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Soul Calibur Guest Characters: Timeline

Matthew Vella
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7
Soul Calibur Guest Characters: Timeline

With the recent announcement that Ezio Auditore from the Assassin’s Creed franchise is set to appear as a playable character in Soul Calibur V, fighting game fanatics have been ecstatic worldwide. These days having a random playable guest character appear in a fighting game has become somewhat of an standard these days, but throughout video game history it seems almost nobody do guest characters any better than the Soul series. In this article we’ll take a look back through the history of Soul Calibur to see how damn well these guys do it, and exactly why we should be so excited over the inclusion of Ezio in Soul Calibur V.

Soul Calibur: Yoshimitsu (Tekken Series)

Ok so technically Yoshimitsu isn’t a cameo, but he originally came from the Tekken franchise. In fact, he’s appeared in not only every Tekken game but also every Soul Calibur game, making him a part of both series hinting that they are both set within the same universe. This wouldn’t be too surprising either, since both franchises are both from Namco Bandai. Although it hasn’t been confirmed, it is widely believed that the Soul Calibur Yoshimitsu is an ancestor of Tekken’s Yoshimitsu. Yoshimitsu uses a sword, so he seems more at home in Soul Calibur than in Tekken anyways. In a perfect world, he’d be a guest character in Tekken and not the other way around.

Soul Calibur II (Gamecube Version): Link (The Legend of Zelda Series)

Nintendo’s Hero of Time, Link of Hyrule made a GameCube-exclusive appearance in Soul Calibur II. Featuring one hell of a throwing technique a wide range of projectiles, Link brought a refreshing style of gameplay to the title. His story placed him after the events of The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, where Link hears of the possible resurrection of the Soul Blade and how it could place a strong threat to the kingdom of Hyrule.

Soul Calibur II (Xbox Version): Spawn (Comic Book Series)

Spawn is an anti-hero comic book character created by Todd McFarlane who made an Xbox-exclusive appearance in Soul Calibur II. His cape can take the shape of any object he envisions, and being in the medieval period he has selected the form of a double-bladed axe for combat. As the most foul-mouthed character in the soul series to date, Spawn’s story was about him being sent to retrieve the Soul Edge from his master in return for an escape back to his time period. The reason for including Spawn in this title was due to an agreement between Namco and Todd McFarlane who was developing Soul Calibur figurines.

Soul Calibur II: Heihachi Mishima (Tekken Series)

Another Tekken fighter?! Don’t worry this one’s definitely a cameo, although he does seem a little out of place here. In his appearance exclusive to the PlayStation 2 Heihachi Mishima stays true to his Tekken roots by not fighting with a blade but rather his hands and feet. To help him survive against opponents with swords, he has gauntlets made of Japanese armor wrapped around his wrists. What Heihachi lacks in range however, he makes up with devastating combos. His story is believed to take place between Tekken 3 and Tekken 4 and is quite bizarre: he accidently stumbled on a piece of the ancient Soul Edge, accidently cuts himself and ends up waking up in the medieval times fighting for the Soul Blade. Sure it’s a little silly, but hey it gets him in the game, right?

Soul Calibur III(Removed): Dante (Devil May Cry Series)

Hardcore Soul Calibur fans may be slightly confused thinking “Hey I don’t remember Dante in Soul Calubur III!” Well chill, you havn’t missed anything! Dante from Capcom’s Devil May Cry was originally set to appear as a playable character in Soul Calibur III but was removed due to unknown reasons. In Soul Calibur II Kilik wore a red trench coat, but it was changed in Soul Calibur III due to Dante being set to appear in the roster which unfortunately didn’t end up happening. Totally sucks because Dante would’ve been perfect in a Soul Calibur game!

Soul Calibur III: KOS-MOS (Xenosaga Series)

KOS-MOS is a rather unique and interesting guest character from the Xenosaga franchise. Instead of being selectable from the character select screen from the start, she’ll appear only after the player constructs her special armor in the character select screen which is a direct reference to how she is an Android that is not born but rather created. Furthermore the choice to give her any fighting style in the game is also a reference to her ability to create weapons from thin air, much like how she does in the Xenosaga series.

Soul Calubur Legends: Lloyd Irving (Tales of Symphonia Series)

Lloyd Irving is a character from Namco’s RPG Tale of Symphonia and makes an appearance in Soul Calibur Legends for Wii. It is unclear how he arrives on Earth, but it’s more than likely that his story within the game takes place between the original Tales of Symphonia game and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World/Knight of Ratatosk.

