Favorite Video Game Based on an Anime?

While most of these games probably never found there way to Western Shores there are a few out there I really enjoyed through the recommendation of friends. One of them was Jump Ultimate Stars which is a party battle games for the DS. The games main appeal was that it was a handheld version of Smash Bros with the ability to play as alot of popular and unfamiliar Shounen Jump comic characters (you know the popular ones Naruto, Bleach, DBZ, etc.). I mainly got into it because for a time a group of friends I used to work with were really getting into it and we would play it during breaks and we all had a common interest in these series for a time. My question to you folks was there any games out there that is based on an Anime or vice versa that you enjoyed immensely and which of the two did you play / watch first?

Only one I can think of is Jump Ultimate Stars, and even then it's not based on a single anime series.

Super Robot Wars has all the mecha animes and it's pretty cool for that alone.

I liked the Bleach - Soul Resurrection game as well as the Naruto UNS games. I enjoyed the start of both series, Bleach is great up to episode 63 and then gets boring. Although the second part of the arrancar arc with all the fights, especially against Ulquiorra, is better. Naruto has it's moments but nothing will beat the first season. The whole fight against Zabuza and Haku - awesome. It gets tight again with Sasuke vs. Itachi but most of the Shippuuden arcs are spoiled with fillers.

Usually anime movies are way better than anime shows, by the way.

Violinist of Hameln?

Another game I just remembered was DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 specifically for the Wii. I remember that was kinda that game that kinda got me thinking that the Wii was actually pretty cool back then.

This thread reminds me that I should pick up a copy of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom at some point.

Bleach Blade of Fate for the DS is a legitimately great fighting game. It's highly accessible and a ton of fun. The online was surprisingly smooth as well.

Only one I really know I played was the Bleach one on PS3. It's alright, but definitely could be a lot better. I want to say Asura's Wrath, but it's not actually based on one.

@MetalBaofu said:

Only one I really know I played was the Bleach one on PS3. It's alright, but definitely could be a lot better. I want to say Asura's Wrath, but it's not actually based on one.

They left out a lot of the characters, no Renji :[

And playing the Arrancars in their unreleased form would have been a nice option too.

@Morrow: Yeah, I would've liked if Chad and Renji were in.. I think the game play just started to grate on me after awhile, too. Really just the same thing over and over. I never even played with all the characters, and no way I have enough patience to go for some of those trophies they have in there. I managed to get S-rank on all the missions, but no way I could replay every mission with every character and max out levels on every character. They really want people to replay the crap outta that game.

Really liked the ./Hack series on the Playstation, finished the first one in the series and got sidetracked after and when I wanted to continue with the rest of the series they where nowhere to be sold anymore.

The Shippuuden Naruto games are also great games if you're a fan.

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is the correct answer!

@Apathylad said:

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is the correct answer!

It's the only answer I ever give. Bravo to you!

@Apathylad: @PenguinDust:Never played it, I'm assuming its pretty good then?

Does Asura's Wrath count? I don't watch anime and this is the closest thing to anime that I have played

@Apathylad: Wow, I totally forgot about that game and that I own it, it was great! Semi RPG system with upgrading mechanics and a cool splintered time period story. Picked it entirely because of Greg's adoring Gamespot review - http://uk.gamespot.com/astro-boy-omega-factor/videos/astro-boy-omega-factor-video-review-6105089/

I was going to say (even though it's not based on an anime/manga) Fear Effect. I really liked the art and the tone of the game, I was so hyped for it reading it in magazines and seeing screenshots. Resident Evil esque mixed with a puzzle adventure game. (I sold my Snes with 30 games for it back in the day)

DBZ: Budokai 3. The 2D Bleach fighting games by Treasure for the DS were great too.

And if you count Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.. Well, I bought a fight stick for the Wii of all things and stuck some sanwa parts in.

Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure was pretty fun and a surprisingly solid game. I really liked the One Piece Unlimited Cruise games too. I played the first part for over 100 hours.

I don't really like licensed fighting games and that's basically all that these games usually end up being. I played the first hour of one of those Naruto games made by the Asura's Wrath guys and that was pretty cool I guess. The developers just need to be willing to change up genres more.

@Morrow: We have identical opinions about Naruto and Bleach. And here I thought I was crazy for loving the Zabuza arc.

I really enjoyed Eyeshield 21's DS game. A touch screen-based football game on the DS works surprisingly well. The special powers for the various players and their varying stamina levels adds some interesting strategy. It's a shame I have never gotten to play the game against a human opponent.

