This post will go into depth about the anime Dragon Ball Z and the video games of the franchise. First thing to say is how effective Dragon Ball Z was with the introduction of mass American fans in Japanese anime. The only downfall to the animated series were the very long "stare-downs" that have been cut in the later edit called Dragon Ball Z Kai. What Kai does is exactly what I would hope to achieve with a more vamped up video game for the franchise. I suggest that Bandai-Namco and Criware go in a new direction toward the creation of their next DBZ fighter.
The first step is aesthetics and to redefine the DBZ franchise through a more powerful orchestral score and more interactive menus. America is very proud of our orchestral work with films over the years and have used music as a medium for expressing emotions. This does not Japan doesn't has emotion in its music, but its not a feel that should go with the series. The past games in the DBZ franchise have been utter disappointments within this model. All we get are corny jazzy rock tunes that become a cacophony of dry tunes that just get old. A newer approach to grasp the intense emotion of the DBZ story through a powerful orchestral score could help. The menus need to have darker palette as well in order to gain acceptance from the older audiences. The palette has always been bright, fruitful colors which made you feel you were playing some children's game on the Wii. DBZ is a very powerful and emotional tale with loads of heart and I feel that it gets dimmed down to a children's tale. The menus should be more interactive in that wherever you are in the storyline should pertain to what the menu looks like. For example: You are at the part of the story when Gohan is about to go to Super Saiyan 2. The menu could have a shot of Hercule and his friends looking at Gohan from a distance. Then when you hit the play button Gohan lets out a burst of energy and Hercule and his friends get swept into the screen. Just these aspects will make the gamer feel immersed within the storyline.
The second step is to improve the design of the character profiles and selection. The gamer wants to feel that they are choosing the right fighter for where they are going. Using fighter classes and showing the power levels of the character in the selection process will allow gamers to make the appropriate matches in battle. What I mean by this is that Frieza should be more powerful than Nappa due to his power level. With this instilled in the game it would allow the true fans of the series experience the true power behind the fighter instead of a streamlined roster of fighters who all have an equal chance of winning. The profiles of the Characters should have basic physical features such as height and weight, race, power level, and fighting style. The fighting style can display if the person is more offensive than defensive or an all around fighter. These statistics would greatly assist the gamer in identifying the right fighter for them.
The third step is developing the storymode. The past games have done interesting ways of showing the story. One mode they need to try is using clips from the series to tell the story with a newly orchestrated score to the scenes. This would continue the aesthetic displayed earlier about having an orchestra with the menu music. The story should encompass most of the television series. The movies could be included to fill in the gaps after you complete the main storyline. This way the gamer feels as if they are progressing with the characters and begin to find favorites amongst the large list of fighters. The show's story is very well done, but yet again with it geared more to middle school children in America it didn't do so well with the older crowd. I feel that if the story is edited to progress like a long mini series the game will succeed in displaying the true essence of the manga. The development of the characters such as Gohan and Vegeta are centerpieces of this great Japanese work. There should be more displaying these aspects of the storyline to add depth to the characters and to have the audience feel sympathy for them.
The fourth step is the environment creation and destruction. The environment destruction in the previous titles such as Ultimate Tenkaichi was a disappointment. All it would show is a short cinematic then show the same trench dug in the same place. There is no real time massive damage. This is a big problem with the games since the anime asks for a game that can create massive craters in the ground or shape the countryside as you see fit. DBZ needs to delve into some innovations from LucasArts like DMM for destructive purposes. What they should do is have a foundation of the level and have feet upon feet of destructible matter on top of it. I personally believe it would be great to get knocked down and see your character create a trench in the ground with their own body. The environment needs to feel more real. This way the battles will get more intense which will allow the gamer to fully immerse themselves within the plot and epicness of the story.
The fifth step is gameplay. Raging Blast took the gameplay into a whole new light. With behind the back 3 dimensional combat. It was a great start, but still has yet to perfect it completely. There are parts of the gameplay that felt slow or the too fast. There wasn't a good medium. The buttons were a bit confusing with the joystick used for special attacks. As the games progressed into Ultimate Tenkaichi they improved and are the way toward making DBZ an enjoyable experience in the gameplay spectrum. The combos are fun to use and the quick combat chains are fun, but some things still need to be improved. The special combo such as special beam cannon. Whenever I would perform this move even if Piccolo was in the air he would all of a sudden be on the ground and my opponent in front of me. These random position shifts made it hard to follow the fight and made things confusing. I feel as if Bandai-Namco and Criware have just touched the surface with what they could develop as a great fighting engine. Even in the combat cutscenes for special attacks they are too quick and leave no impression on the gamer when they are shown unless it's an ultimate move. The Kamehameha shots need to be more epic and with the aesthetic of music, blended with a darker palette, and filter the game will show some rough edges to the fighters.
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