Dragonball Z Supersonic Warriors

Dragonball Z: Supersonic Warriors gives you control of one of the many Z warriors or the series’ villains (from Vegeta to Buu) and lets you duke it out with another fighter on a wide open area. Unlike traditional fighting games where you can walk, dash, and jump, this game lets you float and dash in any direction. Mobility may be limited at first due to the floatyness of the controls, but you’ll be able to fight much better once you learn how to use the ki dash in order to speed up your moves.

When it comes to fighting, you have a light and heavy attack. The R button charges your ki, and pressing any of the attack buttons while charging will let you do either a heavy or light ki blast, depending on which attack button you pressed. Pressing both attack buttons while holding the R button will let you do a super, the type and direction of which will depend on where you are relative to the opponent.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Horobishi Mono no Gyakushu (Sega Gamegear)

Yu Yu Hakusho: Horobishi Mono no Gyakushu is a side-scrolling beat-em up game for the Sega Gamegear handheld, based on Yoshihiro Togashi’s classic shonen anime about spirit detective Yuusuke Urameshi and the colorful cast of demons, humans, and otherworldly beings that make up his list of friends and enemies.

Now, it’s all about context with retro games: it looks like crap now, but during the time when it was released, Yu Yu Hakusho: Horobishi Mono no Gyakushu was a good looking game that took advantage of the limited hardware that was available. Compared to other games released on the Sega Gamegear, Yu Yu Hakusho: Horobishi Mono no Gyakushu was colorful, well-animated, and had enough variety in the settings and enemies to keep you playing all the way to the end.

The mechanics for the game is simple. You choose one of the four main characters (either Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, or Hiei) and have them travel from left to right of the screen, beating enemies along the way. Each of the characters have different attributes (speed, attack, etc.) rated from A to D, which affect how they handle. They also have unique mob-clearing special attacks, which come in the form of a cutscene.

Official Trailer for Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4

Bamco Games has just released the first official trailer for CyberConnect2's Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 during Jump Festa. The trailer is more cinematic than gameplay footage-y, but considering that the game is known for gameplay that looks like anime scenes, it can be hard to tell. All you should know is that it focuses mainly on the fight between Hashirama and Madara, and judging by their looks and dialogue - it is set during their final duel when they were still alive.

You can check out the trailer after the cut:

Bleach: Soul Carnival 2 (PSP)

Bleach: Soul Carnival 2 is an enjoyable – if somewhat relatively short – sidescrolling action RPG for the PSP, based on Tite Kubo’s Bleach franchise. The game looks visually appealing and goes for a “cute” look by using chibi versions of the characters. Despite the simplistic visuals, there’s depth in the gameplay and you’ll be amazed at the kind of fights that you’ll take part in as a bobble head-like version of Ichigo hacks, slashes, busts out getsuga tenshous, and even transforms into hollow mode while mowing down armies of hollows and the occasional Arrancar.

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution (PC)

This covers the Steam release of CyberConnect2’s Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution instead of the console versions because of two very simple reasons: first is that I don’t have an Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3, and second is because the PC port of the previous game in the series had so many technical problems that there may be a lot of readers wondering if the PC port is worth buying this time.

On that note, everyone should relax and be glad that CyberConnect 2 seems to have learned from their past mistakes. Unlike the poorly optimized Full Burst, Revolution works right out of the proverbial box. I’m still using the low-end PC (Pentium G2020, 4GB RAM, nVidia GT240) that had problems running Full Burst in full speed at the lowest resolution, yet Revolution ran like a champ at 1080p with a few dips in fps here and there (as I said, I’m running a PC that would be considered low-end 3 years ago so we shouldn’t be expecting miracles.)

Additionally, it seems like they’re no longer using frame-dependent timing because even at times when my PC struggled to maintain full frame rate (I got dips as low as 25 fps, according to FRAPS), the game didn’t feel slow-motion at all. Maybe they’re properly skipping frames this time around.

Unfortunately for the PC Master race, the frame rate is still capped at 30 fps. You’ll just have to grin and bear it as they’re probably keeping it uniform with the console versions in order to ease porting. Anyway, even at 30 fps the game still feels smoother than Full Burst, owing to a few tweaks in combat (which we’ll tackle later.)

