"Sparking! NEO" (PS2/Wii)

[Demi]

I was excited when i first heard about Budokai Tenkaichi and saw the screens and videos... then i played it. I want to be more excited about this, but meh.

[Pedro The Hutt]

I'm really hoping to finally see GT Pan in this sequel, but I have a feeling she's going to be passed over again. It's almost like Atari has something against a game where giant monsters can beat up a little girl.

Wouldn't you mean Bandai, Dimps and Spike? =D

[Leotaku]

The environments look really vast now (especially in the picture with Goku charging at Lord Slug), but they also seem to lack destructive objects.

We can't really say 'til it's done. I mean, I think the environments looked big in the first game; but it turns out, they used invisible walls. So you never know.

As for lack of destructible objects, I'm hoping that the game is just still too early in development to really judge that. Maybe they haven't put any of that in yet.

Perhaps knock-away attacks will now result in a Budokai3-like cinematics, where the opponent crashes into a mountain, then flies back to you or something.

I actually preferred the way they did it in Tenkaichi. I like having control over the attack myself, and aim where I smash the enemy, or keep chaining the smashes together and knock 'em around mutliple times.

I don't want the scripted events of Budokai 3 again, it's not interactive enough for me.

I just hope that there isn't a stupid map on the right; I want to sneak around!

They have to give you SOME way to find your opponent though, whether it's a map or something else. Imagine wandering a huge level for minutes, maybe more, just trying to FIND the guy.


I'll be curious to see what they do with the tag team stuff. I hope there's at least something like special double-team attacks, and not just a simple "pick 2 characters that you can switch in and out of the fight".

[sangofe]

The images are in the PS2 section. http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/824/824079/imgs_1.html

This is it. This is what we've been waiting for. Oh my god. OH MY GOD!

J-Just look at the landscape! This is too good to be true... The graphics are sharp and defined.... This is truly a monumental event! I think I'm going to hibernate until it comes out(again); I just can't wait! Forget ol' Tenkaichi!

Is it on the PS3? Looks like it!

Hey...What are you on? The game doesn't look any better than Sparking! ...
I'm a bit disappointed we still don't have any game on the recent consoles that covers DB, oh well, if the story mode is WAY deeper than Sparking 1, I'll look forward to it, if not, I kinda feel "meh", too...

[Steven Perry]

The environments look really vast now (especially in the picture with Goku charging at Lord Slug), but they also seem to lack destructive objects.

We can't really say 'til it's done. I mean, I think the environments looked big in the first game; but it turns out, they used invisible walls. So you never know.

From reading the description at IGN, it seems as if the makers have taken the fan's comments into serious account; they've included the long- awaited RPG element, meaning there's small doubt that "We want bigger arenas" hasn't been considered...

It's always possible to make the arenas like a sphere; characters could continue to go around the map, and not bump into any boundaries (like Budokai 3's Dragon Universe).

[Tsukento]

Music aside, I find the rest of the reasons you want the import non-valid (no offence, just my opinion). A cover isn't worth a foreign language manual, and the release date will probably be a week or two different between US, European and Japanese versions.

Maybe not for you, but it works for me. Heck, the coverart for Shin Budokai was a helluva lot better in Japan than it was in the US. Though I can't read the manuals, that's why I test out button combinations and what does what. And if that fails, there's always the internet. Bless GameFAQs. >_>

Besides, I'm glad I picked up Sparking! as opposed to Budokai Tenkaichi. 'least my game isn't chock full of bugs since they weren't rushing the Japanese release. o_o

[ngnikolaos]

Well, you're right on the bugs, I'll admit that.

Steven Perry, don't take into serious consideration IGN's comments. Trust me, the IGN guy who reviewed Budokai 2 was saying that "Budokai 2 is better than Budokai 1 because it now has the "x" feature." Funny thing is, that the "x" feature he was referring to WAS AVAILABLE in the first Budokai as well. As far as DBZ games go, they barely play the game more than 10 minutes, then they review it.

So, as for the Sparking! NEO news, I'm 90% sure that most of the things they say (RPG elements, tag-teams, and the like) are made out from their tiny little heads.

I'm not saying that they are DEFINITELY wrong, I'm just saying that they usually say such things just to excite the die-hard fans (points at Steven).

The only thing I'm sure that they tell the "truth" is the 100 characters bit. Why? Because in the V-Jump scans one of the headlines goes like:

*&^$(^&#$*&$^@&($^)&* 100 (*^)&*(%#)(&%^ !!!!

Now THAT's proof.

And I agree with Sangofe. The game sprites at least look 99% identical with Tenkaichi 1 (Goku even has the same fly-charge pose). The only difference (aside from the new characters) is the plains stage, who looks really natural (and blurry, probably because of Goku's flying).

And as for the game not being finished yet... well, history has proven that what we see in the Budokai / Sparking! games is what we get (H.U.Ds excluded). Remember that from the first trailers of Budokai 3 and 2, the characters, the effects and the backgrounds were 100% identical to those of the final versions....

[The S]

True or false; Tullece has been confirmed to be in Sparking! NEO.

Because some dick keeps adding to the Wikipedia entry on Tullece that he's in there, but I can't find anything on it.

[Tsukento]

True or false; Tullece has been confirmed to be in Sparking! NEO.

Because some dick keeps adding to the Wikipedia entry on Tullece that he's in there, but I can't find anything on it.

