Genre: Fighting
Year: 2002
Developed by: Project Soul
Published by: Namco
Platforms: Arcade, GameCube, XBOX, PS2, PS3, XBOX 360
#122
Feeling Like: NO ESCAPE!
I gravitate towards playing annoying characters, although maybe my style is just annoying in the first place.
No Oddjob in Goldeneye 007, though. I wanted to keep my friends.
Raphael was my guy, though looking at tier lists, he’s generally considered a low end character. I didn’t care – circling and hitting Y resulting in him poking the other combatant’s feet while he shouted NO ESCAPE! Over, and over was terrific. Cries afoul from my opponent just grew my smile wider. I got wise to using combos. I learned the “interpretive dance”(not the actual move’s name), and when to counter a weapon attack. I played it a ton. I tend to do well when I’m the only one who knows what the hell is going on.
Soulcalibur 2 is one of the few fighting games that I really dug my teeth into. Link being available for the GameCube version was the icing on the cake and I knew that going into my 2nd year, where I would get my own room, I had to have as many multiplayer options available if I was to entice others to play and create a “dope environment” for people to come hang out. Even if they weren’t playing, having something on in the background was encouraged the residents of Bigelow to come mingle.
This really was a Bigelow House game, I don’t recall even touching it before, or since. I bullied Scott and Eric into playing a few matches at my parents’ place during the summer, but every single vivid memory is playing in either my 2nd, or 3rd year room. It didn’t matter that I had a tiny TV, or it wasn’t in HD. What mattered is that a dozen or so people were keen to give it a try, pass off the controller after the match was over, all the while yelling and having fun.
There were so many bells and whistles, but we rarely bothered. I think Fuzz got through the main campaign to unlock certain weapons and costumes, but it wasn’t usually a focus for us. It was easy to boot up and within seconds, you’re clashing swords, nunchucks, bo staffs, sais, whips and claws against colorful backdrops and an epic orchestrated soundtrack. Despite only playing a single entry in this franchise, count me as a Soulcalibur fan.
It was just too easy to have fun, I mean particularly for me. Raphael had this stupid move where if you charged up and swirled your sword around it would deal insane damage with an arc of fire. Nobody ever dodged it, I think it was so brazen of me to even attempt it (it requires a lengthy charge up) that my opponents usually balked at seeing it. Henry’s not doing THIS stupid move AGAIN, is he? SLAM. Ah, apparently he was.
Skill level didn’t matter, button mashing would still yield the odd victory. This was particularly celebrated when a rookie resident went up against the current champion. Combos out of nowhere were flashy and exciting, and a complete mystery as to what inputs were recently pushed. You could look those up, but why would you want to spoil the fun?
Once we moved out of residence into King St, it’s like Soulcalibur 2 ceased to exist, which is sort of strange. Maybe Lipsit, Danimal and Ryan weren’t big fighting fans, or we moved onto other games. But it served a very specific purpose, and did it very well. When it came to Henry’s Room of GameCube Entertainment, Soulcalibur 2 was right up there with NHL 2005, Resident Evil 4, Mario Power Tennis, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. Sports and fighting. And zombies. An easy sell.
I’ve mentioned before on the 500 that Johnny Zee’s was my favorite place in Victoria, BC until it closed down and I discovered Clive’s Classic Lounge. Eric, Kasim and I popped in for a quick session during the afternoon. It wasn’t the same – the CyberZone Laser Tag section had been torn down to make way for more machines. It was virtually empty and arcades really should never be visited in sunlight. Too much to see, too easy to see the dusty floors and stains on the cabinets. Neon lights are far more effective in the dark.
The only crowd was a small gathering of pre-teens around the Soulcalibur 2 cabinet.
Eric nudged me.
“Henry. Henry. Go beat them.”
If I had any sense of maturity, I would have left the kids alone. But where’s the fun in that? I stepped up; my presence inspired a quiet awe. How old was this guy? They knew I was cool because I was still playing games at my age, and I knew I was cool because a bunch of 12-year-olds thought I was cool. They didn’t stand a chance. Raphael shouted all his annoying mannerisms and I tried to remain humble in victory, but I doubt my comrades would agree. I don’t think I lost a single round. I must have been nice enough because they invited me to a Soulcalibur 2 tournament at the arcade later that week. I didn’t go, and I don’t know why. Maybe I knew this was a great lasting moment: standing triumphant in a place that had housed so many incredible memories and visits.
The 500 