Soul Edge (game)

For the weapon, see Soul Edge.

Soul Edge
PS1 Arcade
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Designer(s)	Hiroaki Yotoriyama
Platform(s)	Arcade PlayStation
Released	Arcade February 20, 1996 June 1996 (Ver. II) PlayStation JP December 20, 1996 NA January 1997 EU May 1997
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Input methods	8-way joystick, 4 buttons
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	System 11
Display	Raster, 640 x 480 pixels (Horizontal), 65536 colors
Previous None	Next Soulcalibur Soulcalibur Legends (Chronologically)

Soul Edge (ソウルエッジ, Souru Ejji^?) is the first installment in the Soul series fighting games developed and published by Namco. It was initially released in the arcades in February 20, 1996. A few months later, Namco released a fixed version labeled Soul Edge Ver. II, upon the complaints of players who found the difficulty quite high and the last boss "unbeatable". Hwang Seong-gyeong (who initially swapped places with Heishiro Mitsurugi in the Korean version of the game and a secret character in other regions) was added to the main roster with slight changes to his movelist (to further differentiate him from Mitsurugi), Cervantes de Leon became selectable, an improved Guard Impact system and Air Combos were implemented, and all the characters received upgraded movelists. The game was then ported to the Sony Playstation and renamed Soul Blade in Europe, North America, and Australia to avoid potential complications with Edge Games. Soul Edge has been largely overshadowed by its sequel, Soulcalibur, which has been the moniker of the series since 1998.

Soul Edge is the name of the demonic sword which the story revolves around.

Soul Edge was the second entirely weapons-based 3D fighter in history, following Battle Arena Toshinden by two years. Apart from the aesthetic benefits, giving the characters weapons allows for a greater diversity between them, meaning there is someone for every play style. One excellent concept of weapon-based combat implemented by Namco is the major factor that range has in gameplay. The slower, longer ranged characters try to deliver their heavy blows from a distance whereas the quicker, faster characters try to get in as close as possible and deliver quick-hitting attacks. All characters have moves that work at varying ranges though, so longer ranged characters can also hit surprisingly quickly and lesser ranged characters will get in the opponent's face within the blink of an eye if the enemy is careless.

One of the series' main attractions was that it was one of the first fighting games to feature detailed accounts of the individual fighters' motivations and common relations in their quest to achieve a common goal for varying purposes. Many players appreciate Namco's ability to introduce new characters to the series with interconnected storylines such that every character is linked to another somehow, with connections growing larger as the series progresses and the characters accomplish new tasks in the events of the story.

Gameplay

Heishiro Mitsurugi and Seong Mi-na face off in the PlayStation version of Soul Edge.

Soul Edge was created prior to the introduction of the "8-Way Run", which allowed the player to move their character in a complete range on the Y-axis. The characters can sidestep on either side by double-tapping up or down. The jump maneuver moves the player higher into the air, even allowing it to pass above the opponent. One of the most notable gameplay aspects is the "Weapon Gauge". This bar was found under the character's lifebar and was comparable to the equipped weapons' resistance. Each time the player blocked an attack, the bar would deplete. If the bar was totally emptied, the character would lose his/her weapon and be forced to end the match unarmed. Though this is an original idea, unfortunately the unarmed move-lists are the same for every character.

Another feature that would not appear in later games are Weapon Locks, which occurs when two characters strike at the same time, "locking" their weapons. Behaving similarly to paper-scissors-rock, each player must repeatedly press one of the three attack buttons to win; horizontal attacks () beat vertical attacks (), vertical attacks () beat kicks (), and kicks () beat horizontal attacks (). If both players press or , then both players will have their attacks deflected. If both players press , then they'll both receive damage.

Character moves retain a feel of Namco's Tekken series. Each character has in his or her arsenal one or two unblock attacks, balanced however because of its slow execution. Also, each character is capable of performing one or two Critical Edge attacks, which consisted of a long series of linked hits, which usually ended in a strong high attack. These moves require the input of a special combination of two parts: they're activated by pressing "A+B+K" together, and if it connects, the player has the chance of extending the combo with a character-only sequence, which must be input during the attack. This attack depletes 1/3 of the Weapon Gauge when used.

To achieve a ring out, the player must be knocked outside the ring by an enemy; though the player can accidentally ring out his/her own character.

Prologue

Soul Edge's events take place in 1583.