Unconfirmed at the moment.

[DBZ MAN]

The graphics look good but the game is still in testing so it's not up to full potential yet.

[Steven Perry]

I just hope that there isn't a stupid map on the right; I want to sneak around!

They have to give you SOME way to find your opponent though, whether it's a map or something else. Imagine wandering a huge level for minutes, maybe more, just trying to FIND the guy.

Well, how about trying to SENSE their power levels? Or, just use the scouter. If you're playing as someone like Frieza, you'll just have to destroy the environment, and flush 'em out (like a rat).

I'll be curious to see what they do with the tag team stuff. I hope there's at least something like special double-team attacks, and not just a simple "pick 2 characters that you can switch in and out of the fight".

There could easily be 4 characters on the screen at once; all you have to do is lock on to your desired opponent, and hey presto! Maybe you could do some double-team attacks, like a wrestling game. Speaking of tag team, I'd love to play as Future Trunks with Gohan, having a FAIR match against those damn androids. Yeah, they'll get it... They'll get it alright.

I just hope that two characters can engage in high-speed melee combat with only one opponent. Yeah, that'd be cool. I'd feel so tough taking on two guys at once.

[Neon Z]

And as for the game not being finished yet... well, history has proven that what we see in the Budokai / Sparking! games is what we get (H.U.Ds excluded). Remember that from the first trailers of Budokai 3 and 2, the characters, the effects and the backgrounds were 100% identical to those of the final versions....

They haven't shown a shot of the Revolution version yet, those were only PS2. That version might have better graphics(though I bet they will recycle the character models... ).

If they actually use the 3d controller of the Rev correctly, it also could play very well. Nothing is better than a 3d tool to control a character who can fly in 3d.

[JAKEMAN]

This is so great, now if they could only put Yajirobe, and some of the fighters from Grand Kai's planet like Caterpy and Arqua in the game it will be sweet

[Tsukento]

They haven't shown a shot of the Revolution version yet, those were only PS2. That version might have better graphics(though I bet they will recycle the character models... ).

If they actually use the 3d controller of the Rev correctly, it also could play very well. Nothing is better than a 3d tool to control a character who can fly in 3d.

Actually, I wouldn't be suprised if it's the same exact game, with only a few minor differences (mainly the control schemes).

[sangofe]

They haven't shown a shot of the Revolution version yet, those were only PS2. That version might have better graphics(though I bet they will recycle the character models... ).

If they actually use the 3d controller of the Rev correctly, it also could play very well. Nothing is better than a 3d tool to control a character who can fly in 3d.

Actually, I wouldn't be suprised if it's the same exact game, with only a few minor differences (mainly the control schemes).

I'm pretty sure it will be, especially since it comes out just one year after the first game did...

[ngnikolaos]

This is so great, now if they could only put Yajirobe, and some of the fighters from Grand Kai's planet like Caterpy and Arqua in the game it will be sweet

Hmf. I dislike Yajirobe, but I must admit that the more, the merrier. I just cross my fingers and hope for individual combos.

Oh, and something just crossed my mind. If the 100 characters INCLUDE transformations, then we must expect only 10-12 new fighters. Possibly 7-8 if they transform.

However, Spike people are known to work fast, so I wouldn't be surprised if the 100 characters do not include transformations.

[NECPS]

I really hope they release a decent product.
The last Dragonballz games were not good.

But then again..

It is in Sparking style so..
It is hardly good.

[Deus ex Machina]

Somebody has their standards a little high? If you didn't like any of the DragonBall games up to now, chances are Neo won't blow you away either.

[ngnikolaos]

Why should he like a game which has 100 characters, all moves from the show, covers the storyline of 450 episodes and a couple of movies, all that presented in 3D cool environments and explosive action?

I'm afraid that your standards are way too low dear Deus... way too low.

[Leotaku]

It's always possible to make the arenas like a sphere; characters could continue to go around the map, and not bump into any boundaries (like Budokai 3's Dragon Universe).

That's fine and dandy for a world map, but for a specific area, like a city, it could just get confusing. And ridiculous, to have it loop around.
What is this, Pacman?

Well, how about trying to SENSE their power levels? Or, just use the scouter. If you're playing as someone like Freeza, you'll just have to destroy the environment, and flush 'em out (like a rat).

Something like that would be cool. I just mean, if you don't want a map, you still need SOMETHING.

There could easily be 4 characters on the screen at once; all you have to do is lock on to your desired opponent, and hey presto!

That's only from a gameplay standpoint though. From a technical standpoint, I'm not sure if the machine can actually handle 4 characters on screen at once. I don't know how many polygons an average character has, but maybe 4 at once, and a huge environment, is too many polygons at once. At least for PS2. Just a possibility, I mean.

They haven't shown a shot of the Revolution version yet, those were only PS2. That version might have better graphics(though I bet they will recycle the character models...).

They probably will look basically the same. I think most games that are released on both a current gen and next-gen system at the same time have primarily the same graphics. Like same character models and such.

Oh, and something just crossed my mind. If the 100 characters INCLUDE transformations, then we must expect only 10-12 new fighters. Possibly 7-8 if they transform.

That's what I'm expecting (though, not what I actually WANT, of course).
The first game was always touted to have 90 characters; in reality, that was including transformations all along. There was only about 57 completely different characters. Going from 57 to over 100 is INSANE.