tirkaro
Smash Champion
Link to original post: [drupal=1040]Tirkaro's top 10 Anime fighters[/drupal]
Fighting games: Games about fighting.
Shonen Anime: More than often about fighting somehow.
Likewise, it didn't take long for people to realize this match made in heaven, and thus we have a gigantic plethora of mediocre Anime fighters today. However, some games manage to rise from the ashes of mediocrity, and show the world that not all licensed games need to necessarily be bad. This is an entry dedicated to not only the awesomeness of those very games, but to the very artform of anime fighting games itself. So, in order of awesomeness, here are TIRKARO'S TOP 10 ANIME FIGHTERS OF ALL TIME
10: Naruto: Clash of Ninja series
Y'know, I wasn't even too sure if I should have put this here. Had it not been about Naruto, I would have had no doubt this would have been shrugged off as another Mediocre Anime fighter. However, popularity of the anime won over the questionable quality of the first game, and the whole thing evolved into it's own series. It's had it's ups(GNT4) and downs(GNTEX), but it's managed to please it's fans with it's large roster (and by that, I'm just talking about GNT4), fun 4-player mode, and being surprisingly deep for something that initailly and was probably intended to be incredibly shallow.
9: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series
To be honest, I'm REALLY not that fond of Naruto, at least not anymore, which is why it kinda pains me to put not one, but 2 series' based on it on my list. But, like it or not, I can't deny that Ultimate ninja is one fine series indeed.
The UN series has always been more about it's features and graphics that it's gameplay, and it kinda shows. It's obviously meant to cater to a more casual crowd, more interested in large rosters and pretty graphics than deep fighting systems. However, much like smash, the fanbase managed to establish a pretty well sized scene for it, and made the games a lot deeper than it was ever meant to be. Also, did I mention the graphics look awesome? Seriously, look at storm! Sweet jezeebus!
8: Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi series
Comparatively, DB/Z is probably tied with gundam for having the largest collection of games out of any other anime out there, and for a good reason too. Goku is pretty much the posterboy for shonen Manga around the world, and video games starring him were around since the very beginning of the NES. A good majority of them are pretty crap, but there are some exceptions, one of those being the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
BT is pretty much the closest one can get to the DBZ experience. Everything, right down to every movement, oozes with DBZ. While it's not as deep as the Budokai Series, it doesn't try to, instead being like the before-mentioned ultimate ninja series; focusing more on features and flash. And for what it aims to be, it does a **** good job of it. The series' highest point definitely had to be Tenkaichi 2, while T3 was pretty much the same, but with a couple new characters and laggy online play.
7: Tatsunoko vs Capcom
MvC is awesome, as many will tell you. MvC also has an awesome, if not even better, sucessor: Tasunoko vs Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes. TvC is a continuation of the MvC gameplay, mixed in with some of the Anime Icons of Tatsunoko Productions. However, that's kinda also why it ranks low on my list: It's Technically another Capcom fighter, but with some Tatsunoko characters thrown in, so it can't be considered a true anime fighter. However, it's totally awesome, so it gets on my list anyway.
6: Gundam: Battle assault 2
Gundam is another popular Anime series with an absolutely ridiculous amount of Games. In fact, this game is just one of the many 2d fighters based on Gundam.(For a good overview of them all, click here.) G:BA2 is definitely the best installment of the best gundam 2d fighting series ever. and the fact that I can actually classify it like that shows just how many go**** games Gundam has. BA2, along with the rest of the BA series, has some awesome graphics for it's time, consisting of Large, multi-jointed sprites. That along with some surprisingly deep gameplay and large roster makes it not only a must own for gundam fans, but also for any hardcore Fighting game collector.
5: BLEACH: Dark Souls
(Note: I've only played the blade of fate, but dark souls is supposed to pretty much be the same with new stuff, so it gets in on this list over it.)
