Alright, first off, I’d like to say that I know that the vast majority of DBZ fighting games have been pretty crappy. Recently, we’ve seen that start to change with the Budokai series and games like Bukuu Tougeki, (Supersonic Warriors for the GBA) and the new DBZ: Sparking! (Budokai Tenkaichi) seems pretty sweet as well.
In a small amount of time, two new Dragon Ball Z fighting games are coming out: Super Dragon Ball Z for the arcade, and Dragon Ball Z: Bukuu Ressen for the Nintendo DS. Now I’m not exactly a rabid Dragon Ball fan or whatever, but both of these games caught my eye so I thought I should share the info with the rest of SRK.
Super Dragon Ball Z
- General Information
Super (Chou) Dragon Ball Z is a DBZ 1 vs. 1 fighter coming out in Japanese arcades in December. It is being developed by Craft and Meister for Banpresto whose team is headed by Funamizu Noritaka, the man who “created” Street Fighter. The team also includes Sudo Katsuhiro, another ex-Capcom producer.
http://www.banpresto.co.jp/machine/spdbz/index.html
- Characters
http://www.banpresto.co.jp/machine/spdbz/image/index.html
[LIST]
[]The game uses a cel-shaded graphical engine similar to the Budokai series, but IMO the models seem to be more detailed/ move more fluidly
[]The Graphics also feature “sound effect” katakana popping up during attacks ala Narutimate Hero 2 or Jump Super Stars
[]Besides the sound effect katakana, the game seems to be heavily influenced by the manga, with the type of shading that it is presenting
[]The game has 12 characters in total it seems, with 9 of the 12 consisting of Son Gokuu, Freeza, Krillin/Klilyn, Piccolo, Trunks, Vegeta, Cell, Android No. 16, and Android No. 18
[]Likely candidates for other characters are Son Gohan, Buu (Whether Fat or Majin form), and possibly Mr. Satan[/LIST]3. Stages
[LIST]
[]The battles take place on different stages from the DBZ world including Kamis Lookout, a destroyed city, a hillside, the Tenkaichi Budokai ring, and Planet Namek
[]The game allows characters to fly around the environments and use them to block attacks, or slam the opponent into walls to do more damage
[]Some, if not all of the Stages have different tiers or different areas that the characters can move into
[*]Obstacles/environments can be destroyed including buildings, hills and pillars[/LIST]4. Game System
http://www.banpresto.co.jp/machine/spdbz/system/index.html
A. Movement
[LIST]
[]The Joystick controls movement along the horizontal axis (i.e. If the Joystick is pushed up, the character will move into the background, while pushing down on the Joystick will move the character into the foreground)
[]Pressing Guard and Jump while pushing the Joystick in a direction will cause your character to Dash in that direction along the horizontal plane
[]Dashing can also be performed by moving the Joystick in that direction twice
[]Pressing Jump once will cause your character to jump, (what a surprise! :wow: ) but if you press the button again in midair, your character will hover/fly[/LIST]B. Combat
[LIST]
[]Light and Hard Attacks can be strung together to create combo attacks
[]Besides Chain Combos, there are moves that launch the opponent into the air where you can followup with a Homing Attack (See below)
[]Special Moves are performed using Street Fighter/King of Fighters-esque Joystick movements with a button press (i.e. Gokuu’s Kamehameha is QCF+L or H)
[]The Homing Attack is performed by pressing Light or Hard Attack and Guard
[]The Homing Attack will cause your character to dash towards the opponent with a fast attack that will allow a combo followup
[]Homing Attacks create air combos after you launch your opponent into the air
[]As you’ll see later, it seems that Homing Attacks can be canceled into each other for multiple rush attacks before starting a combo
[]Each characters trademark Super Special Attacks are performed with more complicated Joystick and button combinations
[]Super Special Attacks require one “Block” from the Super Gauge, located directly under your character’s lifebar
[]The Super Gauge has 3 Blocks when full
[]It’s not known at this time, but there are probably Super Special Moves that require more than one Block that are learned using the IC Card System (See below)[/LIST]C. Defense
[LIST]
[]Blocking will eliminate all damage from normal attacks
[]Special Moves and Super Special Moves will cause chip damage
[]There don’t seem to be attacks that can break your Guard or any normal throws
[]Some characters have Super Specials that are defensive in nature that can be used as a “combo breaker” (Cell is one of these)[/LIST]D. IC Card System
[LIST]
[]As you play through Chou Dragon Ball Z, (1 Player or Versus) your magnetic card will keep track of experience points based on your battles and results
[]These experience points can be used to learn new moves and techniques
[]The also let your character “level up”[/LIST]E. Other Notes
One last thing is that Dashing and using the Homing Attack will consume one Block from the Action Gauge, (different from the Super Gauge) which is located at the very bottom of the screen. The Action Gauge has 4 Blocks when full.It charges naturally and quickly as time passes, so the action is almost always fast paced.
