Trash talking, controller throwing, lots of cursing, tired bloodshot eyes and a slight feeling of contempt. These are the consequences of playing fighting games with your friends in the comfort of your own home.

The combat for superiority in the fighting game genre has produced some excellent games over the years and pushed the popularity and quality of games in the genre to new heights.

That being said, I would like to let people know that Soul Calibur II doesn’t exactly set a new standard for fighting games, but it does do a great job in advancing the game play of its previous incarnations and perhaps advances the genre itself.

For those of you who don’t know, the Soul Calibur series got its start in arcades and later came home to consoles on the original Playstation with Soul Blade. Soul Blade started the series, but the incredible fighting system and gorgeous graphics weren’t fully developed until Soul Calibur (the first one) hit the Sega Dreamcast after being dubbed one of the best arcade fighting games ever.

But enough with history, you won’t need to know a thing about the series to enjoy Soul Calibur II the first time you play it. The controls in this game are impeccable. Using an 8-way directional movement system (developed in the first Soul Calibur) the game gives you full control of where you want to move your character to set them up to kick some serious ass.

And kick ass you will. The game uses a weapon based fighting system that allows almost all of the 23 characters to have multiple weapons with special attributes ready to combat problems you might encounter during your fights.

The game has 11 weapons for each character. All of the weapons are different variations of style on the character’s main weapon. This includes swords, axes, sticks, some really sharp arm band thingies and knives. Whatever controller you’re using to play the game, you’ll get the same buttons of vertical or horizontal slashes with your weapon, and a block.

The fighting system also allows for fancy grab-and-throw combos with a different throw for each of the four major sides of your opponents. None of the characters seem to be too “cheap” for people to use, but there are a few combos that can be used a little too often because of their ease. Overall, the fighting system is breathtaking. It may take you a little while to get used to it, but after a few fights you will get the hang of the fighting system.

After you get used to the fighting system, you’ll find your way over to the one player modes of play in the game. In the survival modes, your standard arcade mode and a detailed practice mode, you’ll get the hang of multiple-hit combos to the point where your getting “perfects” fighting your friends in vs. mode – when you return to it.

And return to it you will. With an incredible fighting system, challenging gameplay and the thousands of things to unlock; from costumes, to weapons, to artwork and new characters you’ll be stuck playing this game for days on end.

If you’re in the market for a new fighting game to sink your teeth into, or even if you just want a new game that will keep your attention for a good couple of months then run out and pick up a copy of Soul Calibur II right away.

It’s available for all three consoles with minor differences in special characters, frame rates, and loading times. The only real question is what special “console specific” character you like most, the Gamecube version has Link (from the Legend of Zelda series), the PS2 version has Heihachi (from Tekken), and the X Box version has Spawn (from the comics). Whatever version you pick up you’ll have great fun owning your friends and playing through Weapon Master mode. Soul Calibur II is well worth your $50, so go buy it now!