For the first couple of weeks I had my Switch 2 in hand, I've been mostly busy playing around with Mario Kart World and completing the lovely Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma for review. I haven't had much time to give the platform's other features much of a look beyond a quick glancing acknowledgement. But last week while traveling, my son and I booted up the GameCube emulation of Soul Calibur, and good lord, what a difference.
I always loved GameCube, just for being the quirky little guy that it was. I like the tiny discs, the weird shape, the off-kilter controllers. GameCube is just...fun. But it isn't exactly a graphics powerhouse. So when Soul Calibur booted up in 4K on Switch 2, running at however-many-the-hell-frames-per-second, I have to admit, it was kind of jaw-dropping. It says a lot about the game's original animations that it can run as smoothly and look as good as it does.
I bumbled around online and found this comparison video by YouTuber Cycu1, which is well worth a quick scrub through, as it clearly demonstrates the stark improvement of this game's performance (thanks, homie).
I wasn't super excited about the GameCube's inclusion in the Switch 2's subscription library, as I still have my original unit and a slew of games. But I gotta say, me and Windwaker now have an appointment, and I'm completely looking forward to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, which I never got to play back in the day.
Longtime readers know that I'm not a resolution or FPS enthusiast - I frequently blather on about how I don't care very much. But sometimes, you just have to admit when something looks beautiful. And damn, these GameCube games look beautiful.
Side note: Credit where it is due, my son completely whooped my behind at Soul Calibur. He took like 9/9 matches before I shamefully retreated.
