Discussion on Sparking!'s "Story Mode"

Conan the SSJ · Post by **Conan the SSJ** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:32 am

Personally I don't know how there gonna pull off doing a very interesting story mode when it's been done to death in 4 other PS2 games. I mean let's see: Budokai 1 - Cut Scenes style, Budokai 2 - Board Game style, Budokai 3 - RPG World-Flying style, and Sagas - Beat-'em up Adventuring style. I'll admit, Budokais 1 and 3 found their own ways of making their story modes simply tremendous, whilst Budokai 2 and Sagas definitly had their flaws but still had decent elements, so what more can be done? Apparently there supposed to mix all 3 series' with the movies, but then why say it's only going from Raditz to Buu? I need some answers otherwise I'll end up buying this game simply for the extra characters and (just like Sagas) the collection purpose.

Slickmasterfunk · Post by **Slickmasterfunk** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:38 am

Hopefully the game with have Goku as a child and Demon King Piccolo in it. We also know that it has Super Saiyan 4 and Super Android 17 in it as well and hopefully the evil dragons. So I'd be thrilled if it started off with a video recap of Dragon Ball (like the one Sagas had) up until the point and started with Goku's final battle with King Piccolo. It could then go from there to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai and all the way through DBZ. Then there could be another video recap of the DBGT episodes up until Baby's appearance. From there it could go all the way through GT ending with a video recap of the GT TV special and finally concluding with a playable fight between Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. in the Tenkaichi Budokai.

If the story ever turned out like that it would be by far the greatest DBZ game ever and no DBZ game in the future would ever be able to top it.

sangofe · Post by **sangofe** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:16 am

Slickmasterfunk wrote:Hopefully the game with have Goku as a child and Demon King Piccolo in it. We also know that it has Super Saiyan 4 and Super Android 17 in it as well and hopefully the evil dragons. So I'd be thrilled if it started off with a video recap of Dragon Ball (like the one Sagas had) up until the point and started with Goku's final battle with King Piccolo. It could then go from there to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai and all the way through DBZ. Then there could be another video recap of the DBGT episodes up until Baby's appearance. From there it could go all the way through GT ending with a video recap of the GT TV special and finally concluding with a playable fight between Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. in the Tenkaichi Budokai.

If the story ever turned out like that it would be by far the greatest DBZ game ever and no DBZ game in the future would ever be able to top it.

I think I read that the story mode would cover Raditz saga til the end of Buu saga...So I'm afraid your hopes won't come true.

Slickmasterfunk · Post by **Slickmasterfunk** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:13 pm

sangofe wrote:I think I read that the story mode would cover Raditz saga til the end of Buu saga...So I'm afraid your hopes won't come true.

Oh, I know full well that my idea won't become a reality. Hope is all it was.

ngnikolaos · Post by **ngnikolaos** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:28 pm

well, in DBZ animania, the article says something about "150 battles of the DB/Z/GT universe", so I guess we're in for a treat. I don't know however. Budokai 2 and 3 were developed in one year each, and let's face it, they had little extras in comparison with original Budokai (explaining the lack of a TRUE story mode, with cutscenes and all).

The ONLY way I figure that there are going to be cutscenes for every DBZ fight (including What ifs) is:

A) The game has been in development for at least three years
B) Most cutscenes are going to be straight from the Anime

Even if most character models are taken from Dimps (I don't know if Spike could do this with the approval of Atari to save time), they STILL have to make 40-50 character models more, considering that Sparking (Tenkaichi) has about 90 character models, while Budokai 3 must have had about 50 (not sure about the numbers)

However, knowing Atari, they will probably never release the game when it's done, meaning that we probably are going to get (once again) a half-baked cookie.

Let's just hope that even half-baked, Budokai Tenkaichi is going to kick ass.

Unlesss, of course, Spike has an ENORMOUS staff, making them work around the clock for only 1-2 years, giving us the game when it's 100% complete.

tealsmith · Post by **tealsmith** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:01 pm

Personally, I'm quite tired of playing through the normal DBZ story. It doesn't matter how you package it - it's still the same damn story, regardless of how amazing the gameplay is. The inclusion of a 'Movie Storymode' would be nice. Personally, I'd like a future game to have an original story by Akira Toriyama. Seriously, just let the guy go nuts, hell, maybe even throw in a few original characters.

Caracal · Post by **Caracal** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:08 pm

tealsmith wrote:Personally, I'm quite tired of playing through the normal DBZ story. It doesn't matter how you package it - it's still the same damn story, regardless of how amazing the gameplay is. The inclusion of a 'Movie Storymode' would be nice. Personally, I'd like a future game to have an original story by Akira Toriyama. Seriously, just let the guy go nuts, hell, maybe even throw in a few original characters.

Agreed. Alternatively they could have more What If storylines than current existing ones.

denitonis · Post by **denitonis** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:37 pm

Well this article states
http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/7762/page49ul.jpg

We've prepared a mode called Z Battle Gate in which players can actually experience these various memorial battles in the game.
It includes close to 150 battles from Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, the Dragon Ball movies, and 'What if?" fights punctuated with attractive cut-scenes with 3D models.
Saving Planet Vegeta from Frieza isn't just a rabid fan fantasy any longer?

So I think they make there own cut-scenes and hopefully even a lot of new ones for the "what-if battles",
like a Bardock vs Freeza battle, going into a story in which lead Bardock through the various battles the original Z-Fighters had.

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:44 am

Ya, I have high hopes for the what-if stuff in this game. I mean, I love the story of Dragonball and all, but something new in any way shape or form would be rather nice. Hell, it'd cool if Funi could get their hands on the Playdia game and re-release it as an interactive DVD game. And, of course, any kind of new story-line, especially with new characters...

