Here is my thing. Arena fighters can be amazing. The problem I have is that ALL of these games are rushed, made on a shoestring budget and have terrible design decisions.

Cursed Clash didn't set a record for the most refunds, some guy on tiktok said that and everyone spread it around I believe

U didnt give storm 4 and dbzbt3 enough credit. Ppl still love arena fighters, they just dont like being scammed.

I feel like arena fighters can be fun because it's a 3D fight where you can run around anywhere which can fit the style depending on the Anime. If they do make good controls and gameplay then we probably wouldn't have this problem

DBZ BT3, Kill la Kill IF, Demon Slayer Hinokami, J-Stars, Kamen Rider Kabuto PS2, Gundam Extreme Versus, Dissidia, Urban Reign are my favorites. DBZ Sparking Zero is gonna be great no doubt

One's Justice 2 is the best example of a development team taking criticism and feedback seriously and creating a better product for it. All its really missing is a sizeable budget, doesn't matter how good your development team is, they'll only be able to do so much with what they are given and they are definitely not getting the same love and budget DBZ and Naruto typically get.

Kill La Kill If is such a tradgedy. What a great game with so much potential. I hope to see a game like it in the future.

I will never forget seeing people actively defend Cursed Clash when it was incredibly obvious the game was looking rough

While I would agree that most anime arena fighters aren't good, I do understand the appeal of them. People aren't looking for a deep competitive games withe them, they are looking for a toybox to smash their action figures together. And I think it's pretty obvious that's what the appeal is. So I don't get why so many people don't understand that.

Say what you will I think J stars better than jump force and actually like the game a lot honestly

Consumers are not tired of Arena fighters, consumers are tired of bad games

Sparking ZERO looks at least like it’ll be good. I hope the lesson that Bandai will take from it is that by giving a game a lot of time and allowing the devs to put lots of work into it, you can make a successful game

I think you're half right about why they make so many 3d arena fighters, but some other reasons are theyre easy to get into without becoming "good", yes they're cheap but they also tend to be more casual oriented so more people who maybe dont game that often can get into them pretty easy if theyre just into the IP, the other is because you can capture the feeling of the show more easily (ala storm and tenkaichi series really feel like they belong in those franchises)

At this point, M.U.G.E.N. anime games don't seem that bad

Bandai Namco has become Krabby the Clown

The reason why Tenkaichi 2&3 is loved is because there were depths to the gameplay.

People often expect traditional fighting games when a beloved IP announces a new title. Yet, it's crucial to understand that the focus is not on the consumer, but on revenue generation. Fighting games don't achieve the mainstream status of franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, Rainbow Six, or even Pokemon, primarily due to player retention issues. The fighting game community (FGC) sees a decline in players over time, either from boredom or the daunting challenge of competing against professionals. Consequently, developers may opt for arena fighters, which are presumably simpler to create, require varying levels of effort, and leverage brand recognition to ensure sales. The choice then becomes: produce a complex game that may lose players and revenue over time, or develop a cost-effective, basic game loaded with well-known characters that could sell millions at launch due to instant character recognition.

The Dragon Ball series is one of the only mainstream anime to have a wide variety of games to choose from you have: Kakarot - an rpg style game and mainly exists if you just want to experience the story with incredible visuals Xenoverse - a create character that includes characters from dragon ball heroes and several player battles and raid bosses and also has light rpg elements Breakers - an asymmetric game that allows you to play as a raider or survivor with multiple friends FighterZ - a competitive fighting game that boasted a huge fgc scene for its incredible visuals and it’s depth and technicality appealing to a wider audience And now Sparking Zero a continuation to tenkaichi series which is essentially the ultimate dragon ball battle simulator with the biggest roster, incredible visuals and the ability to create your own scenarios or experience what if scenarios

Japanese and now U.S competitive player here. METEOR / t3 is actually extremely deep and complicated. The mechanics seen to be blatantly Ignored by critics and casual players. The western player base found the complexities rather late. with Italy player Paige and co. being the forefront of finding tech too! I hope some people will experience this in ZERO as the manager, has confirmed that it wont be a casual title.

One thing to add about Jump Force is the amount of manga spoilers for many characters (mostly Bleach)

It's a crime gundam exvs mbon wasn't talked about here

People aren't tired of arena fighters the people that never liked them are just loud....The problem is they don't give these games a budget to be a good arena fighter.

