Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2

"Missing a few things, but a decent game overall"

~Review
Dragon Ball Z has had one of the more interesting game conversions into games for a Anime series. Starting back on the SNES, the DB/DBZ/DBGT has had dozens of fighting games made about it, many of them made after the end of GT series in Japan.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai was the first 3D fighting game for the series that was made in america, and although was rather short and got mixed reviews, it was still one of the most bought games in 2002. After being ported to the GCN, it's sequel was revealed, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2.

Unlike the previous Budokai game, 2 uses Cel-Shaded character models to make them resemble the anime style it originated from. For the most part, the cel-shaded effect is beautiful and really stands out.

The Sound and Voices, for the most part, are done by the same American dub cast from Budokai 1 and the Anime. Fortunatly, the voice acting is top notch and well done, although it is rarely put into play, due to the major change in game play.

The bad part? The game system has gone though a rather cheap overhall. Instead of using a story mode to tell the series from the World Martial Art Arc through the Majin Buu Arc, the designers decided to change the entire main game story to a generic Story Board.

The Story Mode, called Dragon Mode, uses a board game approach, with power-ups and capsules on the board that you can collect, and the main enemies. Depending on the mission, you either have to get a dragon ball before someone, or defeat certain enemies.

This would be find and dandy, but the game uses a strike system that requires you to fight a enemy several times. Fortunatly, a difficulty setting has been added to make it easier or harder, but the mere fact that you have to fight a enemy two to four times before it is truthfully defeated is rather cheap, and a bad way to make the game longer.

Why is Dragon Mode a problem? Like I said earlier, it is the MAIN part of the game, besides the World Martual Arts Tournament mode, and duel and multiplayer mode (Duel mode pits you against a AI controlled character). If a story mode was added along with Dragon Mode, the game itself would have been MUCH better than it currently is. Chances are, Atari didn't add a story mode so it could continue the Budokai series and make a third installment.

If you want to buy this game, it may be best to rent it before hand so you can understand where I am coming from. You can pretty much beat most of the game in one rental, so it may be best to rent it first.

~Final Score~
Graphics: 9/10
Music: 6/10
Voice Acting: 10/10
Control: 6/10
Difficulty:Easy/10 Hours
Game play and replay: 5/10
FINAL 6.4 out of 10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/06/03