Dragon Ball Z: Budokai

"A mediocre fighting game, at best. Only for diehards of the series."

Well, There have been many games that have tried to capture the essence of Dragonball Z, from RPGs to fighting games. This is the latest addition to that library. So far, none of these games have been remarkably good, mostly used as ways to attain a bit of quick money, and this one is really no exception. I'll explain it a bit more.

Graphics 6/10

The graphics are good, but nothing special. They aren't the kind to make you drop what you're doing and salivate at the mouth, but they're definitely not the worst graphics out there. I have one problem with the character models. Chaotzu is too tall, matching Krillin's height and he's too skinny. Tenshinhan's model looks like a taller Krillin, they look enough alike to be brothers. All they did was stretch the model, swapped the clothes, and put a third eye in Tenshinhan's forehead. Gohan's model doesn't look like it is in the show, not that I expected it to be, as the conversion from cartoon to 3D would be tough.

Controls 4/10

I found the controls kind of unresponsive, and some of the moves where hard to pull off with the action of the game. Let's face it, this game was made for button mashers. Nice, simple controls..too simple really. One punch, one kick, one Ki blast, one guard, a power attack, and then your specials, usually by hitting left or right repeatedly in correspondence to the button presses. Not a widely diversified arrangement of move sets for the characters. And the limited ways you can move are horrible. You can't jump, no ducking unless it's part of a random combo (p,p,p,p X infinity), and as far as I can discern, you can't take flight under your own power.

Story 4/10

The story, more or less follows the exploits of Goku all the way to Cell. This wouldn't be a problem, except the glaze over practically everything else, at least before the fight with Furiza. I mean, they could've done a lot more with this part of the game. Added in Gohan sparring with Piccolo, shown Tenshinhan, Chaotzu and Yamcha training on Kami's lookout, Gohan surviving in the wilds. They completely glossed over Goku's training with North Kaio. They could've put more in there as well. Namek was lacking as well. A lot of things could've been put there, Vegeta's fight with Zarbon and Dodoria for instance. Gohan and Krillin's win over Guldo wasn't even mentioned. The story's way too rushed this way. I will say one thing though, at least they kept in Krillin's goring, and some spot's of blood.

Sounds 5/10

*sigh* The sounds are faithful to the dub, that's for sure. Mind you, I watch the dub. Unfortunately, they feel the need to have music over every part of the game, which isn't a bad thing in itself, as long as the music is good, which it doesn't really excel in this area. Power moves sound like you're hitting a baseball with a really hollow aluminum bat, the kind that hurt your hands when they vibrate. The voices are Funi's alright, but I prefer Ocean group's dub voices. I've never been a fan of Vegeta's Funi voice, preferring the raspiness of Ocean group's. I'm also disappointed that they kept in the dub names for the attacks. I would've loved to see Piccolo scream out Makankosappo when he hit Radditz and Goku, or Krillin shouting Kienzan before throwing the thing at Vegeta's Oozaru form. I could talk more, but there's more to cover.

Replayability: 2/10

Not much here, other than the story and the Budokai mode. You can 'customize' fighters with move sets, but they're all pretty much the same moves with different names. They even have the same combinations to press. Once you've done the story mode, you won't want to play it anymore, as it'd be like hitting your head against a brick wall, not very enjoyable.

Final comments:

Not much left to say here. This game's good for a rental only. If you're looking for a good fighting game, look elsewhere, like Tekken or VF4. The game was designed for fans of the series, so look into purchasing this game if; a) you are a diehard DBZ fanatic (i.e. re-enact battles from DBZ, talk about it all day long, wear DBZ underwear), or b) it's on a clearance sale rack for $9.99.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/02, Updated 12/11/02