Another thing I wonder is why so many anime games just retell the story of the anime/manga instead of telling a new original story. If they're afraid that an original story will muck up the continuity, they can just say that the games story is non-canon.

Man I just can't wait for sparking zero.. I preordered it already

Saint Seiya: Soldier's Soul is still one of my fav arena fighters along with DBZ BT3, J-Stars Victory and Gundam Extreme VS Maxiboost On.

Dont shit talk j-stars. That game was amazing and introduced to me some of my favorite series

We need more Smash Bros clones/anime platform fighters like Jump Superstars and Jump Ultimate Stars on DS.

I think the biggest culprits in this curse are Spike Chunsoft. Their games are shallow with boring gameplay and cheap visuals, games like Jump Force and OPM are the prime examples of rushed development leading to an undercooked product that leaves fans ultimately disappointed. CC2's games might be samey, but their presentation is top notch and I think that's ultimately what anime fans want out of these sort of games, and it looks like Spike Chunsoft is taking a page out of their book with Sparking Zero, considering how visually impressive that game is shaping up to be. I also think that this recent trend of anime games trying to be more competitively viable is really healthy for the genre, it's better for arena fighters to be properly considered and respected as a subgenre of fighting games rather than relegating them to cheap, silly party games. The best games to feature this sort of direction are Demon Slayer: Hinokami Chronicles, and My Hero: One's Justice 2. Both of these games received proper balancing updates with feedback from the community, and had competitive communities for a while. Now on its own that doesn't say much (Jump Force also has a competitive scene) but it's moreso that these games feel like their mechanics were designed with proper competitive fighting in mind, the cast feels more balanced than your average Storm game, and the gameplay is much more deliberate than those games too. One's Justice 2 specifically feels like more like a fighting game than an arena fighter (if that makes sense) because every character plays completely differently, and both combos and neutral in that game feel more like what you'd get in a standard anime fighter over the usual button mashing you'd see in Storm games.

J-Stars Victory Vs expanded my horizon in anime and holds a special place for me

The problem isn't arena fighters, it's the fact that they refuse to get good studios to make them

You should check out Anarchy Reigns, it’s a pretty decent arena fighter done right. It was developed by Platinum the devs behind Bayonetta and MGRR. Also, you left out the raging blast games, lmao. Great video either way. As for Naruto, the series had a bunch of games, from RPGs on the DS to open-world adventure games. There was the Clash of Ninja series, which was pretty good, unfortunately, it’s the Storm series that gets to live on. I feel like the lack of completion made them complacent later on.

When dragon ball started being the only series I thought was releasing good arena fighter or just good anime games told me a lot. I realized this after storm went on hiatus. FighterZ, and Xenoverse2 are great. I really think anime games should be looking at different genres… you know like Kakarot and FighterZ not being arena fighter. Imagine bleach with devil may cry gameplay. That would be so on brand especially if you know Nero and Ichigo share the same voice actor. Was that one piece rpg that came out any good?

They really did Jump Force dirty, just a generic cash grabs!! Better just play j-stars victory vs I do love MHOJ2 tho, better than other 3d anime arena fighters in recent years..

Byking is most known for developing the Gundam Vs series an anime arena fighter series so successful that Bandai refuses to make an up to date port of the game from the arcades where it originates, just so that they can keep selling the unbelievably expensive arcade machines whenever they port something it's usually outdated by 2-3 years behind the current arcade version, or something completely inferior and only somewhat based of the arcade version, like Gundam Versus it is however, still better than 90% of the games discussed on this video

Tbh, my main issue with Kill la Kill: if was the fact that Super Ryuko wasn't playable post-game

I stand by the fact that almost every single battle based Anime would be perfect for a devil may cry style game

What is the ending music for this video? It sounds good.

The gundam extreme versus game was so goood no lie it's just true

Bandai, plz bring back One Piece: Grand Battle and Naruto: Clash of Ninja. Not every anime fighter has to follow the same template.

JStars was still a banger to play with my friends mainly because it felt like it was still a great Jump game.