Astro Boy Omega Factor got some critical praise upon release. I've never played it, though.
The only other game based on an anime I can name that was good is Dragonball Z Budokai 3, of which I still own a copy. I've always wondered what happened to the guys that made that, did they move on to bigger and better things?

@jewunit: Oh nice! I should totally check that out!

I actually kinda like Dragon Ball: Legacy of Goku II. Yeah, it's pretty grindy and hard, but still had fun with it

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

Bleach Blade of Fate for the DS is a legitimately great fighting game. It's highly accessible and a ton of fun. The online was surprisingly smooth as well.

@Apathylad said:

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is the correct answer!

These two fine men have provided the answers that immediately come to mind for me. It probably shouldn't be a big surprise that since Treasure helmed both of those games, hence probably why they're still pretty great! I'm also told that the Yu Yu Hakusho game that they did for the Genesis was basically a precursor to their Bleach games in terms of fighting systems and is apparently also well-regarded.

Some additional answers that I doubt will get brought up often in this thread:

• Black Jack: Hi no Tori Hen. A DS adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's other most iconic manga series this side of Astro Boy, it's a fun, interesting mix of Trauma Center and Ouendan. It's not really a rhythm game per se, but you do receive prompts that require you to perform different actions all over the screen in quick succession. It's Japan exclusive, but from what I can tell, the language barrier isn't really an issue. It's ultimately not the Black Jack game I wish somebody would make (for god's sake, Atlus, get that license and make one with the Trauma Center engine already!), but given the otherwise spotty history of Tezuka game adaptations, it's a pretty worthwhile game from what little I played.
• Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode. Admittedly, there's a lot of clunkiness that many NES-era games exhibit in general in retrospect, but I think it's a game that's still worth playing at least from a historical perspective because it pioneered a lot of interesting things in terms of both narrative (it's amazing how much of the adult tone remained intact in the localization) and gameplay mechanics (first person shooting on the NES!). Jeff mentioned possibly highlighting it in the Encyclopedia Bombastica series in his most recent Jar video and I hope he gets around to it eventually; it's a neat game for its time.
• Blood+: One Night Kiss. Here's a dirty secret about Grasshopper Manufacture: to stay afloat, they've often taken up anime licensed games so that they can actually afford to do their more artsy games. This was especially true in the PS2, which saw them adapt not only Blood+, but also Samurai Champloo for the PS2. Although I have yet to play the latter, I think their Blood+ game is also an interesting game. Like a lot of Grasshopper games, it's somewhat debatable whether it's actually "fun" to play (or even supposed to be, for that matter), since the gameplay is kind of a prototypical No More Heroes before Wii controls were introduced to make that game's combat stand out, but it's got a great, obtuse sense of style that makes it clearly a Grasshopper game while still doing the Blood+ series justice. This game is also Japanese exclusive and the language barrier is pretty substantial, so anybody who doesn't know the language would almost certainly have to track down a guide to grasp the objectives and plot, but, if nothing else, it's not a bland game to play like so many other anime adaptations.
• Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekidou. I kid. This game is a god damn terrible dance game that came out for the Wii years before Ubisoft proved that was a viable genre for motion games. Only reason I know about it is that a friend asked me to pick it up on the cheap while I was living in Tokyo. We both came to quickly regret that decision when I got back to the States. It was an inadvertently hilarious game, though, if only because it turns out the Japanese text uses a system font that's not installed on US Wiis and therefore just comes across as gibberish on a non-Japanese console. We're both pretty fluent in Japanese, but that's only true when the text actually cooperates with us in being readable.

@Petiew said:

Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure was pretty fun and a surprisingly solid game. I really liked the One Piece Unlimited Cruise games too. I played the first part for over 100 hours.

Oh yes, that and the other one after it were great. Buu's something or something like that wasn't it? Man those DBZ GBA games were so great.

@MetalBaofu: Yeah it's incredibly grind-intensive if you go for some of those trophies. Although it's secretly on my to-do list :D

@Hunter5024: No, why should you? The way it draws you in emotionally is great. I cried during Narutos speech in episode 19. And the Aizen twist in Bleach? Awesome. When he meets Momo again after being presumed dead, they hug and he says, "Thank you Momo, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. And goodbye." and then stabs her was one of the most memorable scenes.

@Hunter5024: Why would you be crazy for loving one of the best things in that entire series? :P

And to actually contribute to the thread, I had a lot of fun playing the old DBZ: Budokai games. Just some dumb fighting action with nostalgic characters.

@Apathylad said:

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is the correct answer!

One of the best games ever made, flat-out.

@Catarrhal said:

@Apathylad said:

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is the correct answer!

