Dragon Ball: Raging Blast | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Spike |
Publisher(s) | Namco Bandai |
Series | Raging Blast series |
Native resolution | 720p (HDTV) 480p/576p (EDTV) 480i/576i (SDTV) |
Release date(s) | November 10, 2009 USA November 12, 2009 JPN November 13, 2009 EU November 19, 2009 AU |
Genre(s) | Versus fighting |
Mode(s) | Single-player Multiplayer Online multiplayer |
Rating(s) | ESRB: T PEGI: 12+ OFLCA: PG CERO: A |
Platform(s) | Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
Media | DVD Blu-Ray Disc |
Input | Xbox 360 Controller DualShock 3 SIXAXIS |
Video games Listing - Category |
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (ドラゴンボール レイジングブラスト, Doragon Bōru Reijingu Burasuto) is a 2009 video game released for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 consoles developed by Spike and published by Namco Bandai. It is the second Dragon Ball game on the high definition seventh generation of consoles, as well as on Microsoft's Xbox brand. The game is also one of the first games in the Dragon Ball franchise to be published by Namco Bandai in North America, as the company would acquire the gaming license from previous license holder Atari in July of that same year.
On October 22nd 2009, a demo was released on Xbox Live, however only in the United States.[1] The PlayStation Network Demo was released later that day as well, also only available in the United States. In the following week, the demo was available as well in the European region. The demo features three characters to choose from: Goku (Base, Super Saiyan), Piccolo, and Raditz. Each character has two costumes to choose from and the playable stage is "Plains".
The game was released in North America on November 10th, November 12th in Japan, November 13th for Europe and released November 19th for Australia. A Limited Edition was also released, however it is exclusive to Europe and Australia.
Free downloadable content packs were revealed shortly after release and were released until April 2010. As of now, they have all been released and are available for download.
The sequel to Raging Blast, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2, was released in Europe on October 1st 2010 in Europe, November 2nd on North America, November 4th on Australia, and November 11th on Japan.
Information[]
Statistics[]
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast was first mentioned the in Namco Bandai's 2009 fiscal report. It was revealed that a new game was in development for both Xbox 360 and PS3, and that the game will be released the second quarter of the 2009-2010 fiscal year.[2] A full announcement was featured May 2009 issue of V Jump magazine. The issue included several screenshots showing that the game contained gameplay elements from the Budokai Tenkaichi series, polished character models, and revealed the official title.
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast features high definition graphics and audio, fully destructible environments, and advanced character features. Characters now have features such as facial expressions. Battle-damage has returned, and characters appear with damaged clothing as well as scratches and bruises after a large amount of health is lost. Players can now also utilize a new feature called "Super Rising", which allows players to quickly fly upwards throughout large-scale battle stages. Players can also fight together, freely switching between each other and assisting one another with supporting actions. Players can customize characters using item and Super Attack customization. "D-Points" can also be earned to unlock abilities and items. The game will feature 60 fps (frames per second), both online and off. There are ten stages to battle on, all of which are far larger than those of the Tenkaichi games .An environmental "sky change" effect is in the game, which occurs when a character of great power apparently powers up. "Ultimate Attack" cut scenes are also featured.
Gameplay[]
The story mode of Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is called Dragon Battle Collection. Players can play through the original events of the Dragon Ball story, but their actions in battle can change the story in many different ways. Over 100 "Battle Frames" can be selected at any time, regardless of chronological order to which they appear in the series. The story spans from the Saiyan Saga up until the Kid Buu Saga. Battle Frames also include "what-if" scenarios that never occurred in the series, and completing all of them will unlock a special ending. Players can practice and hone their skills in the "Dojo". Players can also partake in the "Super Battle Trial" single-player modes. The online mode features a 16-player "Budokai Tournament", single or team battle VS, and a spectator mode where players can rate the fighters.[3] Split-screen multiplayer is also featured for the game.
New moves and features[]
New combination moves can now be utilized, allowing two characters to launch special attacks. There are also brand new environmental features such as new advanced interactions with the grounds of the battlefield. Enhanced destructible features such as rocks, mountains, and even the ground below are now destructible. The ground can now split, shatter, or just be obliterated. Players can now also throw enemies into rocks or other environment features, causing the opponent to become trapped, defenseless, and unable to move.[4]. The capsule system from previous games also returned, allowing players to customize their characters.
