The jump maneuver (which in Soulcalibur is more like a hop) moves the player higher into the air, even allowing it to pass above the opponent (much like in Tekken).

Another feature that was removed from Soulcalibur's engine is a rock paper scissors situation when two character strike at the same time, locking their weapons; those who press the correct button have the advantage.

Soul Edge uses an optional offensive block maneuver called the "Guard Impact" that allows players to intercept incoming attacks and push them back, resulting in a momentary opportunity for a free counterattack.

The game uses the ring out system, which is a forcible maneuver that ejects the opponent from the arena and gains an automatic victory for the round.

The only exception to this rule is Cervantes and Inferno (known in this game as SoulEdge), who can get a ring out by themselves upon performing a certain special attack, as long as they are near the edge of the arena.

Presently, nine warriors from around the world (Hwang, Li Long, Mitsurugi, Rock, Seong Mi-na, Siegfried, Sophitia, Taki, and Voldo) search for the sword for different reasons.

Soul Edge was developed as an experiment by Namco to explore the possibilities of a weapon-based fighting game;[15][16] Samurai Shodown was one of the first of this type, while Battle Arena Toshinden was the first in 3D.

[17] Soul Edge was the first motion capture based video game created by using passive optical system markers.

[19] A couple of months later, Namco released a fixed version, labeled Soul Edge Ver.

[20] Hwang (initially a palette swap of Mitsurugi for the Korean version of the game) was introduced to Japanese players with a new move list, Cervantes became playable, Guard Impacts and Air Combos were implemented, all the characters received upgraded move lists, and new stages were added.

[39] On the annual 1996 Gamest chart, Soul Edge was the 20th highest-grossing arcade game in Japan that year.

[37] Next Generation reviewed the arcade version of Soul Edge Version II, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "there is still the slight control delay, but character movement is still fluid and seamless, and the trailing slashes of light in the wake of weapon movement is as gorgeous as ever.

It holds aggregated scores of 91% on GameRankings[26] and 89/100 on Metacritic,[27] including high ratings by IGN ("extremely fun, and has just enough new elements to make it worth playing multiple times"),[35] and GameSpot ("a great fighting game with its share of flaws").

[44] Next Generation praised it for "filling in all the blanks with great gameplay, superb characters, unique graphics, and combines them into one solid package.

"[36] They later commended the PlayStation port for retaining all the characters, levels, graphics, and gameplay from the arcade version.

"[45] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly particularly applauded the full motion video intro and the new story mode.