Soul Calibur: Am I missing something here?

[Pantechnicon]

Generally I am not a fan of fighting games, whether 2D or 3. I did, however, break down and by Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast since that is one the DC's better titles. I must admit it's a very good game. Graphically it's one of the lushest things I've ever seen and the gameplay is straightforward enough.

Maybe this game is too good. Not being, as I said, an avid fan of fighters, I have plodding my way though this game strictly by frantic button mashing. Well, I mean I've figured out a few combos and advanced techniques for different characters, but anybody whose more adept at this kind of thing would probably cringe in disgust at my technique, or lack thereof.

So then along comes my five-year-old son, who sees this fantastic-looking game Daddy is playing and wants to try it himself. So I put it on practice mode and hand him the controller. After fifteen minutes or so he's actually figured out a couple of combos, although he has no idea what a combo is. Yet he still manages to find, and retain, a couple of button combinations and repeat them consistently (bear in mind that the only other fighter he has ever played is Primal Rage for the Genesis).

So to make things more interesting, I put the boy in Arcade mode. Like his father, blind button mashing plus a couple of mid-level combos manages to eventually take him all the way to Inferno, whom he beats, much to his satisfaction, and to the bewilderment of me.

Then it gets even stranger. The next day he asks to play "The Lizardman Game" again and I set it up for him (everything is at default settings, mind you, no handicaps). Not only does he beat Inferno again but he actually manages to get first place with a time of 5:25. And this was with Lizardman, whom by my reckoning seems to be a very slow character. My own personal best was 5:39 - fourteen seconds lower than this and I was using Maxi! Given that the average match lasts about ten seconds, fourteen seconds seems to be a huge margin.

I'm not exaggerating any of this and consequently I feel pretty embarassed. Twenty-plus years of gaming and my nitwit son comes along and schools me on a game he's only played twice. You fighter fans out there need to help me understand how this is possible. The way I see it there are only a few possible explanations:

1) I suck.
2) Soul Calibur is simply not that difficult after all.
3) My son is a mutant (incidentally, how does 5:25 measure up as a final time, age notwithstanding?).

He's at school right now, so I guess I'd better practice...

[fcw3]

Yes, you can button mash in SC and do well... to a point. Someone that is adept with sidestepping and more strategic attacks will own a button masher.

My 4 year old has beaten my 7 year old (she was using Kilik) in SC2. She beaten me as well, when I try to go straight at her and she is in a rythm. But good use of block, sidestep and throws knocks her out of her rythm and she gets beat.

That's the beauty of SC, anyone can play at first. But the better you get, the less mashing you do.

FRED

[Lost Monkey]

Soul Calibur is a great game when 2 players who know how to play it are playing. I watch my nephews play and I can't believe the blocks, counters etc. that they pull off. You can't beat them by "button mashing" either.

The one player (arcade) game is a joke... I saw Ubersaurus complaining that it could be beat using only one button (on another site) so I tried it with Hwang and beat arcade mode in "03:45:72" - using ONLY the "B" button.

Don't feel bad, the little fellow is just more aggressive than his old man!

[chadtower]

I'd be a very angry father if someone called my son a nitwit.

[Arcade Antics]

I'd be a very angry father if someone called my son a nitwit.

??? Price of tea? :hmm:

[Arcade Antics]

That's the beauty of SC, anyone can play at first. But the better you get, the less mashing you do.

FRED

Hit the nail on the head there. The deceptively easy controls lure in all gaming types, but as the rounds progress, the players who are in it for the long haul will, as has been stated, own the mashers.

@retro: You're not missing anything; rather, you're experiencing exactly what makes SC such an enjoyable game. Game ON! :)

[Darth Sensei]

Perhaps his mother is a genius and his aggregate IQ is higher. LOL

[chadtower]

I'd be a very angry father if someone called my son a nitwit.

??? Price of tea? :hmm:


My observation was that he called his own son a nitwit.

[bargora]

Looks like it's time to pick up a copy of Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution!

Incidentally, my most recent and petty reason for liking Virtua Fighter is because I can pwn my nitwit cousin (who crushes my head every time we play a Capcom fighter).

[Retsudo]

Yeah, pick up virtua fighter evo...its a damn good game :D

[Balloon Fight]

Get VF4 or MvC2. Those are the best. Go to GameFAQ's to learn how to play SC also.

[ubersaurus]

MvC2 can be summed up in team combinations of the following characters-
Cable
Sentinel
Captain Commando's anti air assist
Storm
Magneto
Cyclops
Strider/Dr Doom's Anti air assist (they work together once you know what you're doing)
Iron Man

Now that's not saying thats all there is to the game, just alot of it. I know a guy who consistently beats damn good MvC2 players from across the states with Rogue, Wolverine, and Ken.

