Yu Yu Hakusho Forever (PS2)

Yuu Yuu Hakusho Forever is a cel-shaded VS fighting game for the Playstation 2 based on Yoshihiro Togashi’s hit manga and anime franchise. It’s a Japan-only release so you’ll find that the menu will require a little bit of exploration before you find out which one will get you to the story mode and which one will let you just goddamn fight already! (you know what I mean. Sometimes you don’t want to bother with the story mode in a fighting game.)

The visuals and audio are top-notch in this Yuu Yuu Hakusho Forever. The developer’s decision to go with Cel-shaded polygons paid off. Not only does the game provide a look remniscent of the anime, it also means that the graphics age well compared to other 3D titles on the PS2. Audio is also what you’d expect – the sounds seem to be taken straight out of the show, and seeing the intro get recreated using the in-game engine is all sorts of awesome.

Content-wise, there’s nothing to complain about. You need to unlock most of them, but once you do you’ll have access to majority of the important characters in the series starting from the first major story arc to the last. This means you get the Toguros, Sensui Shinobu, and the four rulers of Makai. Additionally, the game also provides an alternate costume for most character instead of being mere palette swaps. You don’t have to contend with Yuusuke Urameshi’s ugly martial arts costume – you can play using his cool-looking school uniform.

Bleach: Dark Souls (Nintendo DS)

Technically, I’m supposed to review both Bleach: Blade of Fate and its sequel, Dark Souls. But after getting my hands on both, I realized that it’s essentially the same game, with Dark Souls getting minor upgrades such as a new story and additional characters. Unless you’re collecting every Bleach game in existence, there’s really no point in getting Blade of Fate when you can get Dark Souls instead.

As for the game itself, Bleach: Dark Souls is a 2D fighting game made by the same people behind Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters for the Sega Megadrive, and it shows not just in the level of polish but also in the game design. For instance, the 4-way free for all fights through the use of foreground and background stages (granted, this mechanic has been around before Sunset Fighters, and has been around in many fighters since then).

Bleach: Dark Souls is a little bit hard to objectively review due to the timing of its release. On its own merits, the game is well-designed and will give you hours of fun. It features a ton of fighters based on Tite Kubo’s hit shonen franchise, and the graphics do a good enough job of letting you know which character is which, as well as showing off some of the trademark attacks and moves you’ll see on the anime/manga. It uses 2D spritework, so the Nintendo DS’s limited 3D capabilities is not a factor. The 2D graphics are as good as you’re going to get on the handheld.

New Gameplay Trailer for Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution

A new gameplay trailer has just been released for CyberConnect2’s upcoming 3D Fighter, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. The gameplay trailer will focus on one of the characters demanded by fans of the previous game, Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst. It’s none other than the former leader of Kirikagure and member of the Hozuki clan, the 2nd Mizukage:

Dragonball Z Budokai 3 vs. Infinite World: Which One Should You Choose?

Dragonball Z Budokai 3 and Dragonball Z Infinite World may look like the same game if you’re just looking at screenshots and videos, but the truth is that there are major differences between the two and you may end up enjoying one over the other, depending on your priorities and preferences. The question is: what exactly are the differences?

First things first: one thing that both Budokai 3 (whether plain or collectors/greatest hits edition) and Infinite World have in common is that they make Budokai and Budokai 2 unnecessary – they vastly improved the gameplay, added more content, and even polished the visuals (especially when you compare both against Budokai’s crude graphics.) They’re also both exclusive to the PS2, barring the HD re-release on the PS3. Budokai 1 and 2, on the other hand, were also released for the Gamecube.

Now, let’s get back to the differences:

New Batch of Screenshots for Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution

Yet another batch of screenshots has been released for CyberConnect2’s next installment in the Ultimate Ninja Storm franchise, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. This time around, it features the Akatsuki. It is said that the screenshots came from the original animation that Studio Pierrot created for the game, which is rather lengthy as it clocks in at over 50 minutes – enough to fill at least 2 anime episodes.