I mean. I've been wondering. WHY don't they go the movie route with the games? I don't mean make a game about the movies (which would be cool, sure) but make an original story with original bad guys? Give us all something new and fresh that brings the franchise back to full force again. I mean, they'd make more money, I think, if they did that. Cause then they could keep coming out with new games there actually are new.

Caracal · Post by **Caracal** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:28 am

Xyex wrote:I mean. I've been wondering. WHY don't they go the movie route with the games? I don't mean make a game about the movies (which would be cool, sure) but make an original story with original bad guys? Give us all something new and fresh that brings the franchise back to full force again. I mean, they'd make more money, I think, if they did that. Cause then they could keep coming out with new games there actually are new.

Agreed. I'd much rather see new storylines then the same ones again and again.

ngnikolaos · Post by **ngnikolaos** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:36 pm

Give us all something new and fresh that brings the franchise back to full force again. I mean, they'd make more money, I think, if they did that. Cause then they could keep coming out with new games there actually are new.

While a what-if story is always welcome, I heard quite a few fans bashing Budokai 2 just because it "screwed up" the storyline.

So, while there are fans who like something new, there are also fans who like the good ol' authentic storyline.

I think that the perfect solution would be something like in Budokai 1. A completely authentic storyline, with some "what-if" scenarios from the bad guy's view.

Or better yet, something EXACTLY like in Super Sonic Warriors. The sagas, and also What If stories for each character (of course, in Tenkaichi, this is impossible due to the HUGE character roster, but they could have the main Z-Fighters, as well as the main villains)

P.S: Thin Buu.... oh my f*****g Christ... ARE THOSE GUYS IN SPIKE... ON CRACK!??!!? WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 4:42 pm

Oooooh, I just noticed something! Take a look at the article up there again. See that SSJ4 Goku vs. SSJ4 Gogeta shot at the top left of the article? See the damage to the building in the back? Now, I doubt that that damage is there all the time, but I've seen it in a different image! SSJ2 Goku vs. SSJ2 Vegeta (pretty sure they were SSJ2).

This implies, to me at least, that Goku transformed to level 4 and Vegeta fused into Gogeta during the fight. I could be completely off base, I'll admit. But the levels are supposedly 'freely destructable' which means doing the same kind of level damage in two different fights should be reeeeeally hard, if not impossible...

P.S. Tao! YAY! Can't wait to kick some ass with Tao!

tealsmith · Post by **tealsmith** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:15 pm

Xyex wrote:
P.S. Tao! YAY! Can't wait to kick some ass with Tao!

Indeed. Here's hoping we get Normal and Cyborg, complete with a special attack where he slaps his enemy by whipping his hair around at lightning speed

Conan the SSJ · Post by **Conan the SSJ** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:55 pm

tealsmith wrote:
Xyex wrote:
P.S. Tao! YAY! Can't wait to kick some ass with Tao!
Indeed. Here's hoping we get Normal and Cyborg, complete with a special attack where he slaps his enemy by whipping his hair around at lightning speed

Since Tao is gonna be in it, maybe we'll get a story mode with Kid Goku, they could pull it off considering Piccolo Daimao could work as an alternate skin for Piccolo. Kid Goku would have a decent number of possible opponents and they could always throw in that what-if time traveling story for him. I gotta admit, it sounded quite good when listening to the memory archives and it would of been a real original story. Regaurding Tao, hopefully they way they give him the Cyborb ability will be like Freeza and Cooler's spaceships, however instead have Crane Hermit fly over in an airplane and hover Tao's body up to be constructed.

Nami · Post by **Nami** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:40 pm

Conan the SSJ wrote:Since Tao is gonna be in it, maybe we'll get a story mode with Kid Goku, they could pull it off considering Piccolo Daimao could work as an alternate skin for Piccolo. Kid Goku would have a decent number of possible opponents and they could always throw in that what-if time traveling story for him. I gotta admit, it sounded quite good when listening to the memory archives and it would of been a real original story. Regaurding Tao, hopefully they way they give him the Cyborb ability will be like Freeza and Cooler's spaceships, however instead have Crane Hermit fly over in an airplane and hover Tao's body up to be constructed.

Cool idea, I do wish Chibi Goku gets his own story mode. Most of all I want Future Trunks to get one, maybe they'll have a what-if story where they show how he gets SSJ2 since he never does in the show

. We'll see soon enough, and SPIKE has had 4 previous DBZ games to look back on for good ideas and things to avoid.

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 11:39 pm

Actually, from the images I've seen of Future Trunks, he wont have SSJ2 this time around. It seems Spike is going for cannon transformations. So we've got Super Trunks again now.

Majin Buu · Post by **Majin Buu** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 1:43 am

Xyex wrote:Actually, from the images I've seen of Future Trunks, he wont have SSJ2 this time around. It seems Spike is going for cannon transformations. So we've got Super Trunks again now.

I think Dimps figured they could pass off Trunks' USSJ as SSJ2.

sangofe · Post by **sangofe** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:02 am

denitonis wrote: Saving Planet Vegeta from Freeza isn't just a rabid fan fantasy any longer?

-Sorry to use IRC language here, but if this is in the game then, OMZG!!!
I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS GAME!!
But, we'll see, the official is that it'll cover all dbz main story.

Holken · Post by **Holken** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 9:52 am

Screenshot of story mode, the cut-scène.
http://www.gamekult.com/tout/actus/arti ... 42545.html

Jord · Post by **Jord** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:48 am

Those cutscenes look great. These visuals+Japanese audio+good gameplay=best DBZ game ever.