All I know about Dragon Ball Z I learned from video games. One I played my
first DBZ game I didn’t know my Goku from my Frieza and I thought that Vegeta
was some sort of knock-off of the national vegetable spread of Australia. This
has got to be one of the most prolific fighter series out there and after
reviewing umpteen of these games I’ve gotten to know quite a lot about the
sagas. That being said, if you know nothing about Dragon Ball Z and are
indifferent about learning more, then you’ll probably want to avoid Dragon Ball
Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 unless you have the dedication of a video game reviewer.
The game is a pretty decent little fighter with some cool animation, but it’s
really built for fans of the series. And if you just so happen to be a fan, then
you’ll find yourself in DBZ heaven.
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| The fight action looks great. |
As I’ve played DBZ games over the past few years I’ve witnessed their steady
progress in quality and Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is the best one yet. The story mode
is extensive and will carry you through the Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and
Dragon Ball GT series. You’ll fight every battle and cutscenes will fill in the
plot points in between. And yes, it will take you quite some time to make your
way through all of the battles crammed into the story mode which is one of the
reasons it’s best left to true fans. There are a ton of battles here which will
be nirvana for the fan but a seemingly unending series of fights to anyone else.
Each battle has a victory condition which might not be to win the fight –
sometimes you just need to hang on for a set length of time, for example. This
can lead to some disjoint sequences in the story if you win a battle that you
weren’t supposed to according to the saga’s history. The story will just
continue as if you lost, but at least you’ll collect more experience and coinage
for winning.
Other modes include an extensive training mode for players new to the game
that does a great job of teaching the mechanics of the game’s fight system. Fans
of the series new to fighting games will really appreciate this mode and it will
be time well spent before moving on to the story mode. There are also tournament
and battle modes for when you just want to match up a couple of fighters and go
at it. Making a return to the game again are the Evolution Z items. These can be
purchased with money won in fighting and are used to both improve your fighters’
stats as well as to let you customize them to fit your particular style of play.
When you take this into consideration with the fact that there are 120 fighters
and their variants in the game you can see that there is a tremendous amount of
room to create unique fighters. The game also includes a cool feature that will
generate a password for your customized characters. You can then go over to a
friend’s house, input your code, and then be able to use the fighter you leveled
up back at home.
The fighting in the game is centered on two attack buttons used for close and
long range. These can be used in different sequences to unleash combos. The game
is a bit of a button masher, but the ability to block and then counter adds a
little timing and strategy into the mix. The addition of ki-enabled energy
attacks makes the battles more exciting, though. There certainly is a feeling of
satisfaction gained by unleashing an energy bolt on your opponent and watching
him blasted backwards into an embankment by the blast. Another cool aspect to
the fights is that they take place in a fully 3D environment. Not only can you
try to attack your opponent from 360 degrees, you’ll have the ability to soar
and take the fight to the air or go crashing through the surface of a lake to
continue the brawl underwater.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
82%. It may not satisfy the hardcore fighting fan
or impress those who aren’t fans of DBZ, but anyone who enjoys the Dragon Ball
series will find it thoroughly enjoyable.
