While fighting games with gorgeous visuals and fierce battles are becoming the norm on the major consoles there is a distinct lack of them on the hand held machines but thankfully the developers behind the Soul Calibur series have decided to put that right and have produced a splendid game with responsive controls, glorious visuals and a surprise in store as well. When the game was first announced I had serious doubts that the PSP could do this series, renowned perhaps above all others, justice. As the series was known, for squeezing all the power and graphical capability, out of the main machines, in order to produce incredible fighters and a wide range of weaponry. The game is actually Soul Calibur IV as it appeared on the main machines without the intrusion of the Star Wars characters, whom to be honest never really fitted in anyway, and replaced them with the surprise inclusion of Kratos from the God of War series. He actually makes much more sense in being involved and does not seem out of place at all. I would be very surprised if most game players do not use him as their first choice once they put the UMD into the machine. Of course the game is the usual 3d fighting game that we have come to love. Two combatants facing each other in the ring in a best of three bout. The winner beating their opponent to a pulp, in glorious large arenas, that are beautifully detailed, with great attention paid throughout. The differences between this and the version on the larger machines are really in the number of extras that are supplied with the game. There are items to unlock for character creation and records to be set but that is about all.
That dosent mean that actual game options are lacking, however, as there are a number of different ways to fight. This includes a quick match, Trials, Ad-hoc multiplayer and the Gauntlet which is basically the story mode for the game. It actually has little to do with the actual normal Soul Calibur story as it involves you and your character following Hilde and her party as they search for a cure to Hilde’s father’s condition. This is comprised of a lots of mini-sections which are carefully put together to test your skill and dexterity with the weapons. Graphically the game has to be the best yet seen on the PSP. It features beautifully detailed locations together with exquisitely detailed character models. Sound wise there are both English and Japanese language tracks and although it dosent live up to the quality of the visuals it does not fall far short. Overall this is a game that is very hard not to recommend even if you happen to own Soul Calibur IV on either the PS3 or the Xbox 360. The developers should be given an award for managing to fill so much detail onto Sony’s hand held machine without losing a lot of detail etc. If you love the game on the big machines you will love it on here as well and it is one of the most essential purchases on the PSP this year. | 
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