Bastard Bonds

Bastard Bonds is a movie that's finally coming to the big screen. Based on a manga by Jack Kirby and Tezuka, this action/adventure film is set after the events of the anime about an elite group of high school fighters called The Air Force, whose sole mission is to bring back a large number of deceased Air Force members. The most famous of the group is Zendaya, a hulking machine gun capable of firing his distant, imaginary equivalent of a living rifle. He appears in the film as a blue-skinned human boy, who is shown looking at him with a ragged nose. Zendaya plays the character Luke - a mischievous young girl with a troubled past. A rift between him and the team initiates a bizarre truce that turns the two characters into a pair of indestructible mutant beings. The battle that ensues is a full-scale, fluid motion-captured fighting game.

For more details, visit the movie's Web site and see for yourself.

Cyber Space Produced by Soho Studios, the company responsible for the CG anime version of the anime, Cyber Space is a 3D fighter. Though it shares many similarities with Capcom's Street Fighter series, this one has an emphasis on "directional combat." Trained in an alternate future where Earth has become under siege by mechs, Cyber Space is armed with all-terrain guns and lasers. To help you out, you'll have access to a wide variety of high-tech weapons. While not as deep or technical as Capcom's Street Fighter series, Cyber Space boasts a number of devastating finishing moves.

The game has a healthy selection of characters to choose from, all of whom have been voiced by Hollywood stars. These include original characters such as Max Payne, Solid Snake, and Chun Li. You'll also be able to play as other fighters in the game, such as Helix, Atomic Bull, or the Legion of Doom. These different characters, which are available in both single- and multiplayer modes, can be purchased in various stores. The game's story is largely in the same vein as the various Street Fighter titles, although the alternate timeline is much shorter.

Although most of the graphics are very impressive and are easy to pick up, the game's gameplay is very straightforward, with a light punch and kick system that, while not entirely unique to the Street Fighter series, makes it ideal for anyone who enjoys dodging. To get the most out of the game, you'll be able to perform multiple combinations of punches and kicks to perform special moves and to perform a combination special move that consumes a certain amount of the meter. The power-ups are simple, in fact,--they will do a lot of damage, cause more of the opponent's health to regenerate, and heal your fighter, allowing you to stay in the fight longer. Some of the special moves are even better than the normal ones that could be acquired through traditional means, such as the powerful spinning kick, which requires you to stand in one spot for a few seconds while the opponent blows you up.

If you're expecting the big bad boss, you're right, because you won't be faced with the kind of spectacular punch that you'd expect to see in a Street Fighter game. Instead, you'll get your hands on a huge, gauntlet-like object called a Street Fighter disc, which can be used in any direction as long as you're standing still. The disc will gradually buckle into its base and then will jut out of the console in a solid, pumping soundy loop that will eventually pass over to the next platform. A second disc will eventually segue into a line of two that will be progressively more challenging and more complicated. The second disc will offer a more dramatic--and more varied--take on the tournament. The four final disc will be the complete package of six different characters (and a whole lot of variations on the existing character) and will require you to be especially adept at taking on three or more opponents at once. All the characters will have alternate moves that should be suited for any combination of character.

The visuals in the game will actually be shaping up to look quite nice on the PlayStation 2, although the visuals will run at a bit of a paltry 480p resolution, especially considering that the GameCube version of the game is slated to feature a higher resolution than the current-gen offerings. Still, there's no denying that the art style in the game is shaping up to be quite a step up from the impressive visuals that were shown last month. The character models are a little uneven in their animation department, with most of the models looking stiff and a bit stiff. The stages in the game feature a liberal amount of detail and offer a decent amount of variety in the environments. The levels we've seen so far are pretty expansive and feature a good amount of variety as well.