Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2

"From Average Fighting game to Top Notch"

Graphics: The graphics are a great improvement in my opinion. In Budokai 2 when you are playing the game and moving freely across the screen it may sometimes actually feel like you are battling cell in a rich mountain area or launching a massive ultimate attack.
Although the beam attacks may all look exactly the same and the black border may get annoying to look at it is a much better way of presenting the actual fighting then in the first one. 8 out of 10

Gameplay: The gameplay hasn't to much and it will seem like the combos and moves are the same as in the first Budokai game although there has been some added attacks to spice things up a little bit.
It has a much faster game speed and the combos string together to form a galick gun or finish buster.
The capsules have not been changes and some new ones have been added but not enough to see much of a difference. This didn't pose a problem for me though since I liked the capsule method and didn't really find any problem with it. 9 out of 10

Storyline: The Story mode has been replaced for the new and much longer Dragon World, in which you may choice a specific number of characters before each level and then move them through the board like chess pieces. When you run into an enemy the battle commences. You and the enemy has a health bar which lowers every time you lose a battle. The Dragon World may add more replay value to the game but I personally liked it better with just regular story mode. 8 out of 10

Replay Value: The replay value is one of the games excellent points. The Dragon World should last you 5 to 10 hours of nice gameplay and collecting all the capsules will stack another 20 hours on you. But its worth it since once you have all the capsules you will be able to customize a favorite character until you feel that he or she has reached his/her perfection. 10 out of 10

Overall
Overall this game is not one of the best fighting games in the world like tekkan or dead or alive but it is stacked with side quests and long hours of play. This is a game for someone who likes Dragonball Z but if your looking for a game with great gameplay and excellent combos maybe this isn't the best game for you but to me Atari just took an average game and made it into a game that will have you up for hours trying to get all the capsules. 9 out of 10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/03