Sengoku Basara Retrospective: The Other Media

With the success of Sengoku Basara 2 in Japan, it was only natural that Capcom would ride the merchandise train and branch the franchise off into other media as well as a few spin-off games.  Eventually some of that media would come to America alongside the first properly translated English game, but since the spin-off games were made during Capcom’s terminally stupid era, they were not released in English.

There was a pair of stripped-down PSP games, Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes and Chronicle Heroes, as well as a fighting game called Sengoku Basara X.  Normally I wouldn’t bother going over them because they’re not especially notable, not part of the main games and I haven’t played them, but it just so happens as I was writing the retrospective that a local arcade had Sengoku Basara X, so I can touch on that.

Sengoku Basara Retrospective: Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes/3

Capcom pretty much perfected the Sengoku Basara formula the first game created with Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes.  After riding that for a few years and releasing a fighting game in the interim, it was time for Sengoku Basara to evolve with the console hardware.  With a new game engine and new play style, the next Sengoku Basara game was indeed an evolution, but the most important evolution of all was that IT’S IN ENGLISH!  IT’S IN ENGLISH!  IT’S IN ENGLISH!  IT’S IN ENGLISH!

They even got T.M. Revolution to do the opening in English!  I don’t blame anyone for thinking it’s not though.

Sengoku Basara Retrospective: Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes

When Capcom makes a hit game it’s almost a compulsion for them to make an updated version of it later.  It’s a practice almost synonymous with Capcom and Sengoku Basara 2 follows that tradition with Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes, or at least it kind of does.

That is one of the best openings ever and it made me buy Blade Chord on the itunes store.

Sengoku Basara Retrospective: Sengoku Basara 2

The first Sengoku Basara wasn’t exactly a big hit in Japan, but it was received well enough so a sequel was inevitable.  The first game had a lot of room for improvement, to put it lightly, so this was another chance to do the formula it established better and boy did it ever.  Sengoku Basara 2 is where the franchise really starts.  It’s like the Street Fighter 2 or Metal Gear Solid of Sengoku Basara.  Like those franchises, the improvements are so drastic, and the story so unrelated, that the first game can be ignored.

No T.M. Revolution.  We’re off to a… bad start?

TV Edits of the Viewtiful Joe anime: Episode 18

In this episode, Joe and Junior are in a futuristic city and one of the robot servants there washes the V-watch, causing Joe's mach speed to go out of control and function as a flux capacitor.  I'm pretty sure the film they're in is Metropolis, which is supported by the city being named Mechatropolis.  I can't imagine there's a lot that would need editing for this episode, but let's see.