Soul Edge's story tells the tale of warriors searching for the ultimate sword, "Soul Edge". It has been given many names throughout the story, such as "The Sword of Salvation", "The Sword of Heroes", and "The Ultimate Sword" among others. Many strong warriors searched for years, but very few actually found it. The sword, now in the form of a twin pair of long swords, appeared mysteriously in an auction. They were taken by the dreaded Captain Cervantes. Nothing was known of his fate thereafter...

Now, nine warriors from around the world search for the sword for different reasons. Some for power, others for revenge; some believing it's a benevolent sword, searching for its support; while others knowing of its evil nature, seeking its destruction. Nothing is known for certain about the sword, except for one thing: it brings misfortune to those seeking it.

Cast of characters

Soul Edge Ver.II's character select screen

Soul Edge introduced many characters still familiar to players today, especially the series' main character – who serves as both a protagonist and an antagonist throughout the series' history – Siegfried Schtauffen; as well as its token samurai and ninja, Heishiro Mitsurugi and Taki, respectively. The total number of playable characters throughout each version of the game totals to fifteen selectable characters: nine in the original arcade release, ten in the updated arcade version, and fifteen in the home version:

Original arcade version

Character	Weapon	Notes
Heishiro Mitsurugi	Katana	Replaced by Hwang Seong-gyeong in the Korean version
Seong Mi-na	Zanbatou (Halberd)
Taki	Ninjatō
Li Long	Bladed nunchaku Three section staff (only in PAL regions)	Li Long's weapon was changed to a three section staff in Europe due to nunchakus being banned in the UK.
Voldo	Dual Katars
Sophitia Alexandra	Short Sword and Small Shield
Siegfried Schtauffen	Zweihänder
Rock	Battle Axe
Hwang Seong-gyeong	Chinese Sword	Swaps places with Mitsurugi in the Korean version. In other versions of the game, he's a secret character that doesn't appear on the roster and is only selectable by inputting a code.

Soul Edge Ver. II

Character	Weapon	Notes
Hwang Seong-gyeong	Chinese Sword	Appears on the roster along with the other characters, unlike in the original where he was a secret character. Mitsurugi and Hwang's character selection boxes swap places in the Korean version
Cervantes de Leon	Twin Long Swords

Playstation version

Character	Weapon / Notes
SoulEdge	Twin Long Swords; can be unlocked either by clearing Arcade or Time Attack Mode with each of the first ten characters using only their primary weapons or simply recording twenty hours of gameplay.
Seong Han-myeong	Chinese Sword; can be unlocked by unlocking SoulEdge and then clearing Arcade Mode as Hwang, and then as Mi-na.
Siegfried!	Siegfried when possessed by Soul Edge in his no-input ending; this concept would later evolve into Nightmare. He can be unlocked by finding Siegfried's eighth weapon in Edge Master Mode.
Sophitia!	Sophitia without armor, from her ending. She can be unlocked by finding Sophitia's eighth weapon in Edge Master Mode.
Sophitia!!	Sophitia wearing a one-piece swimsuit, from her input ending. She can be unlocked by finding all eighth weapons in Edge Master Mode.

Characters only playable via cheat device

Basically all character models that appear in the Playstation version of the game, namely in the ending sequences, are playable via cheat device. They are sometimes falsely considered unfinished characters, implying that they were originally planned to be fully playable main characters but were left unfinished. The characters found in the game code of the home version are:

