Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2

"A great outing for the series, which any fighting game fan should enjoy."

Story:

This is the same story of Goku and friends any DBZ fan has heard countless times before; but for the uninitiated, it basically goes like this: A small child is sent to Earth Superman-style, except in this case, with the purpose of taking the planet over for his race (the Saiyans) when he comes of age. He's dropped on his head as a child, making him lose his memory, and thus, his personality changes from a bratty child to that of a care-free fighter for all things good. The DBZ series follows Goku and his friends on many Earth and Universe-saving adventures during Goku's adulthood. All of this basically serves as a backdrop for a bunch of energy beam-tossing martial artists to beat the ramen noodles out of each other. Enter Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics are very well done in this iteration of the series. All of the cell-shaded characters look exactly as they do in the latter parts of the series. The energy attacks are brightly colored and vibrant. Some of the more powerful moves will even cut into space as part of of the surface of the planet is being blown to smithereens, which will even change the environment you're fighting in. There's some good eye candy in the visuals, to say the least. The destructible environments are back, and they've been noticeably increased in size as well. Nothing quite matches the feeling of sending your opponent through a mountain as if it were a glass window. If you can see it, you have a good chance of being able to smash it to bits. The characters move fluidly, and there is very little if any noticeable slowdown. The only thing that somewhat detracts from the graphics are the very noticeable "energy nets" that appear when you reach the edge of an environment. It sort of takes you out of the experience a little bit, and reminds you of the limitations of the hardware. Spike still did an admirable job making the environments as large as they have.

Sound: 8/10

All of the appropriate grunts, screams, and yells are in place here. All of the original voice actors have returned to reprise their roles in the game, and they all sound just as they do in the series. Luckily, the developers included both the English and Japanese language tracks. This should satisfy both fans of the dubbed and subbed anime. The music is sort of a mixed bag. It's nice that they didn't rehash the same music that they've been using since Budokai 1, as everything here is new. A lot of the music has sort of a techno vibe with some Japanese pan-flutes and the like mixed in to give it an Asian feel, which is appropriate for the series, but some of it feels a little out-of-place. Nothing here is really going to jump out at you, but you're not going to want to poke your eardrums out, either.

Gameplay: 9/10

This is undoubtedly the strongest aspect of the game. It emulates DBZ fighting almost perfectly. The game includes the standard versus and tournament modes, as well as a story mode that takes you through the entirety of the series. In addition, there's a ranking mode in which you can create a custom fighter that you can build up and take through the ranks until your #1. You can then take that character's code and pit your created fighter against someone else's that owns a copy of the game (unfortunately, no online play again this time around). Finally, there is a mode where you can read up on all your favorite characters and scenarios. A nice addition for people new to the DBZ universe, and vets alike.

All of your favorite DBZ fighters are here. In fact, some you hate might show up too, since this game is bursting at the seams with an absolutely staggering 129 total playable characters (including transformations into different forms for many characters), crammed onto that tiny disc. Pretty impressive considering they all have movesets similar to the ones they used on the show. Each character has a regular ki attack (small energy blasts that travel a distance), a signature ki attack (stronger energy blast such as the Kamehameha or Masenko); both of which can be charged. They also have individual throws, rush attacks in which you fly at your opponent very fast, multiple combos, and a signature Ultimate move (such as Goku's Spirit Bomb or Vegeta's Final Flash). You can also teleport behind your opponent multiple times in order to hit them back and forth (almost like a Ping-Pong effect), and defensively, there's all sorts of blocking and counter maneuvers that can be used. The fighting is fast and furious, and will definitely leave you with some sore fingers.

This, however, leads to a couple problems. Sometimes, due to everything that's happening on the screen, the camera can tend to get stuck in a corner or behind an object, leaving you unable to get your bearings. In addition, due to the hectic and diverse nature of the combat, the game has a rather steep learning curve for those new to the series. The tutorial alone can take upwards of an hour to get through. Not exactly a game you can just pick up and play for a lot of people. If you can find someone who's willing to learn the ins-and-outs as well as you, however, you can really have a great time in the split-screen tag battles and one-on-one modes.

Overall: 9/10

This game is absolutely packed with content. It is highly recommended to anyone who likes fighting games, and especially to DBZ fans. This is really the DBZ game that is the definitive piece of software for anyone looking to recreate the signature battles of the show. All other fighting fans should appreciate the fast and furious nature of the fighting, even if they don't know the word "Kamehameha" from "Kaio-Ken". It a word, it's just fun, and isn't that what gaming is all about? Buy it, and enjoy all this game has to offer!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/06