Incomplete Movelist from www.snk-capcom.com
Son Goku
Combination 1 L, H, H
Combination 2 L, L, H
Kamehameha QCF+L or H
Rapid Fire Kick QCB+L or H
Smash Blow DP+L or H
Chou Kamehameha QCF, QCF+L or H
Piccolo
Combination 1 L, L, H
Combination 2 H, H, H
Masenko QCF+L or H
Satanic Barrier D, U+L or H
Satanic Hand DP+L or H
Makkankosappo QCF, QCF+L or H
Krillin
Combination 1 L, L, L, H
Combination 2 H, H, H
Kamehameha QCF+L or H
Something Spirit Seeker D, U or U, D+L or H
Kienzan DP+L or H
Shin Kienzan QCF, QCF+L or H
Trunks
Combination 1 H, H, H
Combination 2 L, L, H, H
Crescent Wave QCF+L or H or L+H
Aura Smash B, F+L or H
Stylish Buster RDP+L or H
Slash Break QCB, QCB+L or H
Vegeta
Combination 1 L, L, H
Combination 2 L, H, H
Rucola Gun QCF+L or H
G Slicer D, U or U, D+L or H
Assault Rush DP+L or H
Galic Gun QCF, QCF+L or H
Freeza
Combination 1 L, L, H, H
Combination 2 L, H, H
Freeza Cutter QCF+L or H
Psychokinesis QCB+L or H
Flex Laser B, F+L or H
Death Ball QCF, QCF+L or H
Cell
Combination 1 L, H, H
Combination 2 H, H, H
Hell Needle QCF+L or H
Interrupter D, U or U, D+L or H
Energy Drain DP+L or H
Judgment QCF, QCF+L or H
- Videos
http://www.banpresto.co.jp/machine/spdbz/image/051005.html
http://www.snk-capcom.com/htm/videos.htm
http://www.gamespot.com/arcade/action/choudragonballz/media.html
I really suggest that everyone check the first link, and at least watch 2 videos at the bottom; they are a really cool representation of how the game plays and shows a lot of moves/combos of the characters. I dont suggest the gamespot vids, as they are of really stupid players just whoring their QCF energy attacks. Theyre a bore to watch really.
Stuff I noticed from the vids:
Gokuu and Vegeta (and thus most likely Trunks too) can go Super Saiyajin, which costs a Block from the Super Gauge, but puts it at max when performed. I think the actual part where their meter goes back up will be canceled if the opponent hits you after the transformation. Gokuus transformation also allows him to perform the Genki Dama, which uses a full Super Gauge (3 Blocks). It looks pretty slow/easy to dodge.
Oh yeah, that reminds me; some energy blasts (Kamehamehas at least) can be manipulated to some degree so that you can hit the opponent if they try to dodge or aim it around an obstacle. Cell looks really buff after watching those videos. His Judgment attack does good damage and seems to track well, and his homing attack (the spinning forward attack) does good damage and combos pretty well. In addition, Cell has an additional Super Special involving a large energy wall that looks like it is performed while being hit. Minimal damage, but great tactical value.
Im glad to see that Trunks actually looks good in this game, and hes finally using his damn sword. About time! :lol: From the two vids at the bottom of the official site, I see that Homing Attacks (Im pretty sure thats what those elbow strikes are) will be used extensively in combos. Actually, Im a little scared that infinites might be created with how fast the Action Gauge charges, but the developers probably limited the number of them in a combo or disabled the ability to cancel into them.
