Editorial - Is the DS capable of Soul Calibur?

Here's our two cents.

I'm back - with another editorial. Today I'm to take the opportunity to address the rumors of a Soul Calibur remake on the DS. Firstly, let us make it clear that no one can say for sure whether or not the title will actually make it to Nintendo?s new portable. However, after performing the appropriate investigations, I am now of the firm belief that DS is indeed technically capable of handling and even exceeding the graphics of the original title.

Yes, you?ve read correctly. And no, I am not crazy.

Ever since news broke in Latin America?s equivalent of Nintendo Power, debates have raged across forums. Many viciously supported it (because, you know, it would be on the DS), while the larger part of the communities (myself included) remained highly suspicious or outright scornful. The chief reason for this? Graphics. It all comes down the to graphics. Most people simply insisted that the DS is not capable of handling Soul Calibur graphics.

However, you must pay closer attention to statement made in the original article. Soul Calibur DS is supposed to be a remake of the original Soul Calibur ? a game that was not on the Dreamcast, but on the arcade.

Now before I explain the significance of that fact, you should be aware that a bunch of images of the supposed Soul Calibur DS have been circulating around the internet. However, upon further investigation, we found that the images were quite obviously taken from the arcade version, and traced them back to a post on an online forum that listed them as such.

But surely the difference between arcade and console can?t be that dramatic, right? Wrong. Take a look at one of the shots for yourself.

Pretty ugly, eh? That?s right, that is Soul Calibur as it was on the arcade. The graphics really aren?t that much better than those on the N64 at the end of its life cycle, and the DS can pull off a lot more than what the N64 managed to do. DS fans will be experiencing mixed feelings right now, delighted that SCDS is possible, and yet wondering if it won?t be as beautiful as they had dreamed it would.

But didn't the original article also mention an improvement in graphics and sound? It's been postulated that since the DS' screen is smaller, better graphics can be achieved with fewer polygons and textures. Most people agree that simply resizing a choppy image might produce markedly better results. Well, about that...

Now you start to see what they meant by "improvement". Throw in some modern graphic tricks, a little spit and polish, and you?ll have a damn beautiful title to show off on your dual screens. In addition, Club Nintendo, the magazine that most recently supported the news, is considered to be a very credible source. Personally I would be surprised if this all turned out to be baseless rumor, and for now I am remaining optimistically hopeful.

However, until any official word from Namco, no one should get their hopes too high, lest they be in for a disappointment. We?ll have our ears open for any news of the potential title, so check back regularly.

Share on Twitter or Facebook

Comments