Last week we told you Namco Bandai was working on a Dragon Ball Z game for Kinect. It basically sees you playing as one of 50 characters going through the storyline where you can perform hundreds of moves like the infamous Kamehameha. I got a chance to play the game after the announcement and immediately felt stupid for getting even remotely excited for it.

I want to give Namco the benefit of the doubt as this was an early build of the game and the area holding the demo wasn't that well lit. Still, my moves weren't being detected by the Kinect half the time and it's basically a stationary fighting game. You can't actually move your fighter around, instead you're just punching and kicking away. The only time you do move is when an attack pushes you back or if you perform some sort of special move.

You're just furiously punching away in front of yourself, much to the same degree as a person clawing their way out of a coffin would after being buried alive. There isn't even voice recognition. How can you make a Dragon Ball Z game like this and not let people scream their heads off?!

So that's Dragon Ball Z For Kinect in a horrible, rotten, nutshell. Oh, there's this whole thing with scanning QR codes for unlocking characters too. You know, because people LOVE scanning QR codes. We'll have video of me attempting to play going up later where I'm pretty positive you can see the moment my soul just dies.

Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)

Regnier

I want a new budokai game. Those were the best dbz games ever!

Mr Andy Dixon

I honestly don't understand why developers keep trying with this thing. Even if the game "worked" flawlessly, I fail to see how it would be fun in the least.

Leave Kinect to the dance genre and as a supplemental to games that can use voice/hand commands and let the rest die already. (Oh, and Myst. Do that, too.)

Exu

God damn it. I'm one of those anti-Kinect douchebags but even I was slightly excited for this, being able to "be" Goku et al sounds fun as fuck but those illusions have just been shattered.

If I'd been able to do the OVER 9000 scene that would have just sealed the deal.

Gamegodtre

I hope Jim reviews this

Watts

Fuck this. I'm going to watch the new DBZ Abridged from two days ago. Again. Also, if DBZ Budokai 3 made its way to PS2 Classics, I would be pleased, but I'm going to assume its in licensing hell.

Corbanski

this is embarassing

Darren Nakamura

So, it's like playing with a Sega Activator?

psycho terror2

jesus hamza, i'm just so, so sorry. you should get a raise for this.

arkane9

KamehameHamza!

No dance mode? Disappoint.

llort het

"You're just furiously punching away in front of yourself, much to the same degree as a person clawing their way out of a coffin would after being buried alive."

I think this is why these 1:1 combat games can't work very well. With no physical feedback, there's nothing to stop players from just flailing wildly to win, just like how people do in wii games where you have a sword. Of course Nintendo kind of found a solution in Skyward Sword after seeing Jimmy Fallon win by flailing wildly, and that was to have every enemy in the game become kung fu zen masters of blocking until they telegraph an obvious opening and leave it open long enough for you to hit.

Anyways, yeah, I don't really care about Dragon Ball Z, but I'm sad this exists.

RenegadePanda

Really? No voice recognition?

At least 50% of what makes a Dragon Ball move is the screaming. Probably more like 75%.

Developers are just lazy with Kinect, it has potential seen in games like Rise of Nightmares and Steel Battalion, but most of what we get is this half assed kind of thing where they basically take an existing game and add limited gesture support that never works.

I don't care for Dragon Ball whatsoever, but I think it could work incredibly well with Kinect if the developers actually seemed like they gave a crap about the idea.

AdamskiOwenov

The only good thing that could come from this would be some kind of 'Let's Play' from Team Four Star. If they could make Dragonball: Evolution funny as hell (EVERYONE get their iRiff Rifftrax! It's great! Google It!), maybe they could do the same for whatever Namco is doing with this.

Ravelle Madrox

Dear god, Kinect is like the 3D of movies.

Chack

For that kind of fighting game I still prefer Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 on the Wii (yes, one of the launch titles) as it has lots of button + stick + waggle moves well applied.

exp0d

Damn Darren, you remember that? I can't believe how terrible that thing was. Here we are about 20 years later, with developers not learning from past mistakes.

Faux Furry

The only crying that should be involved with DragonBall Z (for the audience)are either battle cries (as in a proper voice-recognizing Kinect game) or laughter-induced tears due to some absurdity or other,possibly one pointed out by Team Four Star in one of their parody videos.

Static Jak

Still waiting for them to realize that the whole Dragonball series would make for a kick ass action-JRPG series of games starting from Goku as a kid all the way through.

Alan Argentina

[img]http://www.konami.jp/am/punch/image/hk_kyou.gif[/i]

Alan Argentina

KingTarutaru

Wait so this is a DBZ themed dance central only with 90% more flailing?
Well in my case it sounds about the same

ShadeOfLight

@Arkane

Dance mode, set to Karma Chameleon by Culture Club needs to happen.

Kame-kame-kame-kame-kame-kameyheyha

Tin Man

@Onered - I remember that. I thought it was great in the arcades. But then the beauty of the arcades is I can play a game and spend only a couple of quid. But £40 into a game that doesn't have any kind of physical feedback and is just a massive ballache after 10 minutes? Fuck that noise.

I thought this would be a load of shit, and I am not surprised at all to see it looks like I'll be right.

But then, IMO DBZ games stopped being something worth pursuing after Budokai 2.

searchmyday

loooooooooool

JoeTheProYaKnow

No voice recognition? GAH!! That is a major disappointment. I already *knew* this would be lame, but if it had voice recognition, then it could have saved itself to be something hilarious to play. Well shooty shooty shooot.

Camel Toad

All this needs to succeed is multiplayer and the FUUUUUU SION HAAAAAA!!! dance. No? Complete trash.

VicYoungblood

I tell myself I'm not going to buy it, buuuuut... *points at embarrassing amount of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z swag*... Yeahhhh.

LegendPenguin

Damn, Hamza! I think this is the first time I've read you mad about something.

That said, this does look retarded in the worst sense of the word. As much as I love DBZ and Kinect, this thing does not impress. Still, if they happen to put out a demo, I'll still give it a try.

Hamza CTZ Aziz

@arkane9 YES! Awesome nickname :D

timtheterrible

Like a lowly hunter who stumbles across a bathing goddess in the forest, anyone who sees me playing this will be murdered before they can tell another soul about it.

VolksONER

Dragonball? Seriously? Is that still a thing? My little brother grew out of that phase at like 10.

N7

Hamza... Demand a Ginyu Force Dance mode naoh!!!

Agent9

and i almost bought an xbox for this game, how sad 8(

Occams electric toothbrush

arkane9

@Hamza
It's puntastic!

@ShadeOfLight
So true! I don't dare to think of the DBZ-ified lyrics though.

twincannon

@Occams electric toothbrush

STOP! Goku time!

At least they got Krillin's health score right: "E". Haha.

Polite Gentleman

Kinect would sort of work if it were a complement instead of a 'full-controller'.

Wasn't MS planning on making some 'hybrid-games'? Would like to see how it would work.

drippingsins

I'd say I'm surprised by this. But then I'd be a goddamned liar.

Aroboot96

how many raditz is this game?(abridged series refrence)

Arttemis

Now I can do this!

chiptoon

Wow, even the guy they paid to be in their ad looks like he'd rather be doing his math homework

GrimmTrixX

I 100% miss DBZ Tenkaichi. All I want is a DBZ Tenkaichi 4 with every single solitary DBZ character in the DB/DBZ/DBGT universe. is that so much to ask?

Squidoris

Budokai 3 was the best... It was all downhill from there.

Chad Revelle

If doing the kamehameha will be just like i expect...i would pay just to do that motion...and actually do something for once.