Soul Fighter Mindscape for Dreamcast

I know this game has received alot of bad press and most of it is well deserved. But the game isn't as terrible as most reviewers would have you believe. It just is trying to sell you the game that time forgot!

Think back to the days of the Sega Genesis. We are in the late 80's and what is popular? Side scrolling beat-em ups. You remember those games like Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where you would go through a level and beat the snot out of everyone. When you beat up enough henchmen, a big boss character came along and you had to beat them to move on. Well, Soul Fighter has alot in common with these games of the past. At the very core, it is a pseudo 3D version of Golden Axe. Before you bash me and say "Hey, Golden Axe was an awesome game. This game sucks.", go back a sentence and read "At the very core". This means that the game in its most basic form, has something in common with this genre of games. Like Golden Axe, the game is about conquering one level at a time. Also, like Golden Axe, you cannot save your game. You must rely on continues to make progress through the game. The game is also the same formula, beat a bunch of lesser guys as you make your way to the level ending bad guy. If you liked these kind of games, then you should enjoy Soul Fighter.

There are some positives for this game. The graphics are pretty decent. Not great, not good, but decent. The enemies are varied and look pretty good. I especially liked the birdman. There is a decent amount of stuff to look at, from waterfalls to towns to swamps. The sound is quite good and does a good job of capturing the mood.

While your attacks are limited, they are pretty easy to do and quite effective. Most of it involves hitting the same button or two over and over as you beat multiple guys at once. There is a first person view for using weapons that is alot like the one used in Xena on the Playstation. I found that I have better luck with this one as far as hitting the enemy than I do with Xena.

Now onto the bad. The first thing you will notice is that the camera is not the best. In fact, it can be downright irritating at times. You really want to reach out and slap the imaginary cameraman across the head and get him focused. It isn't as bad as games like Rascal, where it made the game unplayable, but it could have used some serious tweaking.

The next thing you will realize is that you can pretty much conquer this game in an evening. The replayability is very low. Sure you may go back for a little head bashing, here and there, but it isn't going to make your top ten most played games.

One thing that irritated me a bit about the game is the cut scenes. Most of them are totally unnecessary. You will come up to a door and it will cut to a scene where all three characters will bash it down. Then it goes back to your lone character who is on the other side. Guess it was easier and cheaper to make a "one cut scene fits all" than to actually have to do different ones for each character.

The fact that this is a one player only game is a big letdown. One of the biggest draws of the past side scrolling beat-em ups is the ability to play with a buddy or two. But not allowing that option on this game, really limits its appeal. This alone could have helped this game. Guess with the quirky camera work, two people would have really messed things up. That poor cameraman would have been totally lost.

I was lucky (or unlucky, depending on who you talk to), to find the game used for $10.00. For that price, it is a fun little game and I did enjoy it. If I had paid full price, I would have come away feeling cheated. Think of it as that movie you sorta wanted to see, but there was no way you would pay full admission price. But at the budget theatre, you may enjoy it. That is Soul Fighter, a dated game with limited gameplay and almost no replayability. It is a decent little romp for an evening or two, but it soon becomes tiresome.