Soul Edge

It's incredible! Tekken 2 has just started appearing in the arcades and Namco is already showing a near-finished version of their next fighting game, tentatively called Soul Edge. (Our non-English speaking representative kept calling it Tekken 3...but it's not.) While it shares very little the Tekken series other than it looks and plays great, this version is all 3-D polygons (considerably more than Tekken 2).

It we had to characterize this game it would have to be compared to Namco's WeaponLord. This version takes place in the 15th century and eight fighters are battling for a mystical sword that supposedly makes its owner invincible. What really makes this game unique though, is the fact that the background changes from day to night and back again. Having weapons like long and short swords, battle axes and shields are also new and require a style of strategy different from the other types of fighting games. When playing the game, the moves are easy to learn and are performed with three buttons and a joystick. While we liked this game a lot, it still didn't have the Tekken feel, which may not appeal to all players.

PUBLISHER - Namco Japan

THEME - Fighting

NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1-2