Far from being a mere retelling of the story, the animation will delve into the origins of the Akatsuki, with series creator Masashi Kishimoto admitting that some of the characters have new outfits designed specifically for the game. Judging by the screenshots, both Sasori and Kakuu have the aforementioned new costume designs.

You can check out the screenshots below:

Naruto: Ninja Destiny (Nintendo DS)

Naruto: Ninja Destiny is a 3D fighting game for the Nintendo DS based on Masashi Kishimoto’s extremely popular shonen manga and anime franchise, Naruto. It tackles the first part of the series – with pre-timeskip characters – and uses an engine that is similar in principle to the Gamecube clash of Ninja games. The main difference is that aside from the button controls, players can also use the touchscreen to launch special moves and use power-up items.

Now that we’ve got the basic introduction out of the way, it’s safe to say that Naruto: Ninja Destiny for the Nintendo DS doesn’t even warrant a full length review. It’s a really terrible game that has no redeeming value whatsoever. Or at least none that are worth the asking price for the game cart.

One Piece Grand Adventure (Gamecube)

One Piece Grand Adventure, which is based on Eiichiro Oda’s long-running pirate-themed shonen manga/anime franchise, is a multiplayer fighting/party game for the Nintendo Gamecube in the same vein as Super Smash Bros., with the key difference being that the action is shown from an isometric third person view, whereas SSB shows the action from a 2D perspective.

The characters in One Piece Grand Adventure are rendered in a slightly cute-sy form, with heads that are slightly bigger than their bodies, but not disproportioned enough to be considered as comical in nature. The level of detail is exceptional, and you do get a good representation of the characters from the series – there are 24 in total playable characters, but you’ll have to unlock them through some special conditions (more on that later) – and the settings encountered throughout the story.

As implied above, Grand Adventure is not your straightforward fighting game. You can jump, attack, grab items for use or for throwing, and perform special attacks, but you also need to navigate the arena/stages, which are littered with environment hazards, traps, and support items. Add the fact that there can be as many as 4 characters and a couple of interactive NPCs on the stage at once and you have yourself a very chaotic game. As I said, it’s more Super Smash Bros. than Tekken.

Yuu Yuu Hakusho Sunset Fighters (Sega Megadrive)

Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters is a 2D Fighting Game for the Sega Megadrive that was based on Yoshihiro Togashi’s hit manga/anime franchise about a teenage delinquent who finds himself recruited as the spirit world’s detective, and the human world’s first and last line of defense against evil spirits from the yokai world.

Many gamers unfairly described the game when it first came out in 1994 as a Street Fighter clone. While it’s true that many 2D fighters at the time were created to cash in on Street Fighter II’s success, Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters successfully added so many features to the tried and true 2D Fighting formula that it’s not an exaggeration to say that it has transcended the status of a clone, and can be considered a completely different – and maybe even better – game.

With famed developer Treasure at the driver’s seat, it won’t be a surprise to say that Sunset Fighters is a visually stunning game for its time, taking advantage of the Megadrive’s hardware capabilities. The console wasn’t capable of producing anime-like visuals, but for what it’s worth, anybody familiar with the Yuu Yuu Hakusho franchise will find the graphics in Sunset Fighters as a decent 16-bit representation of their favorite characters and setting. Even the digitized voices and songs do a great job at reproducing the sounds from the show, from the opening theme song’s distinctive synth pop to the respective characters’ trademark catchphrases.

The visuals do have a flaw, in the sense that the sprites are a little bit on the tiny side, especially when compared to other fighting games from the same generation. But this is not out of ineptitude on the developers’ part, as it actually has a logical tradeoff – the stages are expansive; the stages are very wide and come with two planes, similar to the Fatal Fury series. Coupled with the small sprites and the engine’s addition of a running/dashing mechanic, the matches can be fast and hectic without the fighters being cramped against each other – even if there are four players on the screen at once. And yes, there’s support for four-way matches, either free for alls or 2 vs 2. It’s a feature that was very rare at the time.