Game Blurb:
The next generation of Dragon Ball Z fighting. Heroic battles of good versus evil, powered by explosive energy and raw emotion lie ahead. Enter the ring and challenge yourself against the legendary fighters from the Dragon Ball Z universe.

Review:
So since my blog is anime-related in nature, someone from Atari asked me to do a review on this new DBZ game. I figure I should probably give my DBZ history as a preface to this review.

Back when anime was consumed via VHS tapes from my cousin’s uncles in California, there was a series that pretty much defined anime, or as we liked to call it, JAPANIMATION! And that series was Dragonball Z. I remember watching whatever we could get our hands on. I wasn’t into it as much as my cousin, but I remember watching at least the first few episodes where Piccolo and Goku fight that really weak guy (well, he was strong at the time but turned out to be a flunky Saiyan or something).

We also watched some of the movies, especially when they finally started showing up on the Cartoon Network. But by that time I had sort of grown out of the DBZ phase. All I know is that Goku dies at some point but then comes back and does training in some kind of gravity chamber? And Trunks is like, Gohan’s kid or an android or something. Really, my knowledge of the series is laughable.

So onto the review, I guess. The game has a few standard modes like “story” and “training.” Since I’ve never played a DBZ fighting game (okay, I played Budokai like ten years ago but I don’t remember anything), I went to training first. The training is okay, except that it forces you to go through about 15 or so training lessons. After each of these lessons, the game is saved and you select the next one. This would be okay, except that the loading kind of takes a long time. I don’t understand why a continuous training session wouldn’t work just as well. It took about an hour to get through the training.

The main mode of the game is its story mode. Here’s where the game kind of turns against non-fans. I guess it makes sense that most people who play this game will be familiar with the DBZ storyline. All I remembered was just the first part where the Saiyans invade. After that, the game kind of makes no sense. It just becomes a lot of funny terminology like, “I didn’t know he could change his power level!” and “His power level is 7000… 8000! IT’S OVER 9000!!!”

I guess one of the selling points of this game are its in-game cinema things. You can trigger certain events in story mode that happened in the anime. You get a score at the end of each battle depending on how many storyline things you saw and how many moves you used, etc. It’s the kind of thing that would probably seem really cool if I was actually into the series.

As far as the actual action goes, the fighting is okay, but it just feels a bit clunky. For one match, I just used the “KAMEHAMEHA!!” thing over and over again and won pretty easily. The difficulty level seems either too easy or too hard. Of course, I didn’t spend much time trying to get good at it or anything. I just kinda smashed buttons. The tutorial went over all possible moves, but did so in such a way that I forgot half of the stuff I could do by the time I started playing the story mode.

Besides, I’m a Tekken player. I also do Street Fighter II, sometimes. But I grew up on Tekken and basically pledge my allegiance to it. You can’t expect someone to go from that to the DBZ system, right?

Finally, I should mention that the graphics are really, really good. They’re probably the most impressive part of the game. The cel shading is done in such a way that it really does get close to the feeling that you’re watching an anime. And the signature DBZ superfast punching in the air is intact and seems faithful. The only lame thing I noticed related to the graphics is that when you KO someone in the air, it shows the exact same “guy falling to the Earth at faster-than-terminal-velocity” animation. It gets old when every guy you KO is in the air. But I suppose they have to do that when the next cutscene is the guy lying on the ground grunting.

Overall, I’m sure this game will appeal to DBZ fans and appeal less to non-fans like me. But you probably could have already guessed that. Oh well, at least we know now for sure.

Many thanks to Atari for sending me a review copy of Dragonball Z Burst Limit!

At first I thought it was some clever hoax, but apparently the anime really did a parody/homage of Gyakuten Saiban! Itsuki also does some of the other actions like the bow that the other lawyer dude does.

There’s even a youtube video of the scene with Phoenix Wright scenes added! Awesome!

I really need to start playing this again.

There’s also some other cool random junk. I wrote about it on my other page because it’s not really about anime or manga, but I figured it might be interesting to the general otaku nerd community. If you want the whole scoop, click here!

ANN reports (or reported about a week ago) that Leaf, a Hentai Game maker, has been forced to release the source code for four of their games, including ToHeart2 XRATED:

This was because Leaf had used the XVid video codec inside their games. XVid is licensed under the GNU Public Library (GPL). When software using GPL licensed code is released to the public, the GPL requires that the source code be made available to the programs users. For a ¥600 shipping and handling fee, Leaf will ship a copy of the code to anyone who requests it.

Quite a loophole, eh? So for about $5 (probably in Japan only), you can get a whole Hentai Game engine! Personally, I’d prefer the source code to Disgaea 2 (XRATED?). Some of the games I’d create with the Leaf Engine include:

• Choose You Own Adventure: Space Ninja!
• Zork Remake
• River City Ransom: Sauna Simulator!
• Doraemon XRATED

On second thought, maybe it’s better if I don’t get the souce code…

The Disgaea anime is slated for an April release, so I only have about two more months of languishing until it comes out! I guess I could always pass the time by playing the game. I think I logged like, 40+ hours two Summers ago…

While at the mall, the subject of DDR came up. I’m not one to go to the mall often (probably 3-4 times a year), so naturally I don’t play DDR at the arcade that often either. Oh, I guess the title of this post is kinda misleading then. It wasn’t my "first" DDR Arcade experience; Just the first one where I was actually capable completing a song on my own…

Anyway, it was decided that if Natrick* payed, Burtis* and I would dance for him. And dance we did. Did I mention there’s videos? Yes, luckily my New Year’s resolutions did not involve refraining from embarassing myself in front of the internet. So here’s the result of our escapades:

First we warmed up with "Get up ‘n Move." I think this was on standard difficulty. I hadn’t really played at the arcade before, and my feet kept getting stuck where the arrows are. I guess I need drag my feet less (it’s easy when it’s just the dance mat!).

There was a crowd of people behind us, but after realizing me and Burtis sucked, they all ran away to Hot Topic or something. 

Next off, we played "Look to the Sky" on standard mode. I forget which mix it was. I thought I combo’ed through it and would get a AA, but I only got an A.

This is when Burtis thought it would be a good idea to stop trying to stay alive and start showboating. I have to admit it, though, he’s a great dancer. He even got a bunch of little kids to watch us!

Finally, we decided to go out with a bang and play "Mobo Moga" on heavy mode. I can sometimes AA this one at home if I’m lucky. Anyway, I tried to keep us alive, but it was for naught. We failed somewhere in the middle. If only Burtis would have concentrated!!!

Overall, it was a pretty fun excursion. I like the coolness of the DDR metal pad, but it’d take some time to get used to. I think red octane sells a DDR metal pad like the arcade, but it’s like, $200! Maybe I’ll buy a DDR Machine when I become a millionare…

*names have been changed to protect the innocent

Check out the official site for more!

Apparently not in Japan, as Kotaku reports that some stores are clearly not in danger of selling out any time soon. Frankly I’m not surprised. The Japanese have a stronger national pride than the United States. From some books and articles I read, many Japanese still regard products from the United States as highly inferior.

It was already known that Microsoft needed to grab more market share in Japan, but at what cost? Clearly they decided to sacrifice sales in the United States and took a chance on Japan. Now they’ve got a shortage in the US and an oversupply in Japan. You’re doing a heck of a job alienating your base, ‘softie.