Anime style fighting comes to Nintendo; Wii and DS get Bleach

Mike Bantick
Monday, 09 July 2007 17:27

Your IT - Entertainment

Sega has announced the development of arcade fighting games for the Nintendo Wii and hand-held DS based on forthcoming tv series Bleach.

Some anime will fight its way to the Nintendo platforms as Gary Knight, European Marketing Director for SEGA explains; "The content of the Bleach story lends itself perfectly to an action packed arcade fighting game with a heavy dose of mighty sword battles.  Both the flexibility of the Wii and the portability of the DS have allowed us to bring the intense action of Bleach to a wide variety of gamers and make a great companion to the awesome forthcoming TV series".

Bleach: Shattered Blade for the Wii enables players to wield the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as their weapons - slashing, jabbing, and lunging in furious battles like a real Soul Reaper. Bleach: Shattered Blade offers an exclusive storyline created specifically for the Wii with 32 characters to choose from. Once a new character is unlocked, players can replay the story episodes utilising the characters special moves and weapons adding a whole new perspective to the storyline. Players will be able to inflict enormous damage on opponents with powerful weapons and super power attacks taken straight from the TV series. Characters can summon supernatural allies such as a giant serpent, a samurai titan, or a tidal wave, for battle support. Players can also square-off against their friends in high-speed multiplayer combat in 3D arenas and environments based on settings from the series.

Bleach: The Blade of Fate for the Nintendo DS offers striking 2D action and brilliant visuals that have become the hallmark of Treasure, the game's legendary development team. Players will face a variety of opponents as one of 28 highly-stylised characters in intense action-packed battles based on the animated series. Bleach: The Blade of Fate on the Nintendo DS brings a twist to the traditional 2D fighting game with a new kind of battle system that enables players to move between upper and lower split-plane battle arenas to chase after or escape from opponents. Bleach: The Blade of Fate for the DS also allows gamers to build Spirit Card Decks to strategically access power-ups and power-downs to perform special attacks, cast healing spells on themselves, displace opponents, or prohibit them from using their own Spirit Cards. Additionally, gamers can take to the streets battling against enemies in fast-paced combat via the Nintendo DS' Wi-Fi capabilities.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with SEGA Europe for the Bleach Wii and DS games", explains John Easum, president of VIZ Media Europe. "The SEGA Bleach games are outstanding and have already enjoyed immense success in Japan. In Europe, the manga is already a top-seller, and the exciting TV series will soon launch. We are expecting a very big response to the SEGA games".

Look for both Bleach games towards the end of this year