Quick Jump Daily Digest
Thank you for your interest in the Quick Jump Daily Digest. Get notified of all new content on QJ in our free Daily Digest. To subscribe, enter your email address below and click the subscribe button.
Anime-Based Games: The Long and the Short of Them |
Listed in: Wii, PS3, MMORPG, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PSP Tags:
You see a relatively new title in the store you frequent. You don't know whether to pick it up, examine it and eventually buy it or just scoff at it. You choose to pick it up. You see the title is the same as the title of something you religiously watch on TV every single day. You're not sure whether to believe your own eyes or to shake off that creeping feeling of disappointment.
But
since you chose to pick it up, you'd rather believe that you're
actually seeing the game version of your favorite anime show. And you
know that everyone else who's a fan of the show feels and is doing
the same thing you're feeling/doing right now: you're all amazed that
you're holding the new game title.
Or you might be seeing the title on
the download site. Whichever encounter you're involved in, you're
still shocked, elated, disappointed. Something's bound to happen to
this new game counterpart of your favorite anime show. Relax - you're
not the only one feeling that way.
You know that not all anime-based
games survive the tough gaming world. Critics abound. Gamers are hard
to please. Not everyone knows anime; but those who do are not too
enthusiastic about anime branching out. Chances are the game's
doomed, unless you and other fans campaign for the game. You know how
the gaming world's going to treat this as just another one
of 'those games'. Or worse, they'll expect too much from it - to be as great as the anime whose name it shares.
Be realistic. However good the
anime from which the game's based on might be, you can't expect that the game will be that good. There have been many video games based on
really amazing anime, but not all of them end as popular as the
animes, and not as good with gamers as the animes are with their
fans. Several anime-based games include Bomberman, Astro Boy,
Castlevania Series, Devil May Cry, Digimon, Dragon Ball Z titles,
Final Fantasy, Full Metal Alchemist titles, Ghost in the Shell: Stand
alone Complex, InuYasha, The Legend of Zelda, Mahou no Princess Minky
Momo, Mein Liebe, One Piece: Great Battle, Pokemon, The Quiz Master,
Sonic the hedgehog, Sakura Wars, Shaman King, Sailormoon, Tekken
titles, and Ranma ½, to name a few.
Their success and failure can be chalked up to factors which the game developers and the anime
developers may not have any control over. First of all, you can't
expect the fan base of, say, Ranma ½ (this is the first
English-dubbed anime in the US that had a really big fan base) to
support the game version just because they like the anime.

The release of the 2D game version of the very popular Ranma ½
series for the SNES (this was in 1990, mind you) which had the title
Ranma ½: Hard Battle was met with mixed reactions and
with low support.
There was also the Dragon Power
game version for the SNES titled Street Combat which was
released in 1993 and crashed and burned. The anime counterpart,
however, maintained a following.
Perhaps the most famous anime that
was ever shown in the US and in other regions that had a huge fanbase
was the Dragon Ball Z series. The 1993 released anime-based game
Dragon Ball Z Super Butouden was one met with (again) mixed
reactions. The anime was already popular, so the game was expected to
be as big as the anime.

Now
you're looking at the game version of your favorite anime.
You try to gauge how you and others will react to the game. After all,
you're a skilled gamer yourself. You can measure the game's
performance by playing it. But you're having second thoughts about
doing that since you know there's a big possibility that you won't
like it as much as you like the anime it's based on.
You analyze what it is about anime
that a fan like you admire. The story? The graphics? The
characterization? Do you focus on just one element or do you
appreciate the entirety of the anime? Based on those you assess
how the game will fare when reviewed by gamers and fellow fans. Keep in mind
that not all the elements of the anime will be present in the game
version.
Characterization, for one, will
suffer immensely in the game as certain attributes of the anime
characters will be present. Only characters' different skills and
abilities can be used if the game falls in the action/adventure
genre. The setting in the anime version can be used in the game. The
storyline, on the other hand, can be dealt with by the developers in
two ways: they could scrap the storyline and create a new one solely for the
game, or choose to follow the original story of the anime. The latter is more
difficult to do since the game has limitations with regard to the
possible storyline to follow. Maybe a portion of the original story
could be used for the game, but not the entire story - alterations
would have to be made to make the game more exciting. The adventure factor of
the game is most important for it to be successful.



Another
important factor in the success of anime-based games is how the
creators and developers market the games. As anime is serious art
and is labor-intensive to create, anime designers tend to get
busy with coming up with succeeding shows rather than get very involved with the game
development part. This is true for most anime creators since a lot
of them still follow the traditional way of making great art –
drawing all the frames by hand. Perhaps this is another reason why
fans love anime so much, because they know the kind of work that is
put into making these animations.
If creators of successful animes focus on developing games, the quality of the series would suffer but the quality of the games will definitely improve. This is one of the most common dilemma anime creators have to deal with when faced with having to choose between the anime series and the game version. And fortunately (for the anime fans and sadly for the gamers), they often choose to focus on and develop their art.

