SoulCalibur's two most recognizable faces, Nightmare and Mitsurugi, go face to face in a brand new trailer for Namco Bandai's upcoming fighting game, Soul Calibur II HD Online.

The game remains one of Namco's most popular and well received fighting efforts to date, but how do the graphics hold up a decade after its original release? While top of the pile at the time, it's hard to see them as comparable to the recent SoulCalibur games and their beautiful high resolution polygons.

The graphics might seem a little dated, but the old-school charm is cemented not by how it looks but rather by how it sounds. Namco Bandai has made the wise decision and not gone back to change the voice acting, which reeks of turn-of-the-millennium Japanese arcade cheesiness. There is no attempt at all to hide the blocky dialogue of the announcer.

Beyond that, it's still the same SoulCalibur that stole the fighting game world during the rise of 3D fighters. Perfect timing, excellent combos. SoulCalibur is far and away the most fun fighting series to watch when the two people playing know what they are doing.

We'll see how SoulCalibur II HD Online holds up after its release later this fall. The game will be delivered digitally through to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Use a chess clock to keep track of move and play times
Tick tock

Use a chess clock to keep track of move and play times

These chess clocks feature dual clocks for players to control their own timers, and loud alarms so everyone knows when time is up. These clocks can be used for other 2-person games, like checkers, that may benefit from a game timer.