Name	Info
Bangoo	Bangoo, Rock's adopted son from his ending, uses Seong Mi-na's moveset. His name appears during fights as "Seung Mina".
Belti	Vercci's ghost from Voldo's ending, uses Cervantes' moveset. His name appears during fights as "Sophitia"
Botsu Li Long	An alternate version of Li Long. Not enough code in the game for him to be playable.
Chie	Chie is Li Long's lover from his ending. She uses Seong Mi-na's moveset. Her name appears during fights as "Seung Mina".
Diver	The scuba diver from SoulEdge's ending. She uses Sophitia's moveset. Her name appears during fights as "SoulEdge".
Hage-Sieg	Siegfried in his 2P outfit but without his helmet, as seen in his ending. His name appears during fights as "Seung Mina".
Mabochie	Chie's spirit from Li Long's alternate ending. Her name appears during fights as "Seung Mina".
Monkasei	Han Myong's student from Hwang's ending. He uses Mitsurugi's moveset. His name appears during fights as "Seung Mina".
Nugi Taki	An alternate version of Taki, with no ponytail, armor, or shoes, from her ending. Her name appears during fights as "Taki".
Standard	An alternate version of Mitsurugi, who moves slower, has no ponytail, and only has the Murasame weapon selectable. His name appears during fights as "Mitsurugi".
Teppou Hei	The tanegashima-wielding man from Mitsurugi's ending. He uses Mitsurugi's moveset. His name appears during fights as "Seung Mina".
Bogus Cervantes	An alternate version of Cervantes in his Player 2 costume who always uses Main Gauche as his weapon. His name appears during fights as "Cervantes".
Simulacrum Sophitia	An alternate version of Sophitia from Edge Master Mode, the only difference between this and the regular Sophitia is that she glows green, is tougher, and recovers health over time. Her name appears during fights as "Sophitia".

Soul Edge Ver.II

A couple months after the original release of Soul Edge in the arcades, a second version of the game called Soul Edge Ver. II was released. It contains various changes and additions when compared to the original release.

• CPU difficulty was toned down.
• Hwang and Cervantes were added as playable characters.
• Each characters' 1P and 2P outfits received an extra palette swap outfit, referred to as "Another Colours".
• All characters had their movelists updated.
• The execution of Guard Impacts was changed; originally, Guard Impacts were performed by guarding just before an attack landed. In Soul Edge Ver.II, they were now executed by pressing . Additionally, successfully performing a Guard Impact no longer drains the Weapon Gauge.
• Critical Edges had various tweaks:
  • The amount of the Weapon Gauge that is reduced when executing a Critical Edge was reduced.
  • Critical Edges could now be cancelled by pressing the button.
  • Critical Edges could now be executed while back dashing.
  • Critical Edges could now be performed on all opponents while they are in the air.
• "Floating Combos" were added to the game. All characters were given a new attack (done by pressing ) that could launch opponents into the air, and were now able to do combos on them whilst they were airborne. Some characters already had the launching attack in the original game, but not all of them; Soul Edge Ver.II made it a universal attack.
• In the original version of Soul Edge, only Seong Mi-na, Taki, Siegfried, Cervantes and SoulEdge had an unblockable attack. Ver.II gave every character an unblockable attack.
• Time Attack Mode was added to the game.
• Throws were made easier to execute.

PlayStation version

On December 20, 1996, Soul Edge was ported to the Sony PlayStation for the Japanese market and versions labeled Soul Blade came out in 1997 in the USA and Europe. The port kept the Soul Edge Ver. II roster of ten and added five unlockable characters, including SoulEdge, the final boss of the game.

Added features

• The original ten selectable characters received a new PlayStation-exclusive costume, chosen from various works sent by fans during a "Costume Design Contest", giving each one a total of three different costumes, plus two color variations for the 1P and 2P costumes.
  • Cervantes would get a new 2P outfit and colour variation of that outfit, as his original 2P outfit was a palette swap of his 1P outfit.
• The inclusion (besides the standard "Arcade" mode) of "VS", "Survival", "Team Battle", "Time Attack" and "Training" modes.
• A new RPG-styled mode called "Edge Master Mode", which works as a sort of "Story Mode" for the ten initial characters. The mode presents the selected character's story as a book, while the player moves on a map to various locations and fights in battles, sometimes with handicap rules. Generally each "Chapter" of the book rewards the player with a weapon.
• Individual endings done using the game's renderer rather than still images (as in its sequels, Soulcalibur and Soulcalibur II) or CGI. Each of the ten normally selectable characters has (at least) two endings, usually one ending which ends well and another tragic ending. These endings are made accessible by pressing a special button/button sequence at specific (usually when cut-scene bars disappear) times. These types of endings returned in Soulcalibur III.
  • The original Arcade endings would be repurposed as the endings for each characters' Edge Master mode.
• The inclusion of seven extra weapons per character, which have different designs and statistics, composed of Power (inflicts more damage), Defense (receives less damage), Strength (damage dealt to enemy's weapon gauge), Durability (resistance of player's weapon gauge) and Weight (changes character's speed). Some weapons also have special abilities, like the ability to damage through defense or restore the player's health.
• The inclusion of three different in-game soundtracks to choose from: the Arcade Soundtrack, a studio-recorded version of the arcade soundtrack called Arrange Soundtrack and the Khan Super Session, made expressly for the home version.
• Every character (except for Voldo) received new voice clips, with Toshiyuki Morikawa and Hekiru Shiina getting replaced by Wataru Takagi and Yuko Miyamura, respectively. Additionally, the Western versions of the game (Soul Blade) has Rock, Bangoo, Sophitia, Hephaestus, Siegfried, Vercci, and Cervantes' voice actors replaced with English-speaking ones. Nobuyuki Hiyama also gets his name removed from the Western version's credits.
• Connecting a PlayStation Multitap to the console allows the user to be able to control and change the camera at any time during the battle. This even gives the player the option to play in first-person.

