DragonBall: Raging Blast (PS3/360)

[Deep Thought]

To be fair, I think Raging Blast is trying to look a lot like the show, particularly Kai. Besides, it probably looks a lot better in motion.

Don't think that game's being in motion or not matters? Starcraft 2, King of Fighters 12, and Street Fighter 4 would like to have a word with you, then.

Burst Limit looked good, but it didn't look like the show, and I'd prefer a game that tries to replicate that style as much as humanly possible. Hence why I orgasmed when I saw that Naruto PS3 game, and I'm not even a Naruto fan.

[Big Momma]

^Really? I thought Burst Limit looked a lot like the show. Closer than any other game.

I don't know why people care so much about the graphics.

Simple. The medium is called "Video Games." I'm all about the old school, I can still pop in a Master System game and enjoy the hell out of it...but when you're paying $300-600 for a system and $60 a game...yeah, graphics do enter into the equation. Especially since this generation has seen a promising "test" with Burst Limit that apparently is on the back burner in favor of this less impressive (visually, from what we've seen) effort.

I totally understand how you feel, and I'm kind of in the same boat. It's like you say later on, the laziness of the developers.
And I wouldn't say Burst Limit is getting put on the back-burner. It's just all the hype that comes with a new game.

What?

.

...he said the models look great.

I mean, it doesn't have to be Burst Limit to still look good. Plus, we're looking at 150/possibly 200+ characters in this game. To think every single chracter design to look as great as Burst Limit is kinda wishful thinking. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying it isn't likely.

Not picking on you, BTW. Your quotes are just on this page

It's fairly easy for all the character models to look as great as Burst Limit. Those aren't that difficult to make. It's more a matter of whether the hardware can handle such a load between rendering the backgrounds and the character models without significant frame rate drops and so on. You're right that it isn't likely, but that's not because of anything except for the laziness of the developers.

However, let me counter your argument about graphics by raising perhaps my greatest issue with the Sparking titles:

The roster count.

I'm cool with putting lots of Dragon Ball characters in, however when it comes to this kind of excess (especially when they feel so "copy and pasted") I really find myself going back to earlier titles which had less characters but much more lift and polish. I'd rather have a lineup of 20-30 characters with their own unique move sets than 150-200 characters who are all exactly the same.

I hope this game turns out good, perhaps capturing my attention, but for now I'm thinking it will be the Sparking series' Burst Limit...only less pretty.

-Corey

I pretty much feel how you feel in that last paragraph. I think the Sparking! games are more just for fanservice. Most people just want to be able to play ALL their favorite fights with ALL their favorite chracters.

[Rory]

To be fair, I think Raging Blast is trying to look a lot like the show, particularly Kai. Besides, it probably looks a lot better in motion.

Don't think that game's being in motion or not matters? Starcraft 2, King of Fighters 12, and Street Fighter 4 would like to have a word with you, then.

Burst Limit looked good, but it didn't look like the show, and I'd prefer a game that tries to replicate that style as much as humanly possible. Hence why I orgasmed when I saw that Naruto PS3 game, and I'm not even a Naruto fan.

Street Fighter IV looks incredible when it's still or in motion.
Yeah, i got suckered into buying Ninja Storm too, and I hate Naruto.. the graphics are great, but jesus, I wish I wasn't just hitting circle constantly.

[Innagadadavida]

In regards to the terrible poly count on the terrain (cause let's face it the character models look great), I still think that's because of the sheer size of the stages (if there is a limit at all). I mean look at the screens we have, have you ever seen that much horizon in a sparking game.

Plenty of 360/PS3 games have huge stages that have beautiful looking textures. There's no excuse for textures that horrible. The character models look like retextured versions of Sparking METEOR's character models, and badly retextured at that. What's with Goku and Vegeta's colors?

