Nintendo Europe has today announced that the GameCube version of Soul Calibur II will go on sale in Europe on September 26. The GameCube version of the game will be copublished by Nintendo and Namco in Europe, and it will launch on the same day as the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game that are being published by Electronic Arts.

　　Soul Calibur II is the long-awaited sequel to one of the finest weapon-based fighting games ever released--the Dreamcast version of Soul Calibur scored a perfect 10 when we reviewed it in 1999, and Namco's latest offering promises to improve upon it every way possible. In addition to all 15 of the characters from the arcade game, the console versions of Soul Calibur II will feature a green hulk character named Necrid who was created by Todd MacFarlane, as well as a further exclusive character for each platform. Link from Nintendo's own The Legend of Zelda series will appear on the GameCube, while the Xbox and PS2 lineups will include Spawn and the Tekken series' Heihachi, respectively.

　　For more information on Soul Calibur II, which is already available in Japan and is scheduled for release in North America on August 27, check out our previous coverage of the game.