1998 video game

Soulcalibur 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 PlayStation-based hardware, and was ported to the Dreamcast 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 one of the highest-rated video games on Metacritic, where it holds a 98 rating. 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 is forward compatible with the Xbox One. Its sequel Soulcalibur II was released in 2002 to comparative acclaim.

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