Play Comics

At some point in the early 2000s, someone looked at the Dragon Ball Z manga and anime, a story full of screaming men who power up for entire episodes, hair that defies physics, and villains who monologue long enough for the protagonist to reach a new power level, and said, “Yes. This. But make it a fighting game. On two, and only two, consoles.” And thus, Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2 arrived on PS2 and GameCube, ready to let you spend an unreasonable amount of time unlocking characters and pretending you know what a Fusion Dance is supposed to look like in real life.

This episode, we’re going Super Saiyan on the whole thing. The game, the manga, the anime, the drama, the capsules, the questionable story mode decisions. All of it. And joining us to power up the conversation is Russell Moran from Kaiju ComiCast, who brings exactly the kind of kaiju-sized enthusiasm this franchise demands.

So take a deep breath, squeeze out every last drop of ki you’ve got, and let’s get into it. Your hair may or may not turn gold by the end. No promises.

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if professional wrestling, superhero nonsense, and a generous helping of “did they really just do that?” collided in a PS2-era video game, congratulations you’ve found your people.

This episode dives headfirst into Galactic Wrestling Featuring Ultimate Muscle, a game that asks the important questions, like how many absurdly named wrestlers can fit into one ring and whether flexing harder is a legitimate combat strategy (it is). Along the way, we’re joined by Josh “Anoriand” Fagundes. Yes, that Anoriand from Twitch. He brings his streaming-honed wisdom and an appreciation for delightful chaos.

Between the manga roots, anime flair, and a game that absolutely commits to the bit, there’s plenty to grapple with here. So lace up your boots, oil up your… everything, and get ready for a match that’s less about winning and more about how spectacularly weird the journey can get.

Somewhere in the mid-2000s, a group of developers looked at the Justice League and said, “What if we made a game where all your favorite heroes team up… and then we just kinda vibed with that idea instead of sticking to any specific comic storyline?” Which kind of works actually because they got Dwayne McDuffie to write it but that’s not the point. So anyway, Justice League Heroes burst onto the scene for PS2, Xbox, PSP, and Nintendo DS like a Watchtower alarm that nobody remembers installing.

This week on Play Comics, we grab our capes, charge up our vaguely canon-adjacent superpowers, and dive into a game that absolutely has Batman, Superman, and friends… ummm, friends are definitely there I promise and sometimes they have to be there because of contractual obligations. And sometimes even the best version of those friends if you’re lucky and the best version of that hero had been invented already.

Joining the adventure is Gavin Mevius from The Mixed Reviews and The Q Division, bringing along just the right blend of insight, chaos, and “wait, was that ever a comic plot?” energy to help us make sense of it all.

So get ready for teamwork, button mashing, and a Justice League game that is just kind of meh, especially considering the story that it had to work with.