Soul Calibur IV: Darth Vader (Star Wars Series)

If you don’t know who Darth Vader is, you totally suck. Vader was given a unique force meter that allowed him to use the force for ranged attacks to switch up the gameplay a little, and has slower attacks than many of the other fighters in the game but makes up for it with strong focus on power. His story has him in search for the Soul Calibur and Soul Edge which he believes will help him rule the galaxy. Darth Vader is available for free on the PlayStation version of the game, and available for purchase for the Xbox 360 version.

Soul Calibur IV: Yoda (Star Wars Series)

Yoda is considered a joke character by many as he does seem a little…broken. You can’t grab him and the bastard is so short that high attacks are literally go over his head! His move set includes him using the force to launch him up in the air, and this is seen in many of his attacks to make up for his height. Yoda’s story involves him leaving Dagobah top stop Darth Vader obtaining the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Yoda is available for free on the Xbox 360 version of the game, and available for purchase for the PlayStation 3 version.

Soul Calibur IV: The Apprentice/Starkiller (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Series)

Darth Vader’s apprentice, Starkiller also makes an appearance in Soul Calibur IV as he aids Vader in searching for the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Starkiller plays like a mix between Yoda and Vader, in the sense that he is fast like Yoda but aggressive like Vader. He also uses a force meter for a variety of ranged attacks. Unlike Yoda and Vader, Starkiller comes for free on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game.

Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny: Kratos (God of War Series)

Kratos of God of War makes a guest appearance in Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny. Kratos comes complete with his barbaric fighting style with a nice balance of both short and long ranged attacks. His long ranged attacks also make up for many of his attacks can be a little slow, making him a very well balanced fighter.

Soul Calibur V: Ezio Auditore (Assassin’s Creed Series)

Thanks to the power of the Animus, Ezio Auditore from the Assassin’s Creed franchise is set to appear in the up coming Soul Calibur V and out of all the guest characters so far this series has included, Ezio may be the best fit yet. According to Soul Calibur V producer Hisaharu Tago Ezio has the most tools per single character in the game. Featuring a variety of weapons, short, middle and long-ranged attacks Ezio is sure to be one character to be looking forward to playing as!

For an enlarged version of the above Soul Calibur Guest Character image go here. Right click and select ‘save as desktop image’ to make it your desktop wallpaper, courtesy of your pals Capsule Computers!

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Review

Jessica Barabas-Bui
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The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Review


The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Studio: Amberlin Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Nickelodeon Movies, WingNut Films
Format: Cinema
Publisher: Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures
Release Date: December 26, 2011

Overview

Tintin is a massively famous and internationally popular franchise, spanning generations, which started in 1929 with hugely loved characters and amazing settings and journeys. Tintin speaks to so many people through their love of adventure, mystery, thrills and some humour along the way. Will the movie be as much of a joy to watch as the comics were to read?

Story

The story of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn follows the storyline of the comic of the same name, with Tintin coming across a model ship that starts off a series of events that lead him on a massive adventure (as can be expected from Tintin).

There are a few altered parts to the plot, clearly, with Tintin and Captain Haddock meeting each other for the first time as well as a lot more plot to flesh the story out. Given that some of the people seeing the movie might not be too familiar with the comics this is a great way to introduce people to the characters. The characters are totally loveable (excluding the villain, but even the evil henchmen are kinda funny). Plus, I absolutely adore me some Snowy, he’s the most adorable sidekick animal in anything ever.

For those who have read the comic, or decide to read it again to jog their memory previous to going to watch the movie, there will be some moments which are a reference to the comic which will make you snicker, but at large it is a different story. The bone of the story is the same, but it quickly departs from it and allows those familiar with the comic to also go on a journey with the story instead of expecting what is to come. I actually like some of the changes they’ve made to the story and the role the characters play, I think there is a lot more of a cyclical nature and a lot more tied together than it is in the comic (which is more suited to modern film audiences).

The movie is only 107 minutes long, but it feels a lot longer given that there is just so much story jam-packed in to each scene. It sets an absolutely cracking pace, and even when it lets you catch your breath it’s off once again.

All this being said, this section is for parents or the younger crowd that might be interested in seeing Tintin. The movie keeps quite faithful to the comics in the way that the themes are a bit adult. The Captain has a bit of a drinking problem (just like Snowy is a bit of an awesome dog), and if you’ve got a young ‘un with you there are going to be moments in scenes where you’ll kind of wish they weren’t there. Just because this film is based off comics and is animated, don’t be tricked, this is not a movie for children.