Absolutely. This is true. GTA4 for example is set in a huge city and the environments are always much better than this (not the best by any means, but passable in the least). But Grand Theft Auto games are sure-fire sellers, whereas Dragon Ball Z games are moderate sellers. Last I checked VG Charts, Burst Limit only sold a little over 1 million in it's first 10 weeks, and Budokai Tenkaichi 3 sold a little over 2 million in it's first 10 weeks. Whereas Grand Theft Auto sold over 12.5 million in it's first 10 weeks. These games have a larger budget, larger development time, and (maybe) a larger development team. Is that an excuse for PS2 era environments we see here in Raging Blast? No, absolutely not. But there are several factors that come into play at this point. One, this may not be the full version; it may lack what little polish these games get before they hit store shelves. Two, because of the poor development cost and time, it may be because of massive stages or open environments. When I play Sparking, I'm rarely focused on what's going on in the background. If there's a whole open world to fight in, I'd give these terrible looking stages a free pass because of the awesomeness of unrestricted fighting.

Simple. The medium is called "Video Games." I'm all about the old school, I can still pop in a Master System game and enjoy the hell out of it...but when you're paying $300-600 for a system and $60 a game...yeah, graphics do enter into the equation. Especially since this generation has seen a promising "test" with Burst Limit that apparently is on the back burner in favor of this less impressive (visually, from what we've seen) effort.

I don't think that this game means Burst Limit is on the back burner. Burst Limit has a different developer than Raging Blast, so it may even be in development right now. Plus, the hype this game generates and the time it may give Dimps (because it'll keep the public happy for a while, at least some of us), it may make Burst Limit 2 all the better.

EDIT: New freakin' scan. It's really hard to see some of what's going on in these screens, but they all look new to me.

[Thanos]

It's really hard to see some of what's going on in these screens, but they all look new to me.

Whoa, it looks like you're able to physically slam your opponent against a wall, and beat the living shit out of them. Sick.

[Onikage725]

The number of characters would be fine...if they felt fleshed out. I mean, when it's something like "Hey, we've got 150+ characters...but this one doesn't have an ultimate...and this one's ultimate is just a rapid ki blast..." the numbers of characters doesn't mean dick to me personally.

Well, let me clarify my own position by saying that I hope some of that processing power that isn't going towards super crazy ultra-real graphics will go towards making the characters a bit more unique. The graphics seem to have fixed by biggest gripes with the old visuals. Other than that, I'm not much of a graphics whore. You emphasized Video, I emphasize Game. Though I don't feel it is too much to ask for both, I'd rather play a simple-looking but crazy fun game than vice versa (and believe me, like you touched on, there are loads of pretty but underwhelming games on the market right now).

To be fair, I think Raging Blast is trying to look a lot like the show, particularly Kai. Besides, it probably looks a lot better in motion.

Don't think that game's being in motion or not matters? Starcraft 2, King of Fighters 12, and Street Fighter 4 would like to have a word with you, then.

Burst Limit looked good, but it didn't look like the show, and I'd prefer a game that tries to replicate that style as much as humanly possible. Hence why I orgasmed when I saw that Naruto PS3 game, and I'm not even a Naruto fan.

Agreed here, especially SFIV. I had 0 interest in it... until I was at a friend's house and he made me play it. My opinion did a 180 almost immediately.

These games do have a good amount of "recreation" options. All I really want at this point is playable Kami (hey, we can use Babidi so let's show some respect to god) and allow Piccolo to fuse on the battlefield with him- similar to how the fusion dance works in the game. It'd give him a boost in stats and new moves. And I would soil my pants. Everybody wins.

[Mayuri Furiza Kurotsuchi]

Burst Limit looked good, but it didn't look like the show, and I'd prefer a game that tries to replicate that style as much as humanly possible. Hence why I orgasmed when I saw that Naruto PS3 game, and I'm not even a Naruto fan.

Burst Limit didn't look like the show? The reason most people love the "Budokai" games is because they actually replicate the art style of the show, unlike the Sparking games. The Sparking games are just a bunch of expressionless 3D models that look like slightly retarded clones of Dragonball Z/GT characters.

[Thanos]

Burst Limit didn't look like the show? The reason most people love the "Budokai" games is because they actually replicate the art style of the show, unlike the Sparking games. The Sparking games are just a bunch of expressionless 3D models that look like slightly retarded clones of Dragonball Z/GT characters.

Perhaps I'm biased, but you are blind. The only characters that look more accurate to the anime in Budokai are #17 & #18, and maybe Krillin. Other than that, they look like an overly cel-shaded, blocky mess.