This wraps up the portion of Super Dragon Ball Z. Feel free to correct me in any aspects and Ill edit my post. I posted the official site, so for those who are better than mediocre (me) at Japanese more info would be sweet.
Dragon Ball Z: Bukuu Ressen/Supersonic Warriors 2
- General Information
DBZ: Bukuu Ressen/Supersonic Warriors 2 is a 1v1 high octane team-based aerial fighting game using similar mechanics of last year’s Bukuu Tougeki/Superonic Warriors that is being developed by Arc System Works and Cavia for Bandai and Atari, respectively.
http://www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/list/ds_dbz01/
- Characters
[LIST]
[]The game’s visual style is pretty much the same as last year’s; the characters are still sprites
[]Characters’ sprites still lack a large amount of animation, but it doesn’t look bad considering the speed of the game
[]Energy blasts and hit effects are replaced by rendered animations that look pretty sweet IMO
[]Characters are divided up into different ratio levels ala CvS2 called, each of them assigned a respective “Dragon Power”
[]The confirmed character list is divided up like this so far: (Note names with 's are my speculations; they are confirmed, just not the DP values yet)
[]DP 1: Young Son Gohan, Ginyu, Dr. Gero, Android 18
[]DP 2: Freeza, Trunks, Krillin
[]DP 3: Son Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, Mecha Freeza
[]DP 4: Old Son Gohan, SSJ Trunks, Second Form Cell, Coola
[]DP 5: SSJ Son Gohan, SSJ Vegeta, Gotenks, Metal Coola
[]DP 6: Perfect Cell, Majin Vegeta, Broli, SSJ2 Young Son Gohan
[]DP 7: Majin Buu, Fat Buu/Mr. Buu, SSJ3 Gotenks, Shenron (???)
[]SP (Support): Mr. Satan, Dende, Tien & Yamcha, Zarbon & Dodoria, Bardock, Dodoria, Babidi, Rikuum, Cell Jr., Androids 16 & 17, and someone else I can’t tell… looks kinda like Coola[/LIST]3. Stages
[LIST]
[]Stages are 3D rendered and feature quite a bit of detail
[]There are even small things to notice in some of them (Cell games stage has reporter dude cowering behind a rock IIRC :lol:)
[]15 confirmed stages so far:
[]Ground below Kami-sama’s Lookout
[]On top of Kami-sama’s Lookout
[]Tenkaichi Budokai ring
[]Future City
[]Namek/ Terminal Namek (Planet is exploding)
[]Islands
[]Hyperbolic Time Chamber
[]Mountains
[]Kaioshin’s planet
[]New Planet Vegeta
[]City
[]Babidi’s ship
[]Space
[]Glacier
[]Buu’s insides
[*]Besides the Z-Combo Finish, no other environment interaction is confirmed[/LIST]4. Game System
A. General System
[LIST]
[]Controls are unknown for specific buttons at this time but include: Weak Attack, Strong Attack, Transformation, Guard, Ki Charge (more to come)
[]Maximum Ki is now 200%
[]Combos with physical moves are now easier to do/string together due to lessened push back
[]Special Moves/Certain Kill Moves still correspond to what direction your character is facing (up, down or to the sides)
[]Characters can now engage in beam struggles[/LIST]B. Team Structure
[LIST]
[]As mentioned before, characters are divided into different DP classes
[]By default, the maximum number of DP points you can have is 7 although you can change it (I’ve seen screenshots where it is set to unlimited)
[]Your team can have a maximum of 3 characters and a minimum of 1
[]Support Characters are only 1 DP point
[]Support Characters, even if they are multiple people, still count as only 1 character to the number of people on your team
[]Support Characters, when called, come out onto the screen and do an attack and then leave
[]Whether or not Support Characters have a limited # of times or cost to be used is unknown at this time[/LIST]C. New Subsystems
[LIST=1]
[]Ultimate Attack[/LIST][LIST]
[]They are only usable when your character has 30% or less HP (Red health bar) and they cost 150% Ki
[]Confirmed Ultimate Attacks:
