Soul Calibur II is the third entry in Namco's "Soul" fighting series and the first real sequel in the series. It was highly successful due to its release on all three major systems at the time: Xbox, PS2 and GC. In addition, each version of the game included a character exclusive to that system. Xbox users got to play as Todd McFarlane's well-known antihero, Spawn (McFarlane also designed the character Necrid for all three versions). PS2 users were allowed to use Tekken veteran Heihachi, the only character who uses no weapon other than his fists. Finally, and arguably of most signifigance, GameCube owners could play as Nintendo's greatest swordsman, Link from the Legend of Zelda series.

This, combined with the tried and true fighting system and other features from the Dreamcast port of Soul Calibur, led to the game being a staple for the fighting game library of any console owner.