Cancel System[]
This game features a feature called "The Cancel". Like the Budokai series this game has a feature where you cancel out of animations to do attacks, but it's not quite the same. Some basic cancels are canceling into melee and into Super/Ultimate Attacks. Each character has their own cancels that are different from most characters. The game itself does not tell you the cancels, as you must find them yourself.
Playable Characters[]
In June of 2009, Ryo Mito (the producer of Raging Blast) confirmed the number of characters without transformations would be 43, and including transformations and costumes (2 - 3 per character) there are over 120 playable character variants in the game. In-game transformations have returned, allowing players to utilize a character's full potential in battle. Super Saiyan 3 versions of Broly and Vegeta are featured for what-if scenarios. However, they are treated as separate characters, rather than transformations.
This is the playable characters list in order of display in the game's character select screen.
Vegeta (Super Saiyan 3) | Bardock | Raditz | Broly (Super Saiyan 3) | |||||||||||||||||
Cell (1st Form) | Dodoria | Yamcha | Nappa | Zarbon | Frieza (1st Form) | |||||||||||||||
2nd Form | Post-Transformation | 2nd Form | ||||||||||||||||||
Perfect Form | 3rd Form | |||||||||||||||||||
Perfect | Final Form | |||||||||||||||||||
Full Power | ||||||||||||||||||||
Android #16 | Kid Gohan | Piccolo | Vegeta (Scouter) | Super Gogeta | Captain Ginyu | |||||||||||||||
Android #17 | Teen Gohan | Goku | Vegeta | Gotenks | Recoome | |||||||||||||||
Super Saiyan | Super Saiyan | Super Saiyan | Super Saiyan | |||||||||||||||||
Super Saiyan 2 | Super Saiyan 2 | Super Vegeta | Super Saiyan 3 | |||||||||||||||||
Super Saiyan 3 | Super Saiyan 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
Android #18 | Gohan | Krillin | Vegeta (Majin) | Vegito | Jeice | |||||||||||||||
Super Saiyan | Super Vegito | |||||||||||||||||||
Super Saiyan 2 |
||||||||||||||||||||
Android #19 | Goten | Tien Shinhan | Trunks (Sword) | Kid Trunks | Burter | |||||||||||||||
Super Saiyan | Super Saiyan | Super Saiyan | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Gero | Videl | Chiaotzu | Trunks (Fighting Teen) | Broly | Guldo | |||||||||||||||
Super Saiyan | Super Saiyan | |||||||||||||||||||
Super Trunks | Legendary Super Saiyan | |||||||||||||||||||
Majin Buu | Super Buu | Kid Buu | ||||||||||||||||||
Gotenks Absorbed | ||||||||||||||||||||
Gohan Absorbed |
Battle Stages[]
- World Tournament Stage
- Planet Namek
- Ruined Planet Namek
- Rocky Area
- Ruined City
- Break Wasteland
- Cave
- Cell Games Arena
- Islands
- Supreme Kai's World
Versions and offers[]
A Limited Edition was released exclusively for Europe and Australia, reasons for never releasing in North America or Japan were never specified. GameStop and EBGames offered "bonus" for those who pre-order the game from their stores. The "Raging Blast Special Pack" contained customized Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks and Gotenks in-game characters, as well as the ability to immediately play as Super Saiyan 3 Broly, one of the unlockable characters in the game.[5] GameStop and EBgames Australia also offered a pre-order "bonus" for those who pre-order the game for their stores. The pre-order pack is DLC (downloadable content) and contains "Unique character key effects and powerful abilities for: Gohan (teen), Super Saiyan Gohan (teen), Super Saiyan 2 Gohan (teen) and Piccolo., [6]
Achievements and Trophies[]
Main article: List of Achievements and Trophies in Raging Blast
List of Background Music[]
- Progression
- Tense Atmosphere
- Schemer
- Nemesis
- Brief Rest
- Super Sonic
- Tracking Dragon Ball
- Explosion
- Fate Scrapes
- Demolition Man
- A Moment
- Edge of the Fist
- Sparking
- Beginning to the Story
- Final Confrontation
- The Heat
- Raging Blast
- Victory Road
- The Warriors
- Awakenings
- The Pursuit of Truth
- Aftermath
- Dragon Cry
Downloadable Content[]
On November 25th, 2009, Namco Bandai annouced a series of free series of downloadable content that will release biweekly. Each pack will include customized versions of popular characters, each with different powered-up abilities, which can be used in versus battles in the game.