One of the best games ever made, flat-out.

One of the best games I've played, for certain.

I also liked Dragonball Advanced Adventure. That and Astro Boy Omega Factor were my favorite action titles ont he GBA. Astro Boy was the emoitional ride, which no other beat 'em ups seem to even attempt, and Advanced Adventure was great fun. I appreciate the endgame feature where you get to play as every moving sprite in the game on any level except the 1-on-1s. For current consoles, I rather like Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm. The presentation of that game really elevates the anime, it looks so much cooler. I get bored of it quickly, though, the fighting is too simplistic and the fighters too similar.

@I_Stay_Puft:

Robotech: Battlecry

@Pepsiman: That Samurai Champloo game stylistically looked familiar, didn't know it was a Suda 51 game. Was it any good? Samurai Champloo reminded me of that Cowboy Bebop game on ps2, heard that game was pretty terrible but I always wanted to try it. I don't think it was ever localized here in the states.

- I mentioned earlier Jump Ultimate Stars as being one of my favorites, another crossover anime/managa fighting game I just remembered and liked was Sunday vs. Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen on psp. Controls were pretty terrible but being able to play as Ban from Getbackers and fight all these random manga / anime characters was pretty awesome.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom(if that counts) and Bleach: The Blade of Fate come to mind as the best anime games I've played. The Inazuma Eleven games are also quite enjoyable although that's a situation of a game being turned into an anime.

@I_Stay_PuftSamurai Champloo: Sidetracked was actually a pretty good game, though it definitely helped that I already liked the characters. But even for the unfamiliar, it had good combat that was dripping with style and was just dumb fun.

@ImHungry said:

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom(if that counts) and Bleach: The Blade of Fate come to mind as the best anime games I've played. The Inazuma Eleven games are also quite enjoyable although that's a situation of a game being turned into an anime.

@I_Stay_PuftSamurai Champloo: Sidetracked was actually a pretty good game, though it definitely helped that I already liked the characters. But even for the unfamiliar, it had good combat that was dripping with style and was just dumb fun.

Always a fan of Samurai Champloo, might have to try and track a copy down. Inazuma Eleven that's the Level-5 games right? Read some pretty decent reviews for that game on the internet.

Robotech battlecry is the best anime game every GOAT lol .

I really liked the Ubisoft Naruto games.

Arc System's Hokuto no Ken is, despite being kind of a busted fighting game, such a faithful homage to the series that I can't help but like it. Also, Jagi's Dream Mode is wirth the price of admission alone for Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage.

Also, Bleach: The 3rd Phantom is a serviceable strategy game.

Well the latest One Piece game is quite fun but that's just me liking DW games I think. - One Piece: Pirate Warriors Like some have already said the DBZ game boy advance games were awesome. The .hack 4 part game series on PS2 was certainly interesting Never did get through the 3 part though.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 is probably the best DBZ game out there.

It probably means little, but it is also a pretty good fighting game on its own right.

@Catarrhal said:

@Apathylad said:

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is the correct answer!

One of the best games ever made, flat-out.

Indeed.

@RecSpec: The story mode is fairly easy to figure out as you just walk around and talk to people until you get what you need to proceed. You play a few matches over the course of that mode as well. I believe you unlock some of the specials for the versus mode there, but I don't recall how many. Unfortunately, the story portion can drag on a bit. However, GameFAQs has a decent walkthrough and, if you have an R4 card, you can grab a clear file of the gamethere as well.

The Naruto Ubidoft games were pretty fun even with my neutral opinion on the anime.

@hermes said:

Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 is probably the best DBZ game out there.

It probably means little, but it is also a pretty good fighting game on its own right.

This, on all accounts.

I just started playing Toriko's Gourmet Survival 2 on the PSP. It is a Monster Hunter-style game where you collect food to level up and learn new techniques. The monster designs are pretty good and the variety of attacks has kept things interesting. The game is rather talky though. I haven't looked into the Toriko anime, but I may do so if the game continues to intrigue me.

@jewunit said:

I just started playing Toriko's Gourmet Survival 2 on the PSP. It is a Monster Hunter-style game where you collect food to level up and learn new techniques. The monster designs are pretty good and the variety of attacks has kept things interesting. The game is rather talky though. I haven't looked into the Toriko anime, but I may do so if the game continues to intrigue me.

I know Toriko is offered up on Hulu, not sure though if you have to have a plus account to access it though. Never watched or read Toriko but heard it's a fairly new and popular Shounen series in Japan.

@I_Stay_Puft: Wow, the anime is free to watch on Hulu! Thanks for the information! I don't think I would have ever looked there.