First, let's compare Vegeta from the Budokai series to Vegeta from the anime:

Now, we'll compare Vegeta from the Sparking! series to Vegeta from the anime:

Finally, a comparison between the Budokai and Sparking! Vegeta:


Maybe it's just me, but... yeah. The Sparking! Vegeta easily looks at least as good as the Budokai Vegeta. Personally, I think the Sparking! Vegeta looks twice as good as the Budokai Vegeta, in terms of accuracy to the original content AND generally quality.

Either you prefer the blocky, olive-coloured Vegeta, or the "looks as good as possible with PS2's graphical capabilities/accurate to anime" Vegeta. To me the winner is clear. Give me a bit and I will debunk your claim that the Sparking! characters are expressionless. Honestly I think you people are out to just get us who enjoy the Sparking! series down.

[Rod]

Burst Limit looked good, but it didn't look like the show, and I'd prefer a game that tries to replicate that style as much as humanly possible. Hence why I orgasmed when I saw that Naruto PS3 game, and I'm not even a Naruto fan.

I hadn't seen any footage from that game, it's so beautiful, why can't we get a Dragon Ball game with those graphics

[Rory]

Maybe it's just me, but... yeah. The Sparking! Vegeta easily looks at least as good as the Budokai Vegeta. Personally, I think the Sparking! Vegeta looks twice as good as the Budokai Vegeta, in terms of accuracy to the original content AND generally quality

Wouldn't it be cool if his expression changed too?

[Thanos]

Maybe it's just me, but... yeah. The Sparking! Vegeta easily looks at least as good as the Budokai Vegeta. Personally, I think the Sparking! Vegeta looks twice as good as the Budokai Vegeta, in terms of accuracy to the original content AND generally quality

Wouldn't it be cool if his expression changed too?

As I said, I'm putting together a debunking of characters not having expressions in the Sparking! games. If you don't see them, you're in denial.

[Pain]

Maybe it's just me, but... yeah. The Sparking! Vegeta easily looks at least as good as the Budokai Vegeta. Personally, I think the Sparking! Vegeta looks twice as good as the Budokai Vegeta, in terms of accuracy to the original content AND generally quality

Wouldn't it be cool if his expression changed too?

As I said, I'm putting together a debunking of characters not having expressions in the Sparking! games. If you don't see them, you're in denial.

In Sparking, the characters have a pretty good set of body actions and facial features/emtions. I'll list them.

1. They blink

2. They breath

3. Their mouths move when they speak during battle.

4. Their faces show pain when they are hit.

5. They feel fatigue.

6. Some characters yell when doing their ultimate attacks(Example: Teen Gohan, Mirai Gohan, Mid Goku,etc.).

If that's not a sign of the characters showing signs of emotion and life, then I don't know what is.

[Rory]

Wouldn't it be cool if his expression changed too?

As I said, I'm putting together a debunking of characters not having expressions in the Sparking! games. If you don't see them, you're in denial.

In Sparking, the characters have a pretty good set of body actions and facial features/emtions. I'll list them.

1. They blink

2. They breath

3. Their mouths move when they speak during battle.

4. Their faces show pain when they are hit.

5. They feel fatigue.

6. Some characters yell when doing their ultimate attacks(Example: Teen Gohan, Mirai Gohan, Mid Goku,etc.).

If that's not a sign of the characters showing signs of emotion and life, then I don't know what is.

The movements are clunky at best.. and they don't breath, they repeat a standing animation (not really a compliment, not having this in any game would be unforgiveable).
While they have recently starting blinking, and their mouths move, these are not full 3D, it simply swaps the mouth image of it being closed for one of it being open, whilst nearly all of the character models in the Budokai games are rendered fully in 3D, and time and care have been put into making the animation look as fluid as possible, look at the Big Bang Attack, where the camera full circles Vegeta, his mouth is MOVING, not being clumsly animated. With blinking, but Budokai also did the image swap technique here, except Budokai's animations are much smoother, not just because the animations are more expressive, but that 60fps helps too.

[Innagadadavida]

Raging Blast looks like it fixes almost all of your aesthetic complaints, Rory. As you could see in the screens, the characters faces showed more emotion; Vegeta's eyes followed Goku's face, Goku flinched when he was hit with Vegeta's foot. Also, 60fps is pretty much expected for all current gen games.