• Nov. 24, 2009 (PlayStation Network): Warriors on Earth Pack – Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu
• Nov. 26, 2009 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace): Warriors on Earth Pack – Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu
• Dec. 10, 2009: Alien Warriors Pack – Vegeta (Scouter), Raditz, Nappa, Zarbon and Dodoria
• Dec. 22, 2009 (PlayStation Network): Ginyu Force Pack – Captain Ginyu, Recoome, Burter, Jeice and Guldo
• Dec. 24, 2009 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace): Ginyu Force Pack – Captain Ginyu, Recoome, Burter, Jeice and Guldo
• Jan. 7, 2010: Androids Pack – Android #16, Android #17, Android #18, Android #19 and Dr. Gero
• Jan. 21, 2010: Warriors of Justice Pack – Kid Gohan, Gohan, Kid Trunks, Goten and Videl
• Feb. 4, 2010: Revived Warriors Pack – Majin Buu, Kid Buu, Broly, Super Gogeta and Super Saiyan 3 Broly
• Feb. 18, 2010: Saiyans Pack – Majin Vegeta, Trunks (Fighting Teen), Vegito, Bardock and Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta
• March 4, 2010: Ultimate Warriors Pack 1 – Goku, Teen Gohan, Piccolo, Bardock and Super Gogeta
• March 18, 2010: Ultimate Warriors Pack 2 – Majin Vegeta, Frieza, Android #17, Android #18 and Cell
• April 1, 2010: Ultimate Warriors Pack 3 – Vegeta (Scouter), Vegeta, Trunks (Sword), Vegito and Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta
• April 15, 2010: Ultimate Warriors Pack 4 – Majin Buu, Super Buu, Kid Buu, Broly and Super Saiyan 3 Broly
Reception and sales[]
Sales[]
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast sold a total of 182,782 copies worldwide in its first week. The PlayStation 3 version dominated with 134,261 copies sold, while only 48,521 copies were sold on the Xbox 360, mainly due to the PS3's superiority in Japan, where the main amount of sales took place. The PlayStation 3 version was the 10th highest selling game worldwide the week of November 14th, while the Xbox 360 version was the 37th. [7] Despite credibly decent sales, the game debuted much lower than all entries in the first 3 games of the Tenkaichi series as well as Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, which during the summer of 2008 was the top selling game in Japan and the 7th and 25th in North America.[8] These lower than expected sales could be in due to the low amount of Raging Blast advertisement in North America, as well as the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which as of 2010, was the biggest entertainment release of all time.[9]
As of October 22nd, 2011, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast currently has sold approximately 1,042,307 copies across both consoles worldwide, with 620,948 on the PlayStation 3, and 421,359 on the Xbox 360.[10]
Reception[]
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast was met with generally mixed reviews from game critics. The Xbox 360 version currently holds a score of a 56/100 on Metacritic[11] and 57.86% on GameRankings, while the PlayStation 3 version holds a slightly higher 57/100 on Metacritic[12] and 61.53% on GameRankings.
IGN stated "Sure, there's lots of content, but the stories are poorly told (which alienates people who don't already know them) and the gameplay mechanics have numerous, numerous problems." It gave both versions of the game a 62/100.[13]
GameSpot gave the game a 60/100 and stated "The huge assortment of characters, stories, costumes, and other aspects of Dragon Ball lore cannot hide how shallow and uninspired the fighting mechanics are."[14]
GameDaily reviewed the game as a 50/100, and noted that "While Raging Blast has a likable presentation and lots of options, the stale fighting and infuriating camera are hard to ignore."[15]
TeamXbox awarded the Xbox 360 version of Raging Blast with a 74/100 and stated, "While the game’s got plenty of flaws that will bruise the experience for the average gamer, fans will likely look past the technical issues and enjoy reliving the series again…at least long enough for the next inevitable Dragon Ball game to come along."[16]
Official Xbox Magazine (US) gave a very low 35/100 and stated "Do yourself a favor and stick to Street Fighter IV."
Playstation: The Official Magazine (US) awarded the PS3 version of Raging Blast a 60/100 and stated "So, baring the possible glory or failure of Raging Blast's online mode, this is a rather predictable entry in the tale of Goku and Gohan."