Hey since you are the anime video game guy could you do a video on fairy tail since it’s getting a sequel

The outro of the video reminds me of the fineas and fearb movie videogame for the dci

Im surprised Saint Seya Soldiers Soul was left out of this. Besides the BT series i think Urban Reign is one of the best arena fighters of all time. Not anime but still worth a mention

I think because of increase in Mobile gamers, devs have moved to Gacha games. Not saying that console gamers have reduced, but obviously there's a heavier attention being put in innovating Gacha games, making all current and upcoming Arena Fighters more formulaic. I hope Sparking Zero breaks the curse

I wish anime games tried their hand at the formula Fullmetal Alchemist PS2 games had, RPG platforming beatemups. Those game were so fun, dope, and really did the source material justice. Beating Scar (a battle you were supposed to lose) was so hype. Imagining something like that at a grander scale with modern consoles, my God...

What's the music that played at the end? Sounds like it's from a DS game.

I loved Byrning Blood. From its artstyle to how they handled combat, it was a great time. Especially the small details like Luffy's steam when using 2nd Gear.

That’s why I have hope for nen impact while yes it isn’t that visually appealing due to its low budget but if it really controls like marvel vs Capcom I think it’ll really take off

Next year anniversary, need a fighting game that utilizes what will be for Sparking Zero and add more characters. Maybe add more than just Weekly SJ and include Monthly SJ titles that were originally going to be Weekly titles.

only 15 ;-;

great video, but there is a small mistake in it, JJK is not developped by byking they only supervised the project gemdrops devellopped it

dragon ball games have always been great and don't suffer the issues other arena fighters do with their deep combat mechanics, Budakai 4 (sparking zero) is going to be the greatest anime arena fighter no matter how you look into it. I'm not glazing, I'm just basing my opinions on all the trailers and gameplays out there showing the developer's passion to make a good game for the people who have been waiting for 17 years.

going through all the smash themes was smart

All anime fighters are fun, they just weren’t meant to be competitive. A lot of them are actually very different mechanically (I’m meaning the arena fighters) they just have a similar vibe- But you wouldn’t play Storm the same way you’d play Cursed Clash or Raging Blast- or even any of the Fate games. The issue with those games is that they’re never built on balance, they’re cash grabs. You play them with your friends and mess around, not online in any sort of ranked setting. This is why the only real successful anime fighting games are 2d. Idk when people started taking anime games so seriously as if they weren’t always kinda bad. Probably around the same time people forgot that games were meant to kill time and be fun.

Demon Slayer HC had such high potential to be something great. I feel it just needs one sequel with more characters and balance changes to be a classic arena fighter .

Hopefully, sparking zero and rebirth of souls save the genre. It's depressing when your favorite anime/manga series gets a low-budget game adaptation compared to other franchises.

Dude, you should look up videos for the upcoming Bleach Soul Resonance game. I think you would be impressed

Many already commented about it, but I'll say too. Seiya soldier's soul is one of my favorites arena fighter, not only the graphics are good, but the combat and gameplay is also very good, besides that, the story mode has four arcs, and the character rooster is huge, with bronze, gold, silver saints, and even odin saints, poiseidon marines and hades specters, and you can even unlock the gods themselves, all the characters for free, no DLC, nothing. You just need to play the story mode, and you'll have all those characters. Besides that, saint seiya SS even received many dubs for different languages, spanish, Brazilian Portuguese etc. The voice acting in this game is perfect in all languages.

Also, something to keep in mind is that a lot of these games have small development teams and a rushed schedule

I think you should have also gone over the other arena fighters Dragon Ball had post Tenkaichi. Raging Blast, Zenkai Battle, Battle of Z, and maybe Ultimate Tenkaichi.

i think sparking zero will set a new precedent for arena fighters, this is the game im looking forward to the most, if it is incredibly great, then we will hopefully get just as great, if not greater arena fighters

Would love to think after Sparking zero is where Bandai changes how they do things but it's been the same for so long that Dragon Ball is the series that gets the most put in it

I pray to God and hope that the Bleach Rebirth game wont be trash. The Bleach fans are *starving* for a new video game!

I really love one justice, byking did a excellent job with the quirks of everybody in the roster and it shows how they csre about it, hopefully we get a Third installment

There's another arena fighter game called saint seiya soldiers soul and it has spanish dub which means its surprising but now the game is rare

Where's Gundam Extreme Versus? The only good competitive arena. Not even bait, it's a series of games that's been around for 20+ years.