Treasure's BLEACH DS series started way back on the Mega Drive with Yu-yu Hakusho: Sunset fighters. The game was demoted to mere cult status in japan, until it was revived with a bang when they continued it much later, when Yu-yu hakusho changed it's name to BLEACH for some reason(wait, you mean those are actually different series?). Dark Souls, being the latter, is certainly the best, giving Treasure's trademark balls-of-the-walls amount of action and chaos, and stuffing that into a freakin' FIGHTING GAME. Just that alone should tell you this game is awesome. Not only that, but it has one of the most bizarre rosters ever, not only consisting of the general major characters, but also some incredibly minor and random characters like Bonnie the Pig and Yuichi Shibata.
4: Dragon ball Z Budokai 3
Budokai 3 is undoubtedly the highest point of of DBZ's video game history. Normally, that wouldn't be saying much, but Budokai 3 is still a great game. It has pretty much all the workings of a good anime fighter: Big roster, fun-yet-deepish gameplay, loads of features, even customizable moves! B3 fixed every flaw with the past 2 budokais, and added oh-so-much more. It did an amazing job of both balancing faithfulness of the series and providing an awesome fighting game as well. Budokai 3 has without a doubt earned it's spot in the anime fighting hall-of-fame, and even still has a pretty good scene to this day.
3: Hokuto no Ken
While there were plenty of HnK fighting games before it, Hokuto no Ken for the PS2, AKA, Hokuto no Gear or Guilty no Ken, is the most famous and for a good reason.
Hokuto no Ken for the PS2 was made by the folks at Arcsys, the same people who brought us a little series you may know as Guilty Gear. It looks and plays similar, but with some changes as well, most notably being a MUCH more practical version of Guilty Gear's Insta-kills. While some may argue that HnK is just GG in HnK's clothing, I don't think anyone would complain about an epic combination as that.
2: Jump Ultimate stars
Right now, the fact that I didn't put this at no.1 probably shocks and appalls a good deal of you. To that, I say good point, but it's my list so shut your god **** snatch. JUS is the much-superior sequel to Jump Superstars, a rather unique take on the fighting genre. It actually has you arranging some panels on a page before you do anything. These Panels, or Komas, contain either a Battle Koma, which are playable characters, Support Komas, which are supports/strikers/assist trophies, and Help komas, which enhance stats and abilities. What the game lacks in technical depth, it more than makes up for in the sheer depth in the Koma system. Also, because of this, there are a LOT of characters in this game, over 50 or so playables, not counting their other forms. and counting supports and helpers, there are 300 characters in this game.
One gigantic step-up from Superstars is Ultimate star's excellent online play, which is a million times better than brawl's in every way. You can play with 4 players all around the world, and....there'd still be some lag, but not as bad as Brawl's. Like Metroid Prime Hunters, you can save other people's rival data and track them down if you want. And if you found a particular deck that ***** you into oblivion, you can save it for yourself to use.
Aesthetically, the graphics leave some to be desired, and the stages are pretty lifeless, but there's some rockin' tunes going on. All in all, there's tons of content to this game, and anyone who has a DS and still doesn't have this game needs to slap themselves with a monkey wrench and order this from Playasia immediately. Normally, this would be #1, but there's just one game I hold way to close to my heart to not put it up here instead:
1. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
JJBA is too good.
Jojo's bizarre adventure was one very few games on Capcom's CPSIII arcade system, along with Street fighter 3 and Red Earth. For many of us, it was our first ever introduction to the awesome that is Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, a manga that was unheard of in the west at the time. JJBA's style made for one of the most unique capcom fighters ever, and is what I consider one of Capcom's 3 best fighters ever, along with Vampire savior and 3rd strike. One particularly neat concept was the Stand system, a system that didn't seem to make much sense to us westerners, but really freakin' cool anyway. The closest way to describe them are assists that kinda hover around you and have their own bar.
The fast-paced-yet-deep gameplay, colorful and stylized graphics, and a roster of unique, and sometimes downright crazy characters makes JJBA for the CPS3/dreamcast one of the greatest fighters based on a series of arranged drawings from japan ever made. Now one more thing capcom: WHERE'S OUR GOD **** SEQUEL!
