Welcome to another rousing installment of our Developer Spotlight series! This time around we’re going to shine the spotlight on CyberConnect2! Perhaps you know them for their work on several Naruto games!
CyberConnect2 was originally founded in Fukuoka, Japan on February 16, 1996 as “CyberConnect” by 10 people; 9 of the 10 founding employees were former Taito staff.
Their first release was Tail Concerto, for the original PlayStation. This action-adventure game, the first of an intended series/shared universe (Little Tail Bronx) combined a steampunk setting, mechas and anthro furry creatures in one compact package. The cinematic style and colorful characters reminded me of Mega Man Legends. With a colorful world and appealing characters, you’d be hard-pressed to find a reviewer who didn’t latch on to it, but sadly, the sales were not what Bandai was looking for.
Their second release, Silent Bomber, came out about a year later and is my favorite of this duo of early CyberConnect games. Silent Bomber was essentially a twist on Hudson Soft’s Bomberman games. With the ferocity of an arcade game, and the partial length of an console game, this was another great game that just could not deliver in the sales department.
Acknowledging their past sales failures, CyberConnect changed its name to “CyberConnect2” in 2001 and vowed to do better. The first releases as “CyberConnect2” were the .hack (Dot Hack) games. This is a series of JRPGs for the PS2 where you play as a boy named Kite who goes on an investigation inside of an MMORPG world called... The World. These games were released in an episode format, four parts coming out within months of each other. They sold well enough and from my experience, .hack is how CyberConnect in one way, shape or form started to appear on most gamers’ radars.
In late 2003, Bandai released CC2’s first Naruto licensed game: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja for the PS2. This would be their first of many dabblings in the Naruto world: Ultimate Ninja Storm, Naruto Shippuden, Ultimate Ninja Impact, etc. Fans and critics alike praise CC2’s attention to detail in bringing the manga/anime series to life as an interactive game environment. These are considered to be some of the best anime games out there.
In 2010, CC2 was able to revisit the Little Tail Bronx series with the Nintendo DS game Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. This action RPG had great production values and world-building, and a lot of dialogue for an action game. This one appealed to the most hardcore of CC2 or Tail Concerto fans. The reviews were mostly positive, but the sales topped off at a meager 100,000 units worldwide (approx.).
They would next collaborate with Capcom for the 2012 beat-’em-up Asura’s Wrath for PS3 and Xbox 360. This 3D action game based on the Hindu and Buddhist religions has a little bit of shooter influence, a little bit of Devil May Cry, a little bit of Onimusha; Asura’s Ninja Run shows some Naruto influence. With awesome confrontations and boss battles, the game was cinematic and ultimately performed adequately. Doesn’t look like Capcom or CC2 is in any rush to revisit this property, though.
They would spend the 2010’s cranking out more Naruto games and a few Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure games.
CyberConnect 2’s big projects for 2020 are the widely hyped up Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and a continuation of their Little Tail Bronx series, a strategy RPG titled “Fuga: Melodies of Steel”. They’ve also been teasing a VR game for years, though little has been shown of it’s developement.
All in all, we can count on CyberConnect2 to come up with some great original titles and some polished anime licensed games!
