Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2

"So.. When will they make a REAl good Dragonball game?"

Every single games of Dragonball made in the past years have been horrible. They are not worth playing, graphics were repulsive, the gameplay was so repetitive and the game much much too easy.

But, here's the big but, last year, they made a new dragonball game called: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai. Even though I think this game still has many flaws, I got to admit that compared to the other dragonball games, it's a masterpiece.

Now you guys might think I'm nuts putting such a bad score at this ''wonderful'' game, but please, instead of just wanting to kill me, read my review and figure out why I gave this game such a low score.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
When I started playing this game, I was really thrilled, hoping that they would've changed everything that I did not like from the first Bukodai. They didn't. In fact, Bukodai 2 is almost the same game as the first Bukodai. I was quite disappointed when I realized that.

GAMEPLAY
This is really the part that I did not like. The gameplay is basically the same as the first Bukodai. You use capsules to unlock new techniques, like the first Bukodai, and when you start, you only have a few moves to use. And of course, like Bukodai 1, every characters have the same god damn moves. One close-combat killing move, one energy-rampage move, 1 throwing move, etc. In other words, this game gets REALLY repetitive since you always do the same thing over and over with every characters. Also in Bukodai 2 they removed a fun part about the stages from the first Bukodai. In the second Bukodai you could break some things in every map. Well in Bukodai 2 not all maps have breakable things. At least there is a practice mode in this game.

STORY
In Bukodai 1, the story was OK. It was just like the books, but since it was one of the first dragonball game with stories, I liked it. Now in this game, the ''story'' is in fact like this: You move your character around a chess like world and when you meet another character you fight him. By defeating other characters, you get either money or capsules. But quite frankly, because of this, tournaments are of no use anymore since you can get capsules easier in the world then in tournaments.

GRAPHICS
Finally something good about this game. The graphics. How to describe them... Even if they do not resemble the graphics from Bukodai 1, which were really good, they are still great and gives a little something to the game, but the graphics alone are not enough. Now the graphics are cell-shaded (seems to be popular now days). Personally I think it's a great move since Dragonball is a cartoon and Cell-Shaded makes the game look like a cartoon. But, not everyone loves Cell-Shaded. So for those who hates Cel-Shaded, well the only good thing about this game will become a bad thing for you.

SOUND
The music&sound is quite poor. It is sort of a mix from Bukodai 1 and new sets of musics. Even though the sounds are well made (when theres an explosion or when you throw a punch), the voices and the surrounding music gets so annoying you will want to close the sound for good and turn on