Fighting games: Games about fighting.
Shonen Anime: More than often about fighting somehow.
Likewise, it didn't take long for people to realize this match made in heaven, and thus we have a gigantic plethora of mediocre Anime fighters today. However, some games manage to rise from the ashes of mediocrity, and show the world that not all licensed games need to necessarily be bad. This is an entry dedicated to not only the awesomeness of those very games, but to the very artform of anime fighting games itself. So, in order of awesomeness, here are TIRKARO'S TOP 10 ANIME FIGHTERS OF ALL TIME
10: Naruto: Clash of Ninja series
Y'know, I wasn't even too sure if I should have put this here. Had it not been about Naruto, I would have had no doubt this would have been shrugged off as another Mediocre Anime fighter. However, popularity of the anime won over the questionable quality of the first game, and the whole thing evolved into it's own series. It's had it's ups(GNT4) and downs(GNTEX), but it's managed to please it's fans with it's large roster (and by that, I'm just talking about GNT4), fun 4-player mode, and being surprisingly deep for something that initailly and was probably intended to be incredibly shallow.
9: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series
To be honest, I'm REALLY not that fond of Naruto, at least not anymore, which is why it kinda pains me to put not one, but 2 series' based on it on my list. But, like it or not, I can't deny that Ultimate ninja is one fine series indeed.
The UN series has always been more about it's features and graphics that it's gameplay, and it kinda shows. It's obviously meant to cater to a more casual crowd, more interested in large rosters and pretty graphics than deep fighting systems. However, much like smash, the fanbase managed to establish a pretty well sized scene for it, and made the games a lot deeper than it was ever meant to be. Also, did I mention the graphics look awesome? Seriously, look at storm! Sweet jezeebus!
8: Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi series
Comparatively, DB/Z is probably tied with gundam for having the largest collection of games out of any other anime out there, and for a good reason too. Goku is pretty much the posterboy for shonen Manga around the world, and video games starring him were around since the very beginning of the NES. A good majority of them are pretty crap, but there are some exceptions, one of those being the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
BT is pretty much the closest one can get to the DBZ experience. Everything, right down to every movement, oozes with DBZ. While it's not as deep as the Budokai Series, it doesn't try to, instead being like the before-mentioned ultimate ninja series; focusing more on features and flash. And for what it aims to be, it does a **** good job of it. The series' highest point definitely had to be Tenkaichi 2, while T3 was pretty much the same, but with a couple new characters and laggy online play.
7: Tatsunoko vs Capcom
MvC is awesome, as many will tell you. MvC also has an awesome, if not even better, sucessor: Tasunoko vs Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes. TvC is a continuation of the MvC gameplay, mixed in with some of the Anime Icons of Tatsunoko Productions. However, that's kinda also why it ranks low on my list: It's Technically another Capcom fighter, but with some Tatsunoko characters thrown in, so it can't be considered a true anime fighter. However, it's totally awesome, so it gets on my list anyway.
6: Gundam: Battle assault 2
Gundam is another popular Anime series with an absolutely ridiculous amount of Games. In fact, this game is just one of the many 2d fighters based on Gundam.(For a good overview of them all, click here.) G:BA2 is definitely the best installment of the best gundam 2d fighting series ever. and the fact that I can actually classify it like that shows just how many go**** games Gundam has. BA2, along with the rest of the BA series, has some awesome graphics for it's time, consisting of Large, multi-jointed sprites. That along with some surprisingly deep gameplay and large roster makes it not only a must own for gundam fans, but also for any hardcore Fighting game collector.
5: BLEACH: Dark Souls
(Note: I've only played the blade of fate, but dark souls is supposed to pretty much be the same with new stuff, so it gets in on this list over it.)
