit of the legendary weapon known as Soul Edge, now in the possession of a warrior known as Nightmare, who slaughters countless people to satisfy the blade's bloodlust. Other warriors pursue him either to claim the weapon for themselves or to destroy it, end his mass murder, and free him of its curse. Developed closely with Namco's Tekken development team, it is one of the few home console ports that outdid their arcade parent performance-wise. The title brought many innovations to the fighting game genre that include a heavy emphasis on weapons and a unique eight-way movement system.

Soulcalibur received unanimous critical applause upon release; it is the second-highest-rated video game of all time, with a 98 rating on Metacritic. It won the majority of Game of the Year awards in its respective year, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighting games and one of the greatest video games ever made, topping numerous "best of" lists in years following. The North American home version was released as a launch game for the Dreamcast, playing a part in its successful launch. Soulcalibur became available as a downloadable title on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Marketplace in July 2008 and it is forward compatible with the Xbox One.
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