As for a review of the game itself, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution is basically an upgraded version of Full Burst, and is probably using a modified version of its engine so there’s really no point in a standard review of the game. You can refer to the Full Burst review here if you want the basics. Instead, we’ll just outline some of the more noticeable changes (and whether they’re good or bad.)

Presentation

The first change that will hit you is the tweak to the presentation. It’s a minor tweak but helps a ton in making the user experience better – they simply sped up the time it takes for menu items to load. Most of you will remember that Full Burst’s menu required patience as it takes a few seconds too long before you can get it to do what you want. Moving from one section to the next is instantaneous now.

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault (Gameboy Advance)

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault is a 2D fighting game that pits various Gundams and pilots against each other in 1 on 1 bouts. The game is technically a handheld installment of the Battle Assault series of games from the Playstation, with the main difference being that the available Gundams are limited to the ones found on the Gundam Seed franchise. Basically, it’s more of a spiritual successor to the Super Famicom’s Gundam Wing: Endless Duel, with a number of improvements.

For starters, there’s more play modes available: there’s a story mode, a VS. mode, an Arcade mode, a survival mode, a time trial mode, and even a practice mode. The combat is also faster and more novice-friendly due to the presence of an auto mode (where the input commands for specials and supers are simplified.) However, the biggest change is in the mechanics – first is that Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault now allows you to customize your gundam before the start of a fight, allowing you to balance the distribution of energy in order to prioritize HP, thrusters, or PS armor. Speaking of PS armor, the second change is that the mobile suits now have breakable armors. If you sustain enough hits, the armor breaks and you are left weaker (not to mention less fun to look at.)

If you are a big fan of Gundam Seed and you liked Gundam Wing: Endless Duel on the Super Famicom, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault should be right up your alley. It’s not as deep a fighter and the visuals aren’t that polished (it looks washed out and pixilated even on the Gameboy Advance’s small screen,) but it’s still a good handheld fighter and it occupies a specific genre niche on the GBA. Should be good for short bursts of mecha fighting action.

Shonen Jump’s One Piece (Gameboy Advance)

Shonen Jump’s One Piece is a sidescrolling beat ‘em up for the Gameboy Advance, based on Eiichiro Oda’s long-running pirate themed manga/anime series. The game is exclusive to the North American market, which is kind of odd considering that most anime-based games are released in Japan first and localized later (if at all.)

Shonen Jump’s One Piece is basically One Piece’s answer to Dragon Ball’s Advanced Adventure. Both games are from Dimps Corporation and it shows in the amount of work that went into the games. Shonen Jump’s One Piece didn’t have as much content nor depth as Advanced Adventure, but you can see the same amount of polish in both visuals and gameplay.

Yuu Yuu Hakusho Gaiden (Sega Megadrive)

I pity the individual who mistakenly bought this game when they are actually looking for Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters. Unlike the fighting game that is Sunset Fighters, Yuu Yuu Hakusho Gaiden is an RPG with active time combat, and unlike Sunset Fighters, it isn’t worth the cartridge that it’s on.

Assuming that you can understand Japanese (and if you don’t, you can stop reading now because you won’t really get much out of this game) enough to wade through the dialogue, and finally get to choose characters (you can choose between all four main characters) you’ll be met with a battle screen that puts you in third person/behind the shoulders view against random demons. You have your HP and RP stats, but the battle is in real time: you can move from left to right to dodge enemy attacks, block, or launch an attack of your own. The enemy can do the same, by the way.

MS Saga: A New Dawn (Playstation 2)

MS Saga: A New Dawn is a 3D turn-based RPG that uses elements from the early Universal Century Gundam, Gundam Wing, and G Gundam series. It puts you in control of a young orphan boy named Tristan and his best friend Fritz, who are on a quest to find a mysterious group of Mobile Suits that laid siege on their orphanage and killed all of its inhabitants (including their matron.)

The game is your standard JRPG fare, with combat being completely turn based as your group of Gundam and enemies take turns launching various attacks at each other. If you’ve played any Final Fantasy game older than XI, you know what this is all about. The main draw of MS Saga: A New Dawn is the ability to mix and match different pilots with different mobile suits, while modifying and upgrading said suits outside of battle, including swapping parts (which changes not only their stats but their appearance.)

Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 2 (Gameboy Advance)

Back in 2002, Webfoot Technologies released Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku on the Gameboy Advance. It was an attempt to marry the Dragon Ball Z license with the action RPG genre. Unfortunately, the dialogue was awkward and the combat was clunky and unsatisfying. The game ended up being a disappointment for fans of the Dragon Ball franchise and fans of the action RPG genre.

Rather than give up, Webfoot technologies tried again after a year by releasing a sequel, Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 2 , and it’s a good thing they did because not only is it a significant improvement over Legacy of Goku, it also stands as one of the better examples of the action RPG genre on the Gameboy Advance.

Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 2’s story picks up where the first one left off: at the start of the Cell Saga, putting you in control of a pre-teen Mirai Trunks as he watches his timeline’s Gohan die at the hands of the Androids. Then you gain control of young Gohan in the present timeline for the obligatory tutorial. Thankfully, the tutorial is short and you soon find yourself thrust into the story proper – with Cyborg Frieza and King Cold’s arrival and their defeat at the hands of a now adult Mirai Trunks. From thereon, you play through the game while being given control of various characters, all the way to the Cell Games story arc.

Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)

Ragnarok Tactics is a spin-off game from the popular South Korean MMORPG franchise, Ragnarok Online. As the name implies, Ragnarok Tactics is no longer a point-and-click online RPG but a tactical role playing game with a heavier emphasis on story (which is told through dialogue between static character portraits and the occasional animated cutscene.) Visually, Ragnarok Tactics looks more polished than the original MMO while retaining the original’s chibi anime art style. Think of it as a much-needed visual upgrade on Ragnarok Online.

The game plays very much like any Japanese tactical RPG (FF Tactics, Jeanne D’ Arc, etc) but retains elements from Ragnarok Online, including the job/class system, the moves and even the sitting/resting mechanic, which allows characters to replenish health while sitting.

Ragnarok Tactics looks and feels like a really good translation of the original MMO in your first few minutes of play. However, the novelty starts to wear off after an hour or so as you realize that the pacing of the fights is way too slow even when compared to other tactical RPGs. I mean, I love Tactics games and was obsessed with Ragnarok Online in its heyday, but Ragnarok Tactics tested my patience to its limits. I wouldn’t be surprised if people find it difficult to maintain interest past the first fight if they aren’t fans of the genre or the franchise. If you want a really good Tactical RPG, there are a ton of better games on the PSP, and if you just want a portable Ragnarok Online spin-off game, you’re much better off with Ragnarok DS on the Nintendo DS.

Initial D: Street Stage (PSP)

The Initial D series of driving games is very popular in Japan but is only a bit of a cult hit in the west (probably because most installments in the series are Japanese-exclusive and not as accessible as the average racing game. Initial D: Street Stage is no exception.

Instead of multiple cars racing on the same track, Street Stage is a series of one-on-one races between the player and a rival. This game will throw newcomers for a loop at first because it looks and feels deceptively easy: the first few tracks aren’t full of tight turns, the cars handle extremely well and the game doesn’t slow you down much when you hit the rails/edges.

But make no mistake about it: this game will punish mistakes. Slow down for a millisecond or fail to turn at the right angle and you’ll immediately see your rival shoot past and take the lead. You’re also racing against time here. If you fail to hit the checkpoint before the timer hits 0, it’s game over. You’re going to lose a lot in this game (particularly on the first few tries), but if you manage to get past the steep learning curve, you’re going to find Initial D: Street Stage a very rewarding and addicting driving game.

Go Games’ Bleach Online (PC, Browser-Based)

I’ve been seeing Bleach Online pop up in a lot of places these days (including my own site’s ads). Receiving a personal invite from a friend claiming that it’s “similar to Marvel Avengers Alliance, but with Bleach characters” was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back, as I have spent quite a bit of time mucking around with MAA. Bleach Online seems like something that I’d enjoy even if I don’t have enough free time to delve deep into what the game has to offer. I also figured I could post an entry about it given the theme of my site, maybe even help people who want to try the game but aren’t sure if it’s a real game or just a scam. If you're one of these people - it's not a scam. It's a real Bleach game that can be played on your browser.

