Is One Punch Man Too Powerful To Make A Video Game?
One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is a 3v3 fighting game from Bandai Namco Entertainment, and is a surprising announcement for fans of the One Punch Man series. The protagonist Saitama is known for his extreme strength and quickness in combat (hence the name, One Punch Man).
Now it may come as a surprise to many as to why exactly this game is being made if the most notable character is nearly invincible against all opponents. One Punch Man, while being an excellent anime, isn’t built heavily on long or close battles. Nearly every fight in the anime starts and ends with a single punch. It’s almost comically ironic, that One Punch Man is being made into a video game, considering fighting games are supposed to feature well balanced fights, and the fights in One Punch Man rarely ever are.
The series takes place in a city filled with superheroes and monsters alike, following the character Saitama. Saitama’s main issue is the boredom he gets from being a crime stopper. Saitama cannot ever have a good opponent; everyone is defeated with just one simple punch.
So how do you make a fighting game that revolves around this universe, and with this character? Saitama is immensely strong against everyone in his universe, isn’t it a little far fetched to make a believable One Punch Man fighting game?
Fans and newbies to the franchise need not fret, because we believe Bandai can pull through on this game. Now, Saitama himself might be reduced ever so slightly in power, and that’s okay, because the game needs to be playable. And of course, this is the tradeoff for being able to make the universe of One Punch Man immersive for fans and newcomers to the series. And gamers know already that fighting games aren’t always going to be completely accurate to the anime (take the Dragon Ball games as a prime example).
And Saitama isn’t the only playable character, there are plenty of other characters to play as besides the infamous One Punch Man. Characters such as Hellish Blizzard, Speed-o-Sonic and Mumen Rider are all playable, and each feature their unique fighting styles.
It’s a safe bet that while Saitama might be slightly overpowered against the other characters, Bandai Namco will do well to make the game as balanced and fun as possible.
We don’t know when One Punch Man is set to release, other than a “Coming Soon” from Bandai, but look for the game to be out on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, it will absolutely be an enjoyable experience.