And as far as mouth animations, I'm not sure what you're talking about. Budokai and Sparking games are equal in the mouth animations. The character models in Sparking even move their chins while they talk. Burst Limit retains the three frames of mouth animation and it's the best looking DBZ game on the market. Over all, only three instances of mouth movement better reflects the animation of the cartoon.

[SSJ2bardock]

While they have recently starting blinking, and their mouths move, these are not full 3D, it simply swaps the mouth image of it being closed for one of it being open

Why does that even matter, these are all things that you will NEVER see unless you pause the game to look at it.

[Rory]

While they have recently starting blinking, and their mouths move, these are not full 3D, it simply swaps the mouth image of it being closed for one of it being open

Why does that even matter, these are all things that you will NEVER see unless you pause the game to look at it.

A little goes a long way when it comes to the finer details of graphics, it's things like these that make phenomenal looking games like the Metal Gear series, or games like Resident Evil 4&5 the subliminal things you need to look out for, the blinking, the mouth movements (and when it's in sync with the audio). To say "who cares" is to have low expectations, and when you're buying a game with low expectations, well, something has definatley gone wrong.

Raging Blast looks like it fixes almost all of your aesthetic complaints, Rory. As you could see in the screens, the characters faces showed more emotion; Vegeta's eyes followed Goku's face, Goku flinched when he was hit with Vegeta's foot. Also, 60fps is pretty much expected for all current gen games.

And as far as mouth animations, I'm not sure what you're talking about. Budokai and Sparking games are equal in the mouth animations. The character models in Sparking even move their chins while they talk. Burst Limit retains the three frames of mouth animation and it's the best looking DBZ game on the market. Over all, only three instances of mouth movement better reflects the animation of the cartoon.

60fps is expected, but not always delivered, as Sonic Unleashed shown. While it is an improvement that the character's eyes follow their opponents, this was done last gen, and really isn't anything to write home about.
I find it hard to justfy excitement about improvements that really should've been there from the beggining. To me, the original Budokai is superior to the third Sparking in terms of smoothness, expressions, and overall fluidity.
This game seems to be doing exactly what Sparking has done all along in the graphics department:

Catching up.

[Thanos]

Rory, no offense, but you seem to me to just be a hard-to-please debbie downer.

[Rory]

Rory, no offense, but you seem to me to just be a hard-to-please debbie downer.

I just think I have high expectations, can you blame me?
If I'm going to be laying down £40 for a game on a Playstation 3, I'm expecting something graphically brilliant.

[SSJ2bardock]

To say "who cares" is to have low expectations, and when you're buying a game with low expectations, well, something has definatley gone wrong.

Or maybe it means I want to own a game that's fun and don't give a fuck about whether the characters have a moving mouth and blinking eyes that I'm never going to see. Does anybody remember fun?

[DNA]

BAWW clones. Every fighting game has clones. Street Fighter's shotoclones come to mind, and Smash's furry clones. So characters play similar, big deal. It's hard to come up with different fighting styles when in the series everyone is a master of the teleport-and-throw-a-ki-blast style of fighting.

I do like the fact that the Sparking! games pay attention to details like breathing and facial expressions, but I do admit that's not the most important thing in the game, fun is. But for me, Sparking! games are fun enough as it is, they can only improve. But hey, despite the fact that no one seems to be respecting everyone else's opinion, I'll still say that that's just MY opinion.

Bigger stages = instant win. Whilst I do hope there are new characters and please, PLEASE! lots of new stages, c'mon, the quantity of stages compared to the quantity of characters is ridiculous, there are so many stages that can still be used; but I digress, hopefully, and it does seem like it, there are new fighting mechanics, which is very good.

There's one little thing I hope they put in. Walking *fucking* stances. For god's sake, these people never walk, they just retardedly float. I want to see Buu's funny walking from Super DBZ, and Goku's SSJ4 epic pacific walk! Oh well, but I guess this is part of the "baw, I don't care about that, I want shinnier graphics" list of things. We'll just have to wait.

Oh and Hatchiak for Raging Blast.