Visuals

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is in 3D, and usually I don’t really love the whole 3D thing, but it actually works amazingly for the movie. I also had some reservations about the way that it was animated, due to the crazy photorealistic way that the animated people are depicted. In the trailers I was still iffy about how they would look, but I was proven completely wrong. Not only does the animation not look weird, but it actually works incredible well and works much better than if it had been live action, especially considering the way Hergé’s characters are drawn.

The transition between each scene is incredibly inventive and hugely impressive visually. It was like they actually challenged themselves to make each scene transition as well done and amazingly visual as possible.

The settings are amazingly put together, the detail and beauty that goes in to the countries is mind-blowing. You will seriously be blown away by some of the visuals, especially in one particular scene when there is the most epic old school ship battle. It isn’t any of that pansy shoot-cannon-balls-from-afar business, no it gets messy and insane and totally awesome.

Audio

The voice acting is great. Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) and Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) are absolutely great as the leads, and they have some great chemistry. Bell’s portrayal as Tintin manages to make some Tintin’s little affectations come a lot more naturally than some may have been able to pull off.

Daniel Craig’s performance as the villain Sakharine is great, no one would ever think he was also Bond, I actually didn’t hear his own voice come through at all, so that is a great credit to him. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thompson and Thomson is an inspired choice, and does it ever pay off. I don’t think I could have picked a better comedic duet for the roles of the bumbling police officers.

Overall

As someone who personally adored Tintin and always chased after dog-eared library copies until I had read them all, I walked into this movie having high expectations. There was just so much to recreate, not just characters, but the feelings behind characters, the nostalgia and love that these characters have gained over the years. So does it transfer over?

Well, yes, I think it does. And (I may have been the only one) when there was that open ending hinting towards sequels I didn’t groan like I usually do. I say, bring it on! Because if the sequel is half as fun, fast-paced, adventurous and awesome then I will be eagerly awaiting it.

9-5-capsules-out-of-10

Darksiders 2: Death Lives Trailer Released

Matthew Vella
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0

“What starts with war, ends with death.”

A dark and chilling new trailer for Darksides 2 was recently released by THQ. The trailer follows one of the exploits of DEATH, who is one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The game is set for a 2012 release on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U and will have DEATH going through various light and dark realms to redeem his brother WAR, a horseman who was blamed for starting the Apocalypse prematurely in the original Darksiders game. While no gameplay footage is shown in this trailer, it does look pretty damn cool and should excite many Darksiders fans. Check out the video below and see for yourself!

Lionsgate Gets Rights For Original Stan Lee Superhero

Matthew Vella
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0

Legendary comic book superhero creator Stan Lee has given the rights to Lionsgate for an original superhero film, as reported by Variety. Alfred Gough and Miles Miller are set to direct, write and produce the film through their Millar/Gough Ink production company, while Lee and Gil Champion will produce through their POW! Entertainment company. While details of this untitled project are currently unknown, it has been described as “a multigenerational superhero movie that spans several decade.” Hopefully it doesn’t end up like Jumper! Lee’s previous popular creations include Spider-Man, The Hulk, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Thor, while Gough and Millar’s previous credits include Smallville, Spider-Man 2, I Am Number Four, Shanghai Noon and the sequel Shanghai Knights. Keep an eye out for this one, true believers!

The Amazing Spider-Man Video Game Trailer Released

Matthew Vella
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0
The Amazing Spider-Man Video Game Trailer Released

At last night’s VGAs, Activision debuted a brand new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man video game, based on the upcoming 2012 movie which is a reboot of the movie franchise. The game is expected to see a summer 2012 launch alongside the upcoming movie, although it does take place after the events of the film. Gameplay will go back to the free-roaming, web-slinging style similar to previous Spider-Man games based on the 2nd and 3rd films but with improvements to navigation and combat. The story has been penned by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey, who has written for episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. So unfortuently, no hints to the films plot here. While the gameplay looks much like things we’ve seen before, the presentation is certainly a lot more realistic, hollywood-ish and grittier which could potentially result in a more refreshing experience. My Spider-Sense is tingling for this one!

Mortal Kombat Goes on Hiatus

Matthew Vella
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2

Fatality! Ok not really, it’ll be back someday! Yesterday during a pre-show for the Spike VGAs, the father of Mortal Kombat Ed Boon announced that NetherRealm Studios will be taking a break from Mortal Kombat to work on different projects for a while, and the studio is currently working on a new title. The first of which was Batman Arkham City: Lockdown which was released for iOS devices this week. While no other projects have been announced, Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition is due for release early next year. Boon also stated that no future DLC is planned for Mortal Kombat at this point in time. Later at the Spike VGAs that night, Boon accepted an award on behalf of NetherRealm studios for best fighting game of 2011. Personally, I’m curious to see how NetherRealm works with other franchises and projects, although I do miss Mortal Kombat already. Hopefully it’ll kome back soon!