G4 gave Raging Blast a score of 3/5, commented by saying "The next-generation successor to Spike's Budokai Tenkaichi games, Raging Blast does not have its predecessor's massive character count, but it makes up in a couple of critical ways. In high definition, it looks about as good as a Dragon Ball game ever will, and this is the first time the series has featured a smooth, lag-free online mode."[17]
Digital Chumps scored the game with a 72/100, stating "Raging Blast has a lot going for it with 70 playable characters, lots of modes, online play, and a nice presentation. The camera and controls remain the most concerning part of the package, but for any average Dragon Ball or avid fighting fan, it's well worth a look."[18]
Gaming Age gave the game a much lower score of 33/100, exclaiming that "Still, even with the excessive fan service employed here, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is a far cry from a good game, or even a good Dragon Ball related game."[19]
Teletext GameCentral gave a 50/100, and stated "After a solid few years the Dragon Ball games are regressing, particularly in this flawed fighter."[20]
Cheat Code Central gave a 52/100, and stated "Dragon Ball: Raging Blast has a lot of things going for it including an interesting story mode, great graphics, and a huge character roster. However, the foundation of the game - the battle system - isn't very fun, and that sinks the whole experience."[21]
Game Revolution gave a very low 25/100, and commented that "The online mode is there as it is with nearly every fighting game to come out in the last five years and it serves its purpose just dandy. Unfortunately, the broken gameplay immediately removes any gold starz DBZ would have eared for online functionality."[22]
Trivia[]
- Even though Raging Blast revolves only around Dragon Ball Z, it is called "Dragon Ball: Raging Blast" and not "Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast". This is in contrast to other Dragon Ball Z games, especially those with "Dragon Ball Z" in their title but with characters from all spectrums of the Dragon Ball universe (the preceding Budokai Tenkaichi series being a prime example).
- This is the second game to be exclusively released on the high definition next-gen consoles, the first being Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit in 2008.
- On August 19th, 2009, a Super Saiyan 3 version of Broly was shockingly revealed as one of the two bonus characters in the game. A Super Saiyan 3 version of Vegeta would follow suit as the second shocking bonus character on October 8th.
- Broly, Bardock (technically manga and TV special) and Gogeta are the only movie characters in this game.
- DLC is available for both versions of the game, making this the first Dragon Ball game to receive any downloadable content.[23][24]
- Super Saiyan 3 Broly and Vegeta were both said to be game exclusive characters. However their first appearances were in the Japanese-only arcade game "Dragon Battlers", released in Spring 2009.[25]
- In two Japanese commercials for Raging Blast, the commentator mistakenly says, "Dragon Ball: Raising Flast" in English. It is unknown how or why such an error occurred.
- For reasons unknown, Gohan does not have his Ultimate form, even though Super Buu has his Gohan absorbed state. However, Ultimate Gohan is briefly seen during Super Buu's transformation into his Gohan absorbed state, altough his face is not shown.
- In an early trailer, Broly was stated as "Legendary Super Saiyan 3", but for unknown reasons, this name was simply changed to "Super Saiyan 3."
- This was the last Dragon Ball game to feature Daisuke Gōri's voice acting in the Japanese voices before the voice actor's tragic death.
- It is stated that Future Trunks did receive his sword from Tapion. This is the second official claim and the canonicity of whether it is true or not is debatable.
- There is 1 ultimate attack in this game that can be changed with different items, this move is the Spirit Bomb used by Goku in his base form. The different forms are Spirit Bomb, Large Spirit Bomb and the Super Spirit Bomb.
- This is the last Dragon Ball game to use the original Funimation DBZ cast. All the games released after this one use the Dragon Ball Z Kai voice cast instead.
- Some of Raging Blast's cutscenes were recycled in Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, with the old voices and new voices of certain characters swapping around randomly.