It's
a major step to try and merge these two huge industries. The gaming
and entertainment industry are very different because of the way they
are made and treated (and marketed). Most gamers and anime fans who
play anime-based games sometimes find games mediocre, because
the games aren't as great as their marketers claim (if they had
been marketed at all), or because the games didn't live up to the
reputation of the anime they're based on.
Now back to you.
All these thoughts run through your head as you stand in line to purchase the game. You think about the possible elation or disappointment when you finally play the game in your PC or your console when you get home. If the game turns out to be bad, you know you've wasted money and time. If it's as good as the anime version, then you're in luck, and you'll probably be thanking the developers for not making a good anime series the laughing stock of the gaming community.
| 100% of voters think this story ROCKS! |
|
|












Comments
Anyways I agree, anime can be really better than what a game presents.
Reply
Reply
Reply
all 3 of those had shows but your right they spawned after the games
Reply
Reply
Reply
Anime based suggests that the game was BASED on an anime. Was Tekken based on an anime? No. Was Sonic based on an anime? No.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
made some valid points, BUT they don't apply to the above mentioned games.
also, about zelda, the show (from the super mario show) was released after the 1st zelda game, and yes, it did suck...
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
so chalk that one up as a good anime-based game.
Reply
This article was just more bull**** by the people who run this site...I used to come here often to read the news, but I have slowly realized on a "slow day" they will post s*** like this so they can be the "top psp news site" on the net...want this news? Browse the PROFESSIONAL gaming news sites...it's all the same stuff and the articles are done better as well....>.>
Reply
Reply
Reply
Also, The Legend of Zelda Show was damn amazing when i was kid. I loved that *****.
Reply
Reply
Some games are indeed based off anime, and by God they usually suck it hard.
I think this site needs a bit more history lessons before they start letting their 15 year old bloggers run off with articles.
Reply
Reply
BTW this has nothing to do with the PSP
Reply
But yeah, it does seem kinda pointless as most people have/can_reach the same idea without so much hassle. I'm of to watch flikering frames of anime O_o'
Reply
Reply
Get over yourselves, you're not special because you confine yourself to a style of filmmaking and like stuff regardless of its' quality compared to other styles of filmmaking. Reading subtitled films doesn't make you more intelligent, it doesn't make you better than other people, knowing the japanese words for Mr and Mrs don't make you japanese. Why on earth anyone would want to be japanese is hilarious too, a country that still hasn't apologised for its' murderous actions during the 2nd world war, a country that is inherently racist and prejudice, having a ridiculous fashion style and TV shows where people are set on fire does not make a country worth going to these lengths just for acceptance of them.
And guess what, not even the japanese like anime nerds, the japanese like the 80s businessman with the buzz-words and the clip on tie.
Reply
To the above poster, who the hell are you referring to? That isn't even the topic we're talking about? NO-ONE the heck SAID they liked anime because of the big eyes and crap. Stop generalising you idiot. Many, many anime fans I know like anime because it is different from the western cartoons, not necessarily worse, but they are different. Like the non episodic formats in many anime series.
So shut up.
Reply
Get over yourselves, you're not special because you confine yourself to a style of filmmaking and like stuff regardless of its' quality compared to other styles of filmmaking. Reading subtitled films doesn't make you more intelligent, it doesn't make you better than other people, knowing the japanese words for Mr and Mrs don't make you japanese. Why on earth anyone would want to be japanese is hilarious too, a country that still hasn't apologised for its' murderous actions during the 2nd world war, a country that is inherently racist and prejudice, having a ridiculous fashion style and TV shows where people are set on fire does not make a country worth going to these lengths just for acceptance of them.
And guess what, not even the japanese like anime nerds, the japanese like the 80s businessman with the buzz-words and the clip on tie."
So all people that like anime are like that maybe you shouldn't be a *****ing racist against the japanese people; okay they messed up during world war ii, we nuked them, get over it. You've never even watched anime it sounds like. And it's not all with subtitles it's called having it dubbed and watching it in english. If you don't like reading the subtitles it just means that your to stupid to read, watch and understand at the same time. In a polite manner; go kill yourself.
Reply
Also, not sure but I think the anime was first in Japan when it comes to Pokemon (I know the guy started the manga WAY back in High School...)
Some games that have gone well are PoPoLoCrois...
...and...
...
Reply
Reply
Reply
#29 is the man
Reply
Friggin fool.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Mister #10
Reply
Also it's Anime for plural, not animes.
Reply
Reply
Timeline is:
1995: Work on the Project
1997: First Digimon V-Pet
1999: Digimon Anime
Reply
My homepage | Cool site
Reply
http://rupatznl.com/llfe/mmdc.html | http://cvrlvzon.com/gdtg/vzvu.html
Reply
Reply
If there is one thing to remember, the game is not dependent on the anime that it's based from. If ever, the game would allow us to play with the animes loved characters but it was never the objective of the game to be like the anime. That is the first wrong assumption made. The creation of the game is a marketing ploy, and for popular anime series, this is a great investment for them to consider. Look at one of your examples, One Piece's Mexase Baseball in GBA. That has nothing to do with pirates or being a pirate, but you get to utilize the character's skill in playing baseball. Do you think that this is a dud? Did this hurn one piece in anyway? No. In the end, the game is the game and the anime and the anime. If the anime holds its quality, even if the game sucks, people will still be watching. It's too sad that you have not had the opportunity to play lots of anime games. Maybe because many of the games are in Japanese, but god, yes... they are great games nonetheless.
Besides, I don't understand why this is in the xbox360 news. It would have made sense if it were in the DS news or something. Please kids, do you research. If I can wish back the old staff to get on here and correct posts like this, please do so.
Reply
英語なのでぁんまりわかりせんが(^_^;)
Reply
Reply