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Trailer Review: Dragon Ball Z: Evolution

I reviewed the last Dragon Ball Z fighting game for Popmatters.com. Here's an excerpt:

Budokai Tenkaichi, which roughly translates to “Strongest Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament” captures the feel of the cartoon exactly, with seizure-inducing speed, cornball dialogue, and outrageously grandiose battle scenes. The swooping camera, responsive remote gestures and intricate animations make for an intensely cinematic experience. This is the closest that gamers have come to being inside a cartoon, so far, anyway.

So the game's comittment to the source material is one of the few things that I liked about the game, even though I am not the least bit interested in the Dragon Ball cartoon. The cartoon graphics sparkled, and the designers did everything they could to make every punch, slap, and, er, kai blast sound like the cartoon. And that's the reason I think that Dragon Ball Z: Evolution will fail. It's basically another Dragon Ball fighter, only this time it lacks the charming cel-saded look. Here the characters look drab and samey.

Video after the jump:

Posted Feb 17 2009, 02:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: cole stryker, fighters, dragon ball z, dragon ball z: budokai tenkaichi 3, dragon ball z: evolution, popmatters

Dragonball: Evolution: The New Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game?

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the number of colons in the subject of this post; please note that they're completely necessary, both to convey meaning and to win me that world record. That being said, I feel it's important to remind you that the American Dragonball movie is about to come into existence--sure, it's already been made, but it will no longer be safe from the eyes of the general public after April 8th. Before you jump to any conclusions, my general disdain from the film doesn't come from any sort of love for Akira Toriyama's masterwork; my interest in Dragonball didn't really continue past the 17th year of my life. I just find that making a dull, Americanized version of a property roughly 7-9 years after it's peaked is not the soundest business or creative decision. Hell, with the Dragonball movie on the horizon, I wouldn't be surprised if Fox brought out their film adaptation of The Weakest Link this summer.

Posted Jan 20 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments

Filed under: psp, fighting games, dragon ball z, bob mackey, movie games, dragonball: evolution

Dracula's Bad Day

On the Internet, there is a man named Kajetokun. Kajetokun brought us videos like Over 9000 and Gutsman's Ass, so you may have already decided you hate him, even if you weren't familiar with his name.

Since hate doesn't tend to slow down the contributions of the creatively insane, Kajetokun has posted another something on YouTube. It's A Day in Dracula's Life. In fact, it's the only day in Dracula's Life. No sooner is Dracula resurrected by the dark priest Shaft than his delicious pot roast dinner is interrupted by the arrival of Richter Ballmont.

What follows is a lot of cursing and stuffing of meat and money into candles and lanterns.

Posted Jan 19 2009, 11:40 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: castlevania, mega man, symphony of the night, dracula, dragon ball z, nadia oxford, death, over 9000, kajetokun, gutsman, succubus

Shonen Love-Ins: Can We Find a New Plot Device Already?

I recently watched my husband finish Mega Man Star Force for the Nintendo DS because I can't be bothered with it; the series is just to far removed for me to associate it with the franchise.

See, Mega Man is a little robot warrior boy, but I am okay with his spinoffs. I'm okay with him being a brooding refugee from Blade Runner. I'm okay with him being the crazed overlord of a dystopian society. I'm more than okay with him being a miner with a sinister past. I'm even okay with him being a dead baby. But Mega Man as a generic energy-form alien gives me a major case of the blahs.

Anyway. Watcing husband finish Star Force.

I don't know if there's some kind of virus going around Japan that dulls the senses of game developers, manga-ka and anime producers, but I wish someone would take some Dayquil and realise that shonen love-ins, also known as anime love-ins, lost their impact many, many years ago. In fact, when I am Queen of the World, any storyteller from any nation who dares to pen the line "Lend me your power!!" as part of a tale's climax will be drawn and quartered with their own ballpoint.

Posted Aug 12 2008, 05:01 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 4 comment(s)

Filed under: earthbound, shonen, mega man star force, sailor moon, dragon ball z, cheap plot devices

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.