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of their upcoming slasher, Soul Fighter,
and let me start by saying that my earlier
comparisons to Golden Axe were a little
off. Yeah, this game is most certainly a
tribute to Sega's arcade classic, but after
some extensive play-time, I'm almost
tempted to say we could be looking at
the next step in the genre.

Even though the build we played was a
mere three weeks young on the
Dreamcast hardware, it was looking and
playing like a finished arcade title. Soul
Fighter's visuals are absolutely
breath-taking. The cameras thusfar are
quite good at capturing the action, and
do a great job of highlighting the game's
killer lighting and shadow effects, As you
can see from the included videos, the
animations are simply brilliant. Each
character even has a full set of resting
animations. Not that you'd get a chance
to use them, as Toka is setting out to
recreate the look and feel of a classic
Arcade brawler, thus the pace was
rather intense.

The game's killer combo system goes a
long way to furthering this idea, and is
what really sets SF apart from the crowd
in this genre. Not only will you be able to
put together a slew of hits by repeatedly
tapping punch, kick, or slash, but you can use special button combos to
unleash some serious pain on the opposition. You can also seamlessly
switch between weapon-based and hand-to-hand combat, and perform
a variety of rear-based attacks to keep the monkeys off your back, so to
speak.

We also got to try out a feature unique to Soul Fighter in the first person
perspective, which lets you get the jump on unsuspecting enemies by
targeting them from a distance with a variety of weapons. But you'd
better be sure to take care of business while you have the upper hand,
because these baddies will get pretty peeved after a few throwing knives
smack them upside the head. Can't imagine why…

The level we got a look at was very colorful, and had a ton of active
elements, from waterfalls and dynamic lighting to in-game obstacles such
as a raining cloud of fireballs brought down by a hidden group of enemy
soldiers. Each of the game's six levels are incredibly large, and will
feature real-time cut scenes to help carry the game's detailed story, which
is being handled by a group of professional writers with a background in
fantasy role-playing epics. They will be capped by an old friend of any
true action gamer, a big, overly aggressive boss. We went toe-to-toe
with one such ugly, and can honestly say that these guys will be more
than enough to keep the most experienced action fan busy. The combat
system actually switches to a style more similar to a fighting game than the
rest of the action, and helps to highlight the battle quite nicely.

We'll be bringing you more on Soul Fighter in the coming months, when
expect to see a more complete version, so 'till then, feast your eyes on
our visual tour and get to sharpening those swords, because this one
looks intense!

-- Brandon Justice

The arrival of the Dreamcast brings with it the rebirth of several
old-school Sega classics, from Sonic to Ecco, but fans everywhere are
still keeping their fingers crossed for a remake of everyone's favorite mix
of swords and sorcery, Golden Axe. Well, PiggyBack Games recently
slid us some dirt on its upcoming title, Soul Fighter, and from the looks
of things, it just might fit the bill.

A throwback to the early days of gaming with a bit of graphical magic,
SF looks to return to the medieval action of old, yet at the same time
usher the genre into the next generation with style. Much like Midway's
recently released arcade title, Gauntlet Legends, Soul Fighter is a huge
step up visually for the genre. Running at a crisp 60fps at 640 x 480, the
game will feature over 100 different motion captured animations per main
character and over 40 per enemy.

I guess it's nice to know they felt the bad guys should look good while
you layeth the smacketh downeth, but from what we gather, you won't
have much time to enjoy it, as you'll be quite busy. From a gameplay
standpoint, SF will primarily be an arcade style beat 'em up, but with a
few interesting twists. You'll get to bust heads throughout six massive
levels, each of which is divided into 10 sub-levels and each of these
levels will contain multiple paths, giving you a good deal of freedom in
your travels.

Not only will you see this type of variety in the game's levels, but the
player characters themselves feature a great deal of detail. In addition to
the aforementioned animations, the three main combatants will have both
their own weapons and personalized combat moves. Enemies will also
get the royal treatment, and you can expect six classic end-of-level
bosses, who will be anxiously awaiting to meet your broadsword.

We'll be back with more info as soon as it becomes available. Piggyback
Interactive is planning to release Soul Fighter in the US, but is still looking
for a publishing partner over here. More soon.

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