Treasure's BLEACH DS series started way back on the Mega Drive with Yu-yu Hakusho: Sunset fighters. The game was demoted to mere cult status in japan, until it was revived with a bang when they continued it much later, when Yu-yu hakusho changed it's name to BLEACH for some reason(wait, you mean those are actually different series?). Dark Souls, being the latter, is certainly the best, giving Treasure's trademark balls-of-the-walls amount of action and chaos, and stuffing that into a freakin' FIGHTING GAME. Just that alone should tell you this game is awesome. Not only that, but it has one of the most bizarre rosters ever, not only consisting of the general major characters, but also some incredibly minor and random characters like Bonnie the Pig and Yuichi Shibata.
4: Dragon ball Z Budokai 3
Budokai 3 is undoubtedly the highest point of of DBZ's video game history. Normally, that wouldn't be saying much, but Budokai 3 is still a great game. It has pretty much all the workings of a good anime fighter: Big roster, fun-yet-deepish gameplay, loads of features, even customizable moves! B3 fixed every flaw with the past 2 budokais, and added oh-so-much more. It did an amazing job of both balancing faithfulness of the series and providing an awesome fighting game as well. Budokai 3 has without a doubt earned it's spot in the anime fighting hall-of-fame, and even still has a pretty good scene to this day.
3: Hokuto no Ken
While there were plenty of HnK fighting games before it, Hokuto no Ken for the PS2, AKA, Hokuto no Gear or Guilty no Ken, is the most famous and for a good reason.
Hokuto no Ken for the PS2 was made by the folks at Arcsys, the same people who brought us a little series you may know as Guilty Gear. It looks and plays similar, but with some changes as well, most notably being a MUCH more practical version of Guilty Gear's Insta-kills. While some may argue that HnK is just GG in HnK's clothing, I don't think anyone would complain about an epic combination as that.
2: Jump Ultimate stars
Right now, the fact that I didn't put this at no.1 probably shocks and appalls a good deal of you. To that, I say good point, but it's my list so shut your god **** snatch. JUS is the much-superior sequel to Jump Superstars, a rather unique take on the fighting genre. It actually has you arranging some panels on a page before you do anything. These Panels, or Komas, contain either a Battle Koma, which are playable characters, Support Komas, which are supports/strikers/assist trophies, and Help komas, which enhance stats and abilities. What the game lacks in technical depth, it more than makes up for in the sheer depth in the Koma system. Also, because of this, there are a LOT of characters in this game, over 50 or so playables, not counting their other forms. and counting supports and helpers, there are 300 characters in this game.
One gigantic step-up from Superstars is Ultimate star's excellent online play, which is a million times better than brawl's in every way. You can play with 4 players all around the world, and....there'd still be some lag, but not as bad as Brawl's. Like Metroid Prime Hunters, you can save other people's rival data and track them down if you want. And if you found a particular deck that ***** you into oblivion, you can save it for yourself to use.
Aesthetically, the graphics leave some to be desired, and the stages are pretty lifeless, but there's some rockin' tunes going on. All in all, there's tons of content to this game, and anyone who has a DS and still doesn't have this game needs to slap themselves with a monkey wrench and order this from Playasia immediately. Normally, this would be #1, but there's just one game I hold way to close to my heart to not put it up here instead:
1. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
JJBA is too good.
Jojo's bizarre adventure was one very few games on Capcom's CPSIII arcade system, along with Street fighter 3 and Red Earth. For many of us, it was our first ever introduction to the awesome that is Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, a manga that was unheard of in the west at the time. JJBA's style made for one of the most unique capcom fighters ever, and is what I consider one of Capcom's 3 best fighters ever, along with Vampire savior and 3rd strike. One particularly neat concept was the Stand system, a system that didn't seem to make much sense to us westerners, but really freakin' cool anyway. The closest way to describe them are assists that kinda hover around you and have their own bar.
The fast-paced-yet-deep gameplay, colorful and stylized graphics, and a roster of unique, and sometimes downright crazy characters makes JJBA for the CPS3/dreamcast one of the greatest fighters based on a series of arranged drawings from japan ever made. Now one more thing capcom: WHERE'S OUR GOD **** SEQUEL!
