The release of Soul Calibur IV is upon us this week! The game's highly anticipated approach has taken several steps, led by critical acclaim, commercial success and a hardcore fanbase that follows the series to its core.

Considering the incredible history of the Soul Calibur series, it would be a travesty if we didn’t drop some knowledge on the subject. The most popular weapons-based fighter of all time has had its own personal road to travel, and outside of one wrong turn, it’s avoided the road to perdition to survive as one of the elite of the fighting game genre.

Soul Edge (Blade)

Platforms: Arcade | Playstation

Release: January 1997

Every journey must begin with a first step, and a tale of Souls and Swords is no different. In a world where the 3d fighter was still new, trying to find its place alongside the Street Fighters and Samurai Showdowns of the world, Namco had experimented and found some success emulating the former with its Tekken Series. At that point, they decided it was time to jump into the foray of armed combat.

This led to the creation of Soul Edge, localized as Soul Blade for gamers in the west. First released in the fighters’ ultimate battlefield, the Japanese arcade, the game swam where most sink. Namco knew they had another star franchise under their belt, and began to put into action the idea to port it to the most stable console of the time, and generation, the Sony Playstation.

The series introduced us (and got us attached) to Mitsurugi, Taki, Li Long, Sophitia, Rock, Seung Mina, Voldo, Hwang, and series protagonist Seigfried. These characters’ backgrounds give them life, as you find that the search for Soul edge isn’t just for power. Themes such as revenge, conservatism, tradition and even safety are their ambitions.

Attached to the port beside the simple arcade mode was the standard VS., Time attack, and Survival, along with the single player mode Edge Master Mode, allowing players to work to unlock weapons.

The game’s main appeal was being a very stable fighting product with weapons in the 3d arena. Even in the era before the genre shattering eight-way run, they had an ability to jump, allowing the player to dodge low attacks and add some diversity to the fighting lineup.

A defining feature in this game, which isn’t found in any other entry of the series, was the weapon durability bar. It stopped characters from “turtling,” forcing them to go weaponless, making every attack hurt that much more when blocking, effectively making it useless. It also defined special moves, depleting itself when characters unleashed their most powerful attacks.

The series of Soul’s only entry into the Playstation library is a very effective one. Scoring high amongst critics and garnering decent numbers, it all but guaranteed a sequel to appear down the line.

Soul Calibur

Platforms: Arcade | Dreamcast

Release: September 1999

A sequel is an interesting device with an interesting history. It has the power to push a series of any medium to a new level, or take the priors building blocks and dash them much like the act of a divisive God. Luckily for this series, Namco, and fans, Soul Calibur took the foundation the first built and created a house that still stands today.

The most interesting thing about this title is that it wasn’t as well received as its predecessor in the arcades. However, when it came to the shores of the U.S. as a part of the Sega Dreamcast launch, the title took off like a fresh rocket off the launch pad.

One of the abilities of the Sega Dreamcast, which may not be emulated as well by other consoles out on the market even today, is the near perfect Arcade emulation that it carries. What this did was allow the developers to work on upgrading the title, and making the most beautiful and fun fighting games to date.

Another reason was the introduction of eight-way run, which is now a main staple in 3d fighting. It allows characters to run to the left and right, giving them the power to dodge and adds a new level of strategy.

This game was breathtaking, to say the least. The powerful graphics engine still may have the ability to surprise to this day, with things like catching blades of grass moving. It may be the most beautiful title to come out on a console pre-millennium.

The series’ story adds more depth. It is assumed that once noble Seigfried has been engulfed by the Soul Edge evil power. The Soul Calibur is now the weapon that most are looking for, to combat the Soul Edge and defeat Nightmare. New characters such as Ivy, Maxi, Kilik, Astaroth, and Xianghua now added some more depth to the roster.

Also added to this game was the Mission Mode, and upgrade to the previous Edge Master Mode. Now unlockable were costumes, artwork and video, as well as weapons, allowing users to really get a handle on the concepts that created this game. All of these things gave the mainstream a reason to appreciate what had previously only been known by the hardcore.

Soul  Calibur II

Platforms: Arcade | Playstation 2 | Gamecube | Xbox

Release: August 2003

Why fix something that isn’t broken? That’s the main concept behind Soul Calibur II.  After the Dreamcast’s failing, Namco found a home for its smash hit on the other market-viable consoles at the time - the leading Playstation 2, Nintendo’s new Gamecube, and new market player, Microsoft’s Xbox.

