Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Akira Toriyama and the video games

Toriyama

Dear and hated to equal parts, Akira Toriyama was for many synonymous of sleeve and cheer up for several years, thanks to the immense popularity of his series “Dragon Ball“. Nevertheless, this fifty-year old Japanese has created many other works along his life, and for enough time also it has taken part in the design of personages of several video games, some of them with an impact mediático even major than the series that it announced for these homes.

In this article, I am going to center on the work of the author related to this industry - a revision to all his work is a madness - both on qualifications created from his works, and on his participation in games of other companies.

Games based on works of Akira Toriyama Dr. Slump

Dr Slump

The adventures of Senbei Norimaki, Plow him and other Town personages Penguin, did that the talent Akira Toriyama was recognized in his fatherland. To today, there keeps on seeming to me one of his best works, with a really special sense of humor. The adaptation that was done for PlayStation was not any marvel - and of course it would have remained much better in 2D - but it turned out to be a game of roll fixed enough for the fans of the series.

Dr Slump (PS1)

Later, Plow him it distributed cane in “Jump Super Stars” and “Jump Ultimate Stars” for Nintendo DS, and led a game again one year ago and a half in this one portable. The bad thing is that if a miracle does not happen, it will remain also in Japanese grounds.

Dr Slump DS

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball

It does a time I tried to do a series of articles about games based on the universe “Dragon Ball“ … but I desisted after seeing that there were tens of them. And the fact is that the lode takes exploiting for more than two decades, with games that go from the struggle 2D, up to a MMORPG, passing for other genres for the letters battles, or the Japanese roll. Nevertheless, if I had to remain with the only one, undoubtedly that one would be “Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure” of Game Boy Advance, the most beautiful game in which we distribute tow with Goku in a few levels ambientados in the first one - and better - epoch of the series.

On the other hand, there are some curious qualifications, like “Dragon Ball Z: Gekitō Tenkaichi Budokai“, a game for Famicom that was making use of a peculiar reader of bar codes similar to Barcode Battler:

Dragon Ball Z: Gekitō Tenkaichi Budokai

Dragon Ball Z: Atsumare! Gokū Wārudo ”was another strange invention, since it was a question of a videotape VHS and a species of phone called Terebikko, which was allowing us to answer the questions that he was proposing to us“ the game “.

Go! Go! Ackman

Go! Go! Ackman

This series led by a small demon clavadito to Trunks, had three deliveries published in Super Famicom, and other one for Game Boy. Those of the big console were platforms games with many doses of humor, with some included sexual prank.

As for the portable version, it was a question of a species of copy of “Pac-man“ … resultona but forgettable

Games with personages designed by Akira Toriyama Dragon Quest

Dragon Quest

This video games saga is perhaps the most popular in Japan, something that it is possible to deduce easily to the knowledge that the Japanese government forced Enix - now Square Enix - that every new delivery could only be published in Sunday, so that the people were not missing to the school or to the work. In addition to a well designed game mechanics, these qualifications were provided with the incentive to have personages created by Akira Toriyama, which was triumphing with “Dragon Ball” in the epoch in which the first game went out.

In addition to, he designed most of the enemies to the protagonists. Between them is the icónico and simple "slime", which appears in all the deliveries, has led two spin-offs, and that even has "turned" into a control for PlayStation 2:

Dragon Quest slime controler

The fact that it has made all the masks Toriyama also it helped to the sales, and the fact is that his peculiar style is quite recognizable:

Dragon Quest III

Right now, the ninth delivery for Nintendo DS keeps on triumphing in the Japanese country, and the fans of the saga bite the fingernails so that the corresponding western version comes this summer.

Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger

In the creation of this title, there joined forces some of the best designers and Japanese programmers, and the result of this synergy was one of the games most wanted by the fans of the games of roll of 16 bits. And the fact is that “Chrono Trigger“ had multiple ends, an amazing sound-track, an atypical history, an extraordinary setting, and a few memorable personages. Although Toriyama resorted to some of his most well-known clichés - protagonist with the “hair punctured”, girl with the purple hair, girl with “pigtail and free hair”, … - the personages who appear in “Chrono Trigger“ have something that makes them special.

The game was provided with an intro cheered up in his port to PlayStation, with designs responsible for Bird Studio - at that Toriyama and some assistants are employed basically - and Toei animation:

As curious fact, the game came officially to Spain it does slightly more than one year in his conversion for Nintendo DS, and Ubi Soft “had the detail” of bringing it to us in English. The result: a disaster in sales.

Tobal

Tobal No. 1

Tobal No. 1 ”was the first SquareSoft incursion in PlayStation, and thanks to the Toriyama hand, and to a mechanics of interesting game, it they was not badly at all. The more entertained of the title was the way it ventures, that it was mixing touches of struggle and of roll of a very intelligent form, and in that we could face finally to the very same Toriyama in his version robotics

The consequence did not go out of Japan, and it was bigger in every respect, since it was provided with 200 personages, several ways it ventures, and a more elaborate technical paragraph.

Blue Dragon

Blue Dragon

After having worked almost exclusive for Bandai and Square Enix, Toriyama collaborated with Microsoft to try to give an oxygen ball to Xbox 360 in Japan. The result was “Blue Dragon“, a quite entertaining RPG that was provided with designs of this Japanese artist.

The title had a quite good reception both on the part of the public and of the criticism, what has done that the exemption has given the jump to the sleeve and to the anime, and that it even has had two deliveries in Nintendo DS.

Conclusions

Since we have seen, Akira Toriyama not only is synonymous of “Dragon Ball“, but his peculiar style has allowed to be seen in other works, quite well-known all of them, like “Chrono Trigger“ or, especially, “Dragon Quest“. Although me his work usually please, I have to admit that it usually abuses certain topics, and that many of his personages look alike too much. Nevertheless, that does not remove that the peculiar sense of humor that he always impregnates to all his work starts a smile.

And to you: what does Toriyama look like to you? Also did you finish put off of “Dragon Ball“? Traficábais with photocopies of his drawings in the school?

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