[Kid Fenris]

You know, I can appreciate the depths of Virtua Fighter 4 fairly well, but the game's such an aesthetic wasteland that it's hard to muster any enthusiasm for it. The character designs are generic, and for the most part, so is the scenery. It's like playing an extremely layered and high-powered version of The Fighting: Simple 1500 Series. The only real style comes from the unintentionally hysterical win quotes.

Still, there's something about Sarah . . . (http://www.sega-am2.co.jp/VF4PS2/world/img/sarah/img_sarah_main.jpg)

[Pantechnicon]

I'd be a very angry father if someone called my son a nitwit.

That's fair enough, since I would never call your son by such a name. But as for my own son, whom I love dearly, "nitwit" is nothing more than a term of endearment I use both for him and to him along with "noodlehead", "silly goose", "cheeky monkey" etc. There are far worse things to call one's own children, especially after they beat you at Soul Calibur LOL


Perhaps his mother is a genius and his aggregate IQ is higher.

All true. QED "My son is a mutant." :vamp:

Anyway, then, the whole mashers vs combos thing makes more sense. And I can tell from palying this that the game definitely can be more rewarding depending on the finesse of the skilled player. Will I ever get there? I don't know. I might just stay content as a button-masher, but I will definitely wortk on improving my overall game. This is one fighter that seems worth pursuing.

UPDATE - My son is in for a rude welcome home...I just got 4:45 with Yoshimitsu :rocker:

[chadtower]

I've never played SC. I have always been under the impression that it's rather violent... what's the rating on it?

[Pantechnicon]

I've never played SC. I have always been under the impression that it's rather violent... what's the rating on it?

It's rated T for teen.
:embarrassed:
I'm a good father I swear!

Given that there's no blood and no evisceration, I really don't have a problem with the boy (or his sister) playing it, as it seems to me to be rather cartoonish in its depiction of violence. Also, my children are yet too young to be concerned with the relatively scanty dress of the female figures, whom are generally eschewed anyway in favor of behemoths like Lizardman or Astaroth. But the appropriateness of the game is a judgment call individual parents will have to make.

SC fans will appreciate this one: Now whenever my daughter is watching and I play as Rock, she yells out "Bangooooo!" There's very little in this world as funny as hearing a 3 year old yell "Bangoooo!" LOL

[chadtower]

Hey man, no judgement here. As you said, it's a decision to be made by each individual parent. You seem to be comfortable with it and I doubt you'd let them do something harmful.

[Pantechnicon]

Hey man, no judgement here.

None taken.

:cheers:

[hezeuschrist]

Try your way through the story mode. I remember there being one story that I absolutely COULD NOT BEAT. Had to beat 8 guys in a row I think... excellent game though. I'm just about through all the weapon master mode in SC2 and it's getting incredibly tough. Button mashing does you no good when you can only hurt guys with air combos or by kicking them into a wall. Or when inferno 4 just has a knack for handing your ass to you without effort.

The only thing that minorly annoys me about the game is that everyones style is SO DIFFERENT from everyone elses, when you play a lot as one character it becomes very hard to pick up and do well with others.

[bargora]

Yahoo!

[ubersaurus]

You know, I can appreciate the depths of Virtua Fighter 4 fairly well, but the game's such an aesthetic wasteland that it's hard to muster any enthusiasm for it. The character designs are generic, and for the most part, so is the scenery. It's like playing an extremely layered and high-powered version of The Fighting: Simple 1500 Series. The only real style comes from the unintentionally hysterical win quotes.

Still, there's something about Sarah . . . (http://www.sega-am2.co.jp/VF4PS2/world/img/sarah/img_sarah_main.jpg)

That's kinda what I liked about VF4, beyond how it played though-the game literally looked like something straight out of one of those old kung fu movies. Generic Kung fu movie characters and levels+good depth=sweeeeeeet.

[Balloon Fight]

MvC2 can be summed up in team combinations of the following characters-
Cable
Sentinel
Captain Commando's anti air assist
Storm
Magneto
Cyclops
Strider/Dr Doom's Anti air assist (they work together once you know what you're doing)
Iron Man

Now that's not saying thats all there is to the game, just alot of it. I know a guy who consistently beats damn good MvC2 players from across the states with Rogue, Wolverine, and Ken.

You forgot Psylockes AAA. Anyway though i still love that game. Although the 4 best are Cable,Storm,Magneto,Sentinel, its still a great game. Still trying to beat some of the top 10's though. Especially Justin Wong. :)

[ubersaurus]

I've never had the fortune to play Justin Wong (but then I don't play mvc2 much). The man has had that game down to a science damn near since the beginning. He's competed in so many tournaments for it, and only lost 1-the first one he ever competed in. I guess it sparked something in him, though-he's not only the best in the world at marvel 2, he's got some definite skill in other fighters too. Cool guy, though, from what my friend tells me (met him up at midwest championships last year).