With the new consoles came some added features, like the upgraded Weapons Master Mode, which added some of the best features of Edge Master Mode and Mission Mode. Also, Weapons now had their own personality, as they now featured a back story. Characters had an Ultimate Weapon, a collection of different effective armaments, and even for the bravest, joke weapons that could be used to test yourself or embarrass an opponent.

The most distinguishing feature however, had to do with the consoles the game appeared on. Each console had a specific character, whether it was Playstation 2’s Heihachi, Xbox’s Spawn, or Nintendo’s Link. Each had their specific strength and weaknesses, and added some replay ability on different consoles.

Also added to the roster list were Yunsung, Talim, Raphael, Charade and Cassandra. Each of these characters gained their own back story and fit into the universe of Soul Calibur, whose story now revolved around the tale of both swords, the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. One of redemption, terror, betrayal and ultimate sacrifice, this game’s biggest achievement was giving much more backbone to the story elements of the game, giving everything some sort of significance.

With what may be the best technical game of the series, Soul Calibur II is probably the best balanced game of the series. While Blade may be the original, and the original Calibur may have gotten higher scores, this is the game where the best find their edge competitively.

Soul Calibur III

Platforms: Arcade | Playstation 2 | Gamecube | Xbox

Release: October 2005

With a credible system now in place, the team at Namco decided to create a feature laden experience. What ended up being created was Soul Calibur III, now a Sony-exclusive game.

At first sight, this game seemed to have it all - a character creation mode which lets you make your own creation and inject them into the world with the Chronicle of the Sword Mode, which injects your characters right into the world of war. Not just that, it featured RPG as well as strategic elements that made your character grow with you. It allows some attachment missing from video games today.

The original characters tales are not stripped, as the Tale of Souls mode allows players to keep up with the story of the original games. It added some battle functionality as well, giving button inputs that determined if the next battle would be fought on level ground. Failing the button input could mean that the battle starts off with a disadvantaged position for the character.

World Competition mode resembles tournament, allowing characters to capture gold medals. Extra weapons return, but take a bit of a shortening. Also, the Soul Arena mode doubles as the basic arcade mode.

The problem with this is much like an album with amazing production yet average lyrics. At first, it seems that you’re in the presence of greatness. However, as you dig into it more, you realize that you’re given a somewhat mediocre product under some decorative wrapping.

This game isn’t bad by any means, but by missing Online Play, not being as balanced as Soul Calibur II, and coming with a gang of glitches that make masterful players cringe. Still playable and fun, but don’t be surprised if you bring this around great players, the best will rather take it back to Soul Calibur II.

Soul Calibur Legends

Platforms: Wii

Release: November 2007

There always is a misstep in every series, and this happens to be it for the team at Namco/ Project Soul. What was supposed to be a game that featured the best of the Wii’s characteristics (i.e. motion-based gameplay) and the story of an established franchise of Soul Calibur’s stature, this should be a layup.

The story is three, Seigfried is looking for redemption. Secret characters such as Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia make an appearance. Story seems in line with the franchise. The move lists have been transferred over, so many of the coolest combinations can be performed by the player.

However, the game features stale mechanics. The user has to basically flail their arms like a madman to perform anything. Not just that, most combinations are essentially useless. The gameplay basically leaves you frustrated and tired all at the same time, for no reason.

Luckily this was an offshoot of the series, and just a foray into experimentation. Series that have a solid background are allowed one misstep, and this is one of them.

Soul Calibur IV

Platform: Xbox 360 | Playstation III

Release: July 29, 2008

At worst, the last two games can be called growing pains for Project Soul. Even with Soul Calibur III and Soul Calibur Legends not being the standard flag bearers of the series, Soul Calibur has been able to gather the imagination of most turned off by those two missteps.

More characters, from Star Wars characters Yoda and Darth Vader, the new step into the next generation, and the dedication the team has given to the title may not be enough to sway old fans back into the matrix, but the gameplay videos have been able to.

Features such as online play and destroyable armor have really excited the fan base again. Character Creation has been given a facelift as the characters can now have more of a personality, custom armor and weapons. Finishing moves have given cool ways to destroy your characters opponent in a fancy way. Turtling seems to be all but finished, as with armor destruction has given the game more an offensive feel, much like the original Soul Blade.

When this game is released July 29, one would be remised to not give this one a chance. Fans of the second game should find themselves at home, and those who are new to the series should find themselves engrossed in a tale of Soul and Swords, one like the world has never seen.