The evolution of water effects

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Come on in, the water's lovely

Soul Blade (1996, PSone)
Before Soul Calibur was called Soul Calibur, it was Soul Edge or Soul Blade, depending where you bought it. Not only did it feature full 3D backgrounds (a breakthrough for 3D console fighters at the time), but a stage set on a raft in rapids. And it tilts. Amazing. Today, of course, it looks sketchy, but poor PSone must have been sweating like a pig to pull this one off. And yes, you can knock your opponent into it. Sploosh!

Above: It's a bit pixellated on the surface, but the fact it was there at all is a miracle of programming

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Justin Towell
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.

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