[]Son Goku- 20X Kaioken http://www.hitcombo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=81 (Click for the following other ones)
[]SSJ Vegeta- Big Bang Burst
[]Old Son Gohan- Chou Kamehameha
[]Ginyu- Tokusenzoi (?) Storm
[]Gotenks- Ultra Super Saiyajin
[]Perfect Cell- Full-Power Rush
[]Freeza- Death Ball
[]Broli- Blaster Meteo
[]Majin Buu- Hydra Smasher
[]Vegeta- Galic Fire http://www.hitcombo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75
[]SSJ Son Goku- Super Saiyajin 3 http://www.hitcombo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72
[]Metal Coola- Machinery Raid http://www.hitcombo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73[/LIST] 2. Team Arts
[LIST]
[]Team Arts are another new subsystem of Bukuu Ressen/Supersonic Warriors 2
[]Team Arts are extremely damaging techs that use 200% Ki
[]It seems that almost every character has a somewhat unique Team Art
[]Support Characters can be part of a Team Art
[]Notable Team Arts:
[]SSJ Son Goku+SSJ Vegeta- Super Vegetto Sword
[]Zarbon & Dodoria+Freeza- (Can’t think of a cool name) Z&B fire 2 huge energy blasts after Freeza orders them, then Freeza appears behind the opponent, trapping them in the explosive energy ball and slammin them into the ground
[]2nd Form Cell+Dr. Gero- Double Energy Drain
[]Fat Buu+Mr. Satan- Something really weird… looks pretty funny
[]Trunks+Old Son Gohan- Twin Sword Slash (Trunks uses his sword and Gohan uses the Z-Sword to cut the enemy up)
[]Son Gokuu+SSJ2 Young Son Gohan- Father-Son Kamehameha (Apparently, if you have Bardock too, then he launches his own Ki blast at the unfortunate enemy too… it’s beautiful :sad:)[/LIST] 3. Transformations
[LIST]
[]Using the L button, some characters can transform to power themselves up
[]Note that characters will not overlap forms from their other incarnations (i.e. Young Son Gohan can go SSJ, but cannot go SSJ2 through a transformation because he has a separate character as that form)
[]No other benefits besides increased attack power have been found for these transformations
[]Using a transformation will slowly drain your ki
[]Here are the confirmed transformations:
[]Son Goku- Kaioken
[]Young Son Gohan- SSJ
[]Krillin- Unlock Potential
[]Trunks- Unlock Potential
[]SSJ Trunks- SSJ1.5 (USSJ)
[]Freeza- 100% Full Power
[]Old Son Gohan- SSJ, Mystic (how Gohan has 2 transformations and how it works is unknown at this time)[/LIST]5. Story Mode
[LIST]
[]Bukuu Ressen/SSW2 has story mode sequences for every character it seems
[]Story sequences are futher fleshed out using talking heads with text type of thing
[]Unique “What-if” scenarios make each character’s story interesting and original
[]Instead of a short, linear path like in the first game, multiple branching paths are included like Jump Super Stars
[]Due to the large number of stages on a character’s story map, it’s possible that not only wins effect where you go, but loses also
[]It seems that there is also some kind of way that you learn special moves as you progress farther in story mode[/LIST]6. Other Stuffs
[LIST]
[]LAN Multiplay for 2 people is confirmed
[]If you have anything to contribute, feel free to! Aparently there is a Prima guide already out that details pretty much everything about the game
[*]Sorry for taking so long… I was sick and in bed for a long period[/LIST]
7. Media
Vids:
http://www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/movie/ds_dbz_61fk3sa6_cm01.asx
http://www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/movie/ds_dbz_m0uk0nfw_pv01.asx <== WATCH THIS NOW!!! TOO GOOD!
It shows a ton of Team Arts, Ultimates, and features some pretty sweet music/presentation.
Screens & Scans:
http://www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/list/ds_dbz01/
http://www.hitcombo.com/showthread.php?t=15
Yay! The rough structure is finished!