First Things First: Legal Issues

Now, anybody who’s familiar with Bleach and the handful of anime games online knows that the characters, names, symbols and any other copyrighted IP in the games are being used without permission from the owners. Bleach Online is no different, and this one is particularly noticeable because it uses assets (namely from the audio) from other Bleach games – which is something that a big name developer will not give away freely (and something that is unnecessary for a legitimate online game developer because it’s easy to produce on their own.)

Basically, if you’re going to play this game, don’t expect too much and don’t get attached to your progress as it could disappear anytime, especially since Japan has started bolstering their online campaign against copyright infringement for manga and anime-related properties earlier this month.

Now, let’s get on with discussing the game itself.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 (Playstation 2)

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is the second Gundam-themed crowd-brawling game on the Playstation 2, from the company that made the genre popular – KOEI. It’s basically Dynasty Warriors with the historical theme replaced by a mish-mash of all the Gundam licenses at that point – from the original Mobile Suit Gundam all the way to SEED, with each franchise lending two to four suits from its roster.

Visually, the game looks decent for a Playstation 2 game but pales in comparison to other Gundam games on the system (particularly Mobile Suit Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam,) as the suits look particularly tiny and the sparse environments do a poor job of providing a sense of scale. Additionally, many of the textures look muddy and the variety in environment design leave a lot to be desired.

Gameplay and combat is exactly what you’d expect from a Dynasty Warriors game – you pick a pilot, a mobile suit (you can mix and match, btw), and run around a map killing random enemy mobile suits along with the occasional boss suit. There’s a lot of stuff added to give the gameplay more depth - like the ability to boost dash and block, the ability to launch different types of attacks depending on button combinations and sequences, the gundam’s equivalent of a musou super attack, and for some suits – a transformation. However, the sum is less than its parts as they all result in combat that is clunky and imprecise.

The main trouble has to be with targeting. Pressing one of the shoulder buttons allows you to keep the camera steady so that it doesn’t rotate all over the place while you’re running around and wading through hundreds of enemies, but there’s no way to lock-on to a target. When you’re blasting and slashing your way through a ton of enemies, it shouldn’t be a problem, but when you’re trying to hit a specific mobile suit (particularly a boss), you’ll find yourself hitting thin air a lot of times as your enemy is thrown away from the path of your attack. The auto-combo feature further compounds this problem.

Mobile Suit Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam (GC/PS2)

There’s a port of Mobile Suit Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam for the Playstation 2 and the Gamecube, with the Playstation 2 receiving both an English and Japanese version. This review will apply to both since there’s very little difference between them outside of what the hardware entails (e.g. the GC version naturally has better loading times.)

Now for the skinny: Mobile Suit Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam is a third person action game based on Yoshiyuki Tomino’s iconic mecha franchise. The game puts you in control of a mobile suit, drops you and a partner in a large expansive stage, and pits you against enemy mobile suits.

The choice of mobile suits and armors is limited to the ones you’ll find on the original series, Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ, and the movie Char’s Counterattack. You won’t find any suits from the Gundam Wing or Seed franchises in here, and you won’t find any from the Unicorn series either even though that’s set in the same timeline.

Mitsume Ga Tooru/The Three Eyed One (NES/Famicom)

Mitsume ga Tooru is based on the same-titled manga and anime franchise from Osamu Tezuka. You play the role of the bald, three-eyed Hosuke Sharaku, who is supposed to be the last of his kind. The intro shows that another three eyed man named Prince Godaru invaded Sharaku’s city while riding on the ancient tank Gomorrah, Godaru then destroys a large part of the city and kidnaps Sharaku’s friend, Wato Chiyoko. From thereon, you play a sidescrolling/platforming action game similar to Mega Man, using Sharaku’s ability to shoot energy from his third eye and his ability to summon an ancient spear called the Akai Condor, which not only serves as a powerful offensive projectile, but also as an additional platform if you need to jump higher. There’s also a store that you can access at the beginning of each stage where you can buy upgrades for your health, weapons, etc.