References[]
Dragon Ball video games | |||||||
Action-adventure games | |||||||
Origins series | Origins • Origins 2 | ||||||
Super Gokuden series | Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen • Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen | ||||||
The Legacy of Goku series | The Legacy of Goku • The Legacy of Goku II • Buu's Fury • GT: Transformation | ||||||
Other | Dragon Daihikyou • Shenron no Nazo • Advanced Adventure • Sagas • Revenge of King Piccolo | ||||||
Role-playing games | |||||||
Gokuden series | Daimaō Fukkatsu • 3: Gokuden (Dragon Ball on WonderSwan Color) • Kyōshū! Saiyan • II: Gekishin Freeza • Super Saiya Densetsu • III: Ressen Jinzōningen • Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku | ||||||
Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans series | Shin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku: Chikyū-Hen • Shin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku: Uchū-Hen | ||||||
Other | Goku Hishōden • Goku Gekitōden • Legendary Super Warriors • Collectible Card Game • Harukanaru Densetsu • Attack of the Saiyans • Dragon Ball Online | ||||||
Fighting games | |||||||
DBZ Arcade series | Dragon Ball Z • V.R.V.S. • DBZ 2: Super Battle | ||||||
Butōden series | 'Super Butōden • Super Butōden 2 • Buyū Retsuden • Super Butōden 3 • Ultimate Battle 22 • Shin Butōden • Hyper Dimension • Final Bout • Ultimate Butōden | ||||||
Budokai series | Budokai • Budokai 2 (Dragon Ball Z 2 V) • Budokai 3 • Shin Budokai • Shin Budokai: Another Road • Burst Limit • Infinite World • Dragonball Evolution • Budokai HD Collection | ||||||
Budokai Tenkaichi series | Budokai Tenkaichi • Budokai Tenkaichi 2 • Budokai Tenkaichi 3 • Raging Blast • Tenkaichi Tag Team • Raging Blast 2 • Zenkai Battle Royale • Ultimate Tenkaichi • Dragon Ball Z For Kinect | ||||||
Data Carddass series | Data Carddass Dragon Ball Z • Data Carddass Dragon Ball Z 2 • Bakuretsu Impact • W Bakuretsu Impact • Dragon Battlers • Dragon Ball Heroes | ||||||
Let's! TV Play games | Battle Taikan Kamehameha • Battle Taikan Kamehameha 2 • Scouter Battle Taikan Kamehameha • Dragon Ball Z × One Piece | ||||||
Supersonic Warriors series | Supersonic Warriors • Supersonic Warriors 2 | ||||||
Other | Gekitō Tenkaichi Budōkai • Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu • The Legend • Taiketsu • Super Dragon Ball Z • Dragon Ball Z: Trilogy | ||||||
Related | |||||||
Shonen Jump games | Famicom Jump • Famicom Jump II • Jump Super Stars • Jump Ultimate Stars • Battle Stadium D.O.N • Dr. Slump: Arale-Chan • Jumpland | ||||||
Other | Atsumare! Gokū Wārudo • Anime Designer: Dragon Ball Z • Dragon Ball Z TV Games • Dragon Ball Handheld Games • Manga Kasetto • Taisen Kata Game Kasetto • Dragonradar Mobile • Dragon Ball Z Quizz |
- ↑ http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/21279/Dragon-Ball-Raging-Blast-Goes-Gold/
- ↑ http://www.bandainamco.co.jp/ir/presentation/pdf/20090508_1.pdf
- ↑ http://www.namcobandaigames.com/news/347
- ↑ http://www.namcobandaigames.com/news/347
- ↑ http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=75477
- ↑ http://www.ebgames.com.au/ps3/product.cfm?id=15016&refer=productsearch
- ↑ http://www.vgchartz.com/weekly.php
- ↑ http://www.vgchartz.com/weekly.php?date=39607&boxartz=1#
- ↑ http://www.gametrailers.com/news/mw2-biggest-launch-in-entertainment/1551
- ↑ http://www.vgchartz.com/worldtotals.php?name=Dragon%20Ball:%20Raging%20Blast
- ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/dragonballragingblast?q=raging%20blast
- ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/dragonballragingblast?q=raging%20blast
- ↑ http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/104/1044218p1.html
- ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/dragonballragingblast/review.html
- ↑ http://www.gamedaily.com/games/dragon-ball-raging-blast/xbox-360/game-reviews/list/9328/0/
- ↑ http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1807/Dragon-Ball-Raging-Blast/p1/
- ↑ http://g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/62323/Dragon-Ball-Raging-Blast/review/
- ↑ http://www.digitalchumps.com/game-reviews/34-360/4128-dragon-ball-raging-blast.html
- ↑ http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/reviews/review.pl?sys=xbox360&game=db_ragingblast
- ↑ http://www.teletext.co.uk/gamecentral/features-reviews/08dd90681d6e3c7f6b10b08256bad363/Dragon+Ball+Raging+Blast+PS3.aspx
- ↑ http://cheatcc.com/ps3/rev/dragonballragingblastreview.html
- ↑ http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/xbox360/dragon-ball-raging-blast
- ↑ http://www.xbox.com/ja-JP/games/d/dragonballragingblast
- ↑ http://www.ebgames.com.au/ps3/product.cfm?id=15016&refer=productsearch
- ↑ http://dcd-dbz.com/secret/02.html