Information Soul Blade (aka Soul Edge) started the series off. It introduced many characters which are still around for the newer games, including Cervantes, Mitsurugi, and Taki. Soul Blade was one of the first fighting games to have a detailed plot about each characters motives, and how they have interacted with one another. Namco did a good job in bringing each of the characters' plots together. Another great thing about the entire Soul Calibur series (including this game) is that every character has some sort of weapon. A lot of fighting games have stuck with punches and kicks, while the Soul Calibur series branches out, giving each character their own personalized weapon which they all wield differently. Each character gets seven variations of their weapon as well, to add even more variety. Soul Blade has the typical fighting game Arcade mode, in which you fight many opponents and then one final one. But Soul Blade also has a vast new type of one player mode as well. Edge Master mode is a one player mode in which you get a story about what your character is doing, what s/he is looking for, and then it places you at the beginning of a map. You travel across this map, coming into contact with other characters, and defeating them as you go. A lot of fights in this mode aren't the typical ones from Arcade: they have special conditions which must be met to complete that section, which makes the game stay fresh and exciting. During this mode you will also get a lot of the game's unlockable weapons, which you may use in Arcade or just plain good ole' two player versus mode. Finally, Versus mode is the classic human on human battle. With three attack buttons (horizontal slash, vertical slash, and kick) and one guard button, it sets up the way the rest of the Soul Calibur series is played. Each character's moves are vastly different, thanks to the inclusion of weapons instead of fists n' feet, so you won't get bored. After learning one character, you can go to another one and have fun all over again trying to learn that one as well. Miscellaneous Random Easter Egg Occasionally the opening "Namco" voice, which is usually the voice of the in-fight announcer, changes to that of Seong Mi-na. The odds are supposed to be about one in seven. Box Art / Other Soul Edge Box - JP (front) Soul Blade Box - US (front) Soul Blade Box - EU (front)

Subsections Soundtrack To shine! Check out the songs from Soul Blade here. Art Gallery Check out character illustrations and CG images here. Release Date JP - 12/20/96 (as Soul Edge) US - 01/??/97 EU - 05/??/97 Characters Soul Blade - The Original Cast Hwang Rock Taki Sophitia Mitsurugi Siegfried Seong Mi-na Li Long Voldo Cervantes Playable Characters: Starting roster: Hwang Rock Taki Sophitia Mitsurugi Siegfried Seong Mi-na Li Long Voldo Cervantes Unlockable: Siegfried! Sophitia! Sophitia!! Soul Edge Seung Han Myong