Bandai Namco brought some of their big guns to the big apple!
I was recently invited to the software showcase in New York City from my friends over at Bandai Namco and from was shown, they’re gearing up for the holiday rush. Popular characters like Pac-Man, Naruto, and Digimon will be front and center as the calendar gets closer to the winter months. There will also be games for an older cliental but it’s good to see Bandai go with games for all ages. Let’s get right into it!
First up is Digimon All Star Rumble and this shows that Bandai Namco is still trying to please the Digimon fans. From what the demo showed, it will play a lot like Super Smash Brothers, only with Digimon. All generations of the Anime will be represented in the different Digimon fighters available like Agumon or Shoutmon. The one level lagged a little bit but it was still an early build of the level so I can’t dwell too much on that. The same could be said for the controls but again, early build of the game so not too much dwelling! The attack system is typical fighting game button combos and special attacks. The gage increases upon every attack and digi-volving will be the key to victory. The only thing I will get on Bandai Namco for is the lack of online play. In this era of fighting games, you need online play and that could hurt sales later on but only time will tell on that one.
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 has everyone’s favorite yellow orb continuing the fight against Ghost Lord Betrayus and the hordes of ghosts. The game plays a lot like the first installment in the series and has a lot of the characters from the animated series like Pac’s friends Spiral and Cylindria, which you’ll have interaction with throughout the game. There will also be locales from the show which will need exploring while you chomp on those ghosts and power pellets. Power-ups will help the cause as most of the power-ups from the first game have returned but are powered up as well as new power-ups being added to the lineup. The game has different game play mechanics build right into the levels where some of the level is a platforming side scroller and then the level changes to a fighting game with a robot! Pac Man always keeps you on guard because you never know what’s gonna happen next!
Next up for me was Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. The game graphics look like you’re watching an episode of the anime and keeps the style right through battles. The game brings story elements right into battle and that is a seamless transition which other games struggle to do! It also keeps the humor of the anime with Naruto being able to transform with the Sexy Jutsu. I felt that the controls were easy to pick up and play right away but would take some time to master. Like most fighting games out these days, the fighting style is a combo system and special attacks/jutsus. This fighting style/combo system could be foreshadowing for how the new Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse control scheme could be.
That pretty much does it for what I checked out in terms of “younger audience” games and for the record, that’s just how I differentiated between the two groups of games. Project Cars and Moto GP 14 are racing simulation games where Moto GP 14 has you driving motorcycles and Project Cars has you driving cars. Project Cars looks fantastic, graphics wise, but like most realistic racing games, it was a little hard to stay on the track while driving. It was also evident that the computer racers knew what they were doing and weren’t just there for the ride. They would bump into you while trying to pass or box you out, keeping you from passing. I had the same opinions for Moto Gp 14 for the graphics, A.I., and the controls.
Now comes some more anime-style games with Ranko Tsukigime’s Longest Day and Tales of Xilla 2. Longest Day has anime style cut scenes that are done wonderfully! The gameplay is a quick platformer where you need to get from point A to point B quickly and kill monsters along the way. This style of play is a lot like a mobile platformer but it works for Longest Day. You can chain attacks together along the way and that way you can get going faster. On the other hand, Tales of Xilla 2 is a Role Playing Game with anime style graphics and cut scenes as well. The game tells the tale of Ludger Kresnik as he tries to become a member of the Spirius Corporation as well as trying to reunite Elle Marta with her father. The journey along the way should be something special.
It looks like Bandai Namco has a plan in place for the upcoming months and they don’t show any signs of slowing down. I would like to thank the company for inviting me to the software showcase and getting hands-on time with some good looking games. I’m looking forward to Digimon All Star Rumble when it comes out later this year!