The naruto storm gameplay was fire! Not only the story mode

I will stand for J stars till the day I die, even with its flaws and imperfections. I peaked at rank #3 with cards on as Platinumbuizel like 8 years ago 😹.

It would've been cool if Saint Seiya Soldiers Soul was talked about here, although the reason why might've been because it was delisted literally everywhere

You could probably also count Gundam Versus and Dissidia NT

Once I buy these games a play them for a week and then I’m done but I still need a arena fighter for bleach

I still feel like kill la kill of is the closest it got I wish the team got another chance to do it but people really hate arena fighters now

Didnt Saint seiya sanctuary chapter was realeased first?

I actually played ones justice until OJ2’s release. It wasn’t dead. Oj2 didn’t die quickly after launch either. It died recently

I need an era of mario kart clones. Let me play a DBZ Mario kart!

They need a j stars that's fights like a vs 2d fighter

I know it's really old, but a lot of people don't know the FIRST "j stars" type Arena fighter stared with D.O.N Which stood for Dragonball z, One piece, Naruto.. Duh. It released on Gamecube and ps2 i think and it only released in Japan. If you we're a Nerd like me you emulated it and for it's time it was a fun Arena fighter, it just did not get any love because of the lack of release in NA. I will also add Shinobi Striker gets slept on when it is a really fun game.

Sparking zero is gonna be so good though

19:40 "Glorified dlc for the previous instalment" just like Generation and Revolution, at least compared to these two Connection has a real story mode

Glad to hear the problem acknowledged. If they were done well there wouldn't be a problem. But it seems as if they make them either in the same or similar engine, and they don't polish the gameplay form one game to another. It's as if you're playing almost the same game every time you try a new one. J-Stars and One Piece Burning Blood, characters have stiff and rather slow movement, and there's little to no cancelling options from move to move, or from normal attack to special move. Then just by seeing another like the One Punch Man, or Jump Force you know it's gonna be the same, or almost the same. I have low hope for DB Sparking Zero, looks like the animations suffered because they cared more for effects.

Raging blast 1&2 : oh really so I’m just a joke to you huh?

Make a jump game that plays like xenoverse... big destruction type arenas with smooth gameplay, 50 plus characters and free for all 1v1 2v2 4v4 all online, and i guess local play for 1v1

Can’t put Budokai Tenkaichi Series in the same sentence as the others

Sparking Zero will save us

damn black clover quartet knights didnt even get mentioned

The end point is a bit of a contradiction. The problem isn’t the genre, it’s the lack of polish fed into the genre. I personally love arena fighters, even the ones that follow a formula.

You missed one, which was probably one of the more unique ones to release: Black Clover Quartet Knights.

If y'all are looking for good arena fighters than definitely xenoverse 2 and gundam vs franchise. Gundam vs is even playable on Android through ppspp(psp emulation)

What we need of different MC and different time period in Anime game. It should be either RPG or platform action.

All we need is a game for each anime where you create your character and level up like Elden ring. An open world where you it’s got pvp and pve

I just want a new shonen jump platform fighter ... Like the one on DS

I hope sparking zero turns out to be a good game. I really like arena fighters and just want a high quality one with an alive online player base.

you could argue dragonball z sagas on sega saturn and ps1 was even before tenkaichi 1 also you forgot to mention the blast games from spike, tenkaichi tag team wasn't their last db arena fighter, technically there was raging blast 1+2, utlimate tenkaichi (in japan ultimate blast) and dbz kinect

I thought Danganropa was made by Spike before the merger?

The only AF I like is Kill la Kill If

I agree with all those arena game but Fighter Z, Storm connection and Demon slayer are my only exception bcz they are Good like GOOD i wish to have a really good One piece Game like those three if you think it's impossible look at One piece fighting path such a great game should be in Consol😢

Thats why i love the Fairy Tail game and will most likely love its sequel too They are not 3d fighters, but Turn based/action RPGs which fit waaaay more in the world and story

This has me worried for the new Bleach game which seems to be an arena fighter.

Sparking Zero will save us all

Sparking zero will be great 🔥