Basically, if you enjoy Mega Man, you’ll enjoy Mitsume Ga Tooru. Especially because Mitsume ga Tooru isn’t punishingly difficult. There are a number of things that make it easier than even the least difficult Mega Man game, the most notable being the presence of a health bar, which means you don’t die from one hit. There’s room for mistakes in this game. The controls are fairly responsive and there’s no floatiness so it’s not difficult to do precision jumps despite Sharaku’s limited mobility. Besides, the Akai Condor will help you reach places beyond Sharaku’s jumping ability.

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst (PC)

If the title hasn’t made it clear yet, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst isn’t the first entry in the series. In fact, it isn’t the 3rd one either as the series goes way, way back as it traces its roots to the Clash of Ninja series on the Gamecube. However, it is worth tackling because it is the first one to be ported to the PC, which is amazing because the PC isn’t the platform of choice when it comes to fighting games and games based on anime/manga franchises. Yet here we are, UNS3FB for the PC, with UNS Revolution reportedly following suit.

The Story

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst is a 3D cel-shaded fighting game based on Masashi Kishimoto’s extremely popular shonen franchise, featuring a story mode that takes you from the first appearance of the masked man (spoiler: who claims to be Madara Uchiha but is eventually revealed to be someone else) all the way to the fourth great ninja war.

The progression of the story isn’t linear, as it uses flashbacks to tackle key points from the past (pre-timeskip stories are only addressed in flashbacks.) Additionally, the ending deviates from the story in the manga and anime, probably to give it a proper ending – which it can’t if it tries to remain true to the manga’s (which is still unfinished.)

SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors: Shin Mirisha Taisen

SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors: Shin Mirisha Taisen is an RPG action game for the Nintendo DS, which is based on the TV anime series BB Senshi Sangokuden: Brave Battle Warriors. As the SD prefix impies, the game depicts the Gundams in super deformed/comical style. Also, they’re living creatures instead of bipedal combat vehicles.

The closest comparison for SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors: Shin Mirisha Taisen (a mouthful, innit?) is Tecmo Koei’s Warriors Orochi series series. Imagine if it was ported properly to the DS (gameplay is retained but graphics have been downgraded to accommodate the hardware) and given an SD Gundam theme.

The game follows the story of the TV anime and comes with over 40 playable characters, giving you the option to play 3 characters that you will switch between on every stage. As implied above, combat is similar to Tecmo Koei’s Warriors series, where you have a light and heavy attack, a jump, and a super (musou, brah.) attack that can be launched when a certain bar is filled.

Lupin Sansei - Densetsu no Hihou o Oe! (Super Famicom)

Don’t let the title and the intro fool you into thinking that this game requires you to understand Japanese - Lupin Sansei - Densetsu no Hihou o Oe! can be enjoyed by people who don’t speak a single word of Japanese. In fact, it can even be played by people who don’t speak a single word of any language. It’s an action platforming game akin to Rolling Thunder.

In Lupin Sansei - Densetsu no Hihou o Oe! you control the infamous thief and womanizer, Lupin. And while the story is lost on someone who can’t understand the pre-level cutscenes, the goal is still fairly obvious – either sneak or fight your way through a level using his ability to punch and kick, jump, crawl, and use a wide variety of tools that include a pistol, a flash bang, a whip, and probably more as the game progresses.

Dragon Ball Origins (Nintendo DS)

Dragon Ball Origins is a third person action adventure game in the same vein as Legend of Zelda, based on Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga and anime franchise. Note the absence of the “Z” prefix – this game is based on the early parts of the series, with a young Goku who exhibits powers and abilities above those of normal men, but not at the point where he shoots lasers that can level planets and move faster than the speed of light.

In a way, this is a good thing because this allows the game to focus more on exploration and challenging combat, because Goku doesn’t have the option to just Kamehame Wave every problem until it gets solved. As mentioned above – it’s a Zelda-like game so you’ll be fighting various cannon fodders, the occasional end level boss, and will be faced with various puzzles. There are a couple of frustrating parts in the game, as some levels that require backtracking, but the puzzles themselves aren’t too difficult and can be solved without the need for a FAQ.