Anime is a strange subject for me, sometimes I love it, other times I want to claw my own eyes out because its so, bloody, cringy. But when it comes down to it, I’m definitely a fan, particularly of the Shonen fight animes! And video games are a near perfect medium for a fight anime. So with a little trepidation, I submit to you, my 5 favourite anime games, I need to make it clear now though, there is no order here, and these are just my favourites, not the best ever!
5. Dragonball Z Raging Blast 2
Of course, I start this with a DBZ game! Foolish not to really since the series was my first foray into the genre. Sitting at home binging the series on Toonami with my friends was one of the highlights of my childhood. So, the games have always been a big seller to me too. Raging Blast 2 dropped on the PS3 in 2010, I picked it up almost immediately and not long after convinced Alexx to as well, seeing as me and his friendship was born from the last series of DBZ 3D fighting games the Tenkaichi series! Raging Blast 2 basically took everything good about Tenkaichi and improved it, better graphics, large but potentially better streamlined roster, and more intuitive controls. Speaking of tha roster though, Raging Blast included some doozys of characters that have never appeared before or since in a mainline game like this, including Super Saiyan 3 Broly, Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta and Vegeta’s adorable younger brother Tarble. Really no game since has matched RB2 in the 3D fighter department despite half decent attempts by titles like Ultimate Tenkaichi and the Xenoverse series. Who knows, maybe Xenoverse 3 will come along and change this? Until then, still with the Decade old best of the bunch!
4. Asura’s Wrath
This is an interesting one, since I count Asura’s Wrath as an anime game, without even having a series to be based on! Released by Capcom, the game uses an anime art style and episodic story to feel like its own series that you just happen to have some control over now and then. Asura’s Wrath has some of the most out there and epic moments ever put to screen, not limited to, Asura killing a giant many times larger than the earth by punching his finger and a fight on the moon that eventually sends the titular wrath god flying back to earth pinned on the end of a villain’s 7000 mile long Katana! Really the game doesn’t handle particularly well, and even for a title in 2012, it looked pretty poor, and having to buy the true ending as DLC was a brutal kick in the teeth. With all the downsides though, Asura’s Wrath more than makes up for it with just its immense set of balls, it goes all in on the crazy from the get go and doesn’t let up until the very end (Either normal ending or paid for ending). Plus 90% of the game is just button mashing so if you need a switch of the brain and enjoy kind of experience, then this is exactly what you’ll need!
3. Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
The Ultimate Ninja series have done something that so many games based on anime fail to do, match the series. Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 goes above and beyond by being BETTER than its subject matter! Taking the story of the series, cutting out the filler and making all the fight scenes about 10 X more spectacular, developers CyberConnect2 made an experience that makes you feel so damn powerful that its hard to match with anything else. Any of the Ultimate Ninja games give you this buzz but 4 just happens to give you the biggest one! Playing through the finally arc of the anime, the froth shinobi world war, is absolutely nuts with many new scenes through in just to up the action and iconic moments made all the more intense for the sake of awesome gameplay. If you want a great example just check out the classic “Night Guy” scene in the anime, then go take a look at what Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 did with it… go ahead I’ll wait. INSANE RIGHT?! Normally available in deals on the Playstation store, I can’t stress enough how perfect this game is for anyone looking to get into Naruto but who doesn’t have the time to invest in watching *checks notes* 720 episodes!
2. Dragonball FighterZ
That’s right kids, Dragon ball appears twice, did you expect more from me? Made by the legends at Arc System Works, whose mission in life seems to be only make the best looking 2D anime fighting games ever. FighterZ lifts your favourite stuff from the anime and just wangs it into the middle of fights as special moves! You’ll hear a lot of people wax lyrical about how it looks so much like the anime too, however those people are sorely mistaken, FighterZ looks BETTER than the series ever looked. With a combat that is easy to learn but difficult to truly master, you’ll find yourself always learning something new or a new way to combo your way out of any situation. In the 3 years since launch, FighterZ has had a ton of events, party battles and new characters released as DLC to keep things fresh an interesting. I’m pretty sure there will never be a point where FighterZ isn’t installed on my console. It’s a mainstay of my gaming life these days and so long as my rivalry with Luke exists, this game will stoke it!
- One Piece Pirate Warriors 3
Some people like a challenge in their games, others like a deep and rich story, I love a power trip! I play games to do stuff I can’t possibly do in real life and be ridiculous, So with that in mind, One Piece Pirate Warriors! Developed by Omega Force and taking a lot from their Dynasty Warriors games, Pirate Warriors has you run around open levels and just batter hundreds of mobs with a mixture of moves! Its hectic and wild and a ton of fun to watch Luffy wind up a Gum Gum pistol and just send 20 marines scattering to the wind! Of course there are bosses and these are where your needs for a challenge will be met but most of the game is based on just racking up those damage numbers and watching your kill count rise! Pirate Warriors has a vast selection of playable characters to make each play feel a little different from hero Luffy all the way the sadistic Doflamingo. You won’t have any shortage of replayablity here and with the local and online multiplayer its even more fun to bring a friend along for the carnage, even more so when you combine your characters powers for some huge special attacks!