Related Media

• Soul Edge Official Guidebook
• Soul Edge Official Fan Book ~Chronicle~
• Soul Edge: Soaring Wind Warrior - Seong Mi-na's Story - a novel written by Norio Nakai featuring Seong Mi-na as the protagonist.
• Soul Edge: Wandering the Dark Forest - Siegfried's Story - a novel written by Norio Nakai featuring Siegfried as the protagonist.
• Super Battle Sound Attack Soul Edge
• Soul Edge Original Soundtrack - Khan Super Session

Trivia

• The new PlayStation-exclusive costumes were added to the game as a result of a costume design contest that was announced in Japanese gaming magazines. The winners were:
  • Motoi Takamae (designer of Li Long's costume)
  • Makiko Okawa (designer of Mitsurugi's costume)
  • Ahihiro Gotoh (designer of Taki's costume)
  • Shuko Suzuki (designer of Seong Mi-na's costume)
  • Yumi Abe (designer of Cervantes' costume)
  • Fumiko Takabayashi (designer of Siegfried's costume)
  • Teiji Nagaoka (designer of Rock's costume)
  • Mori Marimo (designer of Hwang's costume)
  • Tomoko Watanabe (designer of Sophitia's costume)
  • NAL (designer of Voldo's costume)
• Soul Edge is the only game in the series where most of the stages (bar a few exceptions) have a day/night cycle that changes in real time. Furthermore, the time cycle in maintained throughout different stages and modes; if it becomes night time by the time the player finishes a battle on one stage, then the next stage will also be set at night.
  • A couple of the stages in Soulcalibur VI would also experience changes in time, however it would only happen by a fixed amount and only per round.

Gallery

The Japanese boxart for Soul Edge (game)

The European boxart for Soul Edge (Released as Soul Blade)

Keyart for the Arcade release

Soul Edge Official Guidebook

Characters (Soul Edge Artbook)

Siegfried, Li Long and Voldo peeping for Sophitia (Soul Edge Artbook)

Soul Edge Official Fan Book ~Chronicle~

Comic Soul Edge

Comic Soul Edge (コミックソウルエッジ, Comic Soul Edge^?) is a series of humorous comics made by the staff of Soul Edge. It was originally hosted on Namco's Wonder Page but, after it was shut down due to the merger between Namco and Bandai, it was moved to the current website. All of the comics were also included in Soul Edge Official Fanbook ~Chronicle~.

ジークフリート忘れん坊バンザイの巻 01

ジークフリート忘れん坊バンザイの巻 02

ロックとバングー金のオノ銀のオノの巻 01

ロックとバングー金のオノ銀のオノの巻 02

ソフィーティア神の御告げの巻 01

ソフィーティア神の御告げの巻 02

セルバンテス雪降る寒い日はの巻 01

セルバンテス雪降る寒い日はの巻 02

タキみんな仲良く鬼退治の巻 01

タキみんな仲良く鬼退治の巻 02

ヴォルドマンガのオチの巻 01

ヴォルドマンガのオチの巻 02

御剣最強の武器の巻 01

御剣最強の武器の巻 02

黄 星京お腹がグーお味はグーの巻 01

黄 星京お腹がグーお味はグーの巻 02

成 美那親子ゲンカはほどほどにの巻 01

成 美那親子喧嘩はほどほどにの巻 02

李　龍がんばれ李龍の巻 01

李　龍がんばれ李龍の巻 02

External links

• Soulcalibur Series Website
• Official Project Soul website (Archived Link)
• Japanese website for Soul Edge Ver. II
• Japanese website for the PlayStation port of the game