SOUL BLADE GREATEST HITS (PLAYSTATION PS1)

In the 16th century, a sword surfaces that is so powerful, so evil that warriors all over the world seek it out. It's Soul Edge, a demonic blade. From America to Europe to Japan, these warriors are fighting for the chance to get it. Soul Blade is a 3D gun battle game that tells their story.

A full-featured 3D fighting game that allows for sidestepping, Soul Blade has twelve colorful fighters (ten standard, two hidden, plus additional costumes for a few fighters), each with varying weapons and styles. The first ten can be used in all battle modes, while the hidden two can only be used in versus and arcade mode.

Namco has improved the arcade version (called Soul Edge) by adding a well-done CGI intro, as well as a story mode to the addition of the traditional squad, survival, and time attack modes. The story mode gives more details about each character and is presented in the form of an ancient book. Story mode also allows you to unlock more additional weapons of each character. These weapons, which vary in length, stats, and durability, add to the options available to players in versus mode.

The sequel to Soul Blade is SoulCalibur, both in arcades and for the Sega Dreamcast.