The re-tuned and bug-fixed version of Soulcalibur III known as the Arcade Edition was initially introduced into arcades on April 3, 2006, and was given the name Soulcalibur III: Arcade Edition. The majority of the cast from the home edition makes a return as playable characters, with the exception of Abyss, who has been converted into a boss that players cannot control together with Night Terror. Only three of the 17 additional characters made it into the arcade version: Hwang Seong-gyeong, Li Long, and Amy Sorel. These characters’ playing styles have been updated and developed to provide a deeper level of gameplay.
There are now a total of 27 playable characters available throughout the board in the arcade. Standard Mode is a traditional arcade mode with nine battles in a row, without any cut scenes or endings. Legends Mode is a complex eight-round mode based upon the creation of and competition between customized characters with accumulated skills taken from the home version’s Chronicles of the Sword mode, such as increased stamina or the ability to automatically block. The game has three different modes: Training Mode, where one can try the characters’ moves for a set time; Standard Mode, which is a traditional arcade mode
The return of Inferno as a sub-boss character is included in the Standard mode (Stage 8). The other notable change is that from this point forward, Inferno will only employ a move set that is analogous to Cervantes, rather than arbitrarily doing the moves of any character. If you complete the game’s standard mode in a relatively slow manner, the game’s highest-ranked Legends mode character will serve as your final boss instead of Night Terror if you manage to get through all eight stages quickly, Abyss if you manage to get through pretty quickly, or Night Terror if you manage to get through pretty quickly (8 minutes or higher). There does not appear to be a correlation between the number of times you continue and the boss that you face; however, there is a correlation between the level of hostility you display against your opponents and the monster that you face.
C.AntonioFalcon of the 8wayrun forums was the one who brought some of the features from the arcade edition into the regular version of SoulCalibur III for the PlayStation 2.