Source: Gamespot

More violent games means more biased garbage

Darren Resnekov
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1

Just when you thought all the uneducated, naive and ignorant politicians and various other do-gooders had said all they could on the topic of violent video games, out crawl more to jump on the bandwagon. This time its MP Keith Vaz, who has asked (and been denied) the House of Commons to hold a debate over the effects of video games, citing a recently published and biased study as his main form of evidence. The study is funded by the Center for successful parenting whose mission statement is as follows. “Our culture used to protect the innocence of our children.  Today our children are constantly exposed to sex and violence.  Our vision is to move parents, leaders in health, government, business, education, public safety, and other vocations to action by changing our culture to protect children from unhealthy media in all formats.” According to Dailytech the group has already published literature about the pure evil gaming incites, based on their interpretation of the studies findings.

The TWO week study, which then attempts to apply its findings to explain behavioural traits in long term gamers, involved 28 total participants, which anyone with a degree in demographics will tell you is simply inadequate and a gross misrepresentation of the population. The study shows, that low and behold, just like any other life activity, violent video games create changes in the brains activity. No suprise there really, or that the rest of the results are a mixture of maybes, mights, possiblies and more than likely’s. Dr Wang MD, of Indiana University, who headed the project states that the study is representative of the effects of long term gaming, something I find very hard to fathom from the limited study.

Someone really needs to stop these groups from wasting money funding research projects that yield results completely non applicable to the argument. While everyone is focused on the fact that video games stimulate the brain, there is very little evidence to support the fact that these effects are negative and create issues for the player. Very few people sit and play violent games for 10 hours a day, especially younger teens, and if they do, well there parents have some answering to do, not them. To make these studies even semi-believable and to give them some merit amongst die hard gamers (if thats possible even), the study needs to incorporate all forms of media, not just video games. As long as lazy parents worldwide have someone or something to blame for their brats behaviour they will, and video games seem the perfect scapegoat. In relation to gamers outside of parental control, there is no evidence, even if certain parts of the brain are more active when playing violent games, that this will ever translate into a greater propensity for violence when interacting with the real world.

Mr Vaz, havent you got anything better to campaign and debate over, surely there are homeless people in your district or roads, schools or parks that need attention. Even an orphanage for stay cats would be a better way to spend your time campaigning for, unless of course it was also funded by violent video game developers, hell bent on providing the cats with violent games so they can amass an angry violent feline race.

 

Mighty Fin Review

Julien Durand
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Mighty Fin
Developer: Launching Pad Games
Publisher: Launching Pad Games
Platform: iPhone (reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch
Release Date: June 1, 2011
Latest Update: December 8, 2011
Price: 0.99$ – (HERE)

Overview

There are a lot of games released for iOS devices, and, let’s face it, a lot of them aren’t worth either your money or your time. It’s easy to lose heart in the face of such shovelware, but then games like Mighty Fin come along, pat you on the back, and tell you it’s all going to be okay.

Mighty Fin is a simple two-dimensional cartoon platformer that puts you in command of a cutesy fish, Fin, as he traverses various aquatic environments on his holidays gone wrong. You may have rolled your eyes at “two-dimensional”, “cartoon”, and “platformer”, but it’s what this game does with the tired iOS genre that really sets it above and beyond the competition.

Gameplay

It’s a big ocean, and Fin is casually speeding forward through it regardless of the obstacles and death-traps in his way, so it’s up to the player to save him from ending up as shark food. Tapping the screen lowers Fin into a dive, releasing sends him back up; the further Fin dives, the higher he jumps when you release.

The simple controls make this game easy to get into, but challenging to master. The levels in Mighty Fin each have themes, but they’re randomly generated every time you start them, ensuring that the game is about your skill with the controls rather than level memorization. Depending on the level, you’ll have to dodge sharks, jellyfish, ninjas, or santas. Yes, it gets crazier as you go.

In a lot of cases, randomly generated levels lead to detrimental gameplay, but the game’s scoring system is based around Fin collecting bubbles along his path to the end of the level, and these bubbles act as a guide to the player, indicating where Fin should be heading next. That’s not to say, there aren’t secret areas and paths to be discovered. Each obstacle generally has multiple ways to be avoided, and choosing one over the other can lead to additional point-bubbles or even higher-scoring gold coins. The scores can, of course, be uploaded onto Games Center for use of leaderboards.

Each level also houses hidden costumes for players to find. Once unlocked, Fin can then put on different costumes, ranging from simple hats to a robot outfit. Though they don’t add to overall score, it’s surprisingly fun to get new costumes and put them on Fin, as they generally do a good job of enhancing his cutesy aesthetic.

What’s more, the game has been receiving constant updates since launch, and where the original game’s levels were grounded in either tropical, arctic, or stormy settings (with repetitive obstacles and music), the number of levels added since launch more than doubles the amount of content in game and each of the new levels is unique and different. Whether it’s the Nightmare Before Christmas ocean, or a sea entirely made up of and decorated by candy, sweets, and cakes, or a ninja-themed level, the developers at Launching Pad went crazy, and the game’s variety and gameplay are so much the better for it.

Audio & Visual

The game looks fantastic. Normally a cartoon-aesthetic on iOS is a quick two-dimensional plane with cutesy stuff thrown on to appeal to moms and kids, but the game really makes use of some great graphical techniques. Though the gameplay space is two-dimensional, there are several background planes which all move at different speeds and are drawn differently based upon their distance from the foreground. On top of that, some of the levels from the various game updates make some drastic graphical decisions that are really quite beautiful. The ninja level, in particular, was a standout.

The audio tunes are cheerful and upbeat tunes, but even in the original, slightly-repetitive levels there was enough variety to keep the music from becoming the annoyance it is in lesser games. As the game goes into the additional levels, it seems as if almost each level has its own soundtrack music which was both surprising and impressive.

The sounds effects do the job. Bubbles pop as you collect them, the ocean splashes when you jump out; the basics are there, but it’s not the stand-out portion of the game.

Finally, Fin himself is a well-designed and animated character. His small body and cute bug-eyes help his appeal, and the way the character animates (half-closing his eyes while zooming through the water, or opening them wide, a big smile on his face as he jumps out of the ocean) go a long way to giving a character, who never says a word, a good deal of personality.

Many iOS games go for the cute, cartoon look, but Mighty Fin does it leaps and bounds better than most of the competition. A screenshot of the game would not look out of place among a reel of Saturday morning cartoons, and it probably even looks better than some of them.

Overall

Mighty Fin succeeds spectacularly in being a game that can be played by someone who has never touched a video-game before, but mastered by those who have a history with platformers. The simple touch-mechanic and easy-to-understand gameplay make the game both a joy and a challenge to play, and on top of that, it looks great.

And though the first eight levels can grow repetitive, Launching Pad’s updates to the game have added creative new levels that not-only reinvigorate the formula presented by the originals, but surpasses them. I have no qualms in saying Mighty Fin is one of the best iOS games to come out this year, and it’s definitely worth your 99 cents.

9-0-capsules-out-of-10

Shigeru Miyamoto Accepts Spike VGA 2011 Hall of Fame Award

Matthew Vella
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0

Today video gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto accepted the Spike VGA 2011 Hall of fame Award for his work on the classic franchise The Legend of Zelda. Holding the award above his head much like Link when he found the master sword, an emotional Miyamoto thanked the fans on behalf of both himself and Nintendo for their support over the franchises’ 25 year long history. His award was granted for The Legend of Zelda franchise, but the world has known his efforts in video gaming have always been legendary with the creation of other popular franchises such as Super Mario, Pikmin, Star Fox, F-Zero and many more.

Miyamoto has been making headlines a lot recently. Firstly he claimed he was going on retirement, then he said he wasn’t and then he said he’s preparing for it and it’s left hardcore Nintendo fans on the edge of their seats. Despite a rough year for Miyamoto and Nintendo, with the recent releases of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D Land as well as this Hall of Fame award, it’s nice to see Nintendo end on such a bright note.

Check out the award ceremony in the video below!

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Release Time Frame Announced

Matthew Vella
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0

Namco Bandai have announced that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will be released during the 2012 holiday season, although no specific date has yet to be revealed. Today during the Spike VGAs a new Tekken Tag Tournament 2 trailer was revealed sporting fighters in combat in a dark room with very Soul Calibur styled colour motion waves following the limbs of the combatants. The video can be seen below and it features a strong focus on the tag element of the game. The trailer concludes with the announcement that the game will be available during the 2012 holiday period, although no date has been revealed as of yet.

Namco Bandai has recently released a demo for the game titled Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue as a part of Tekken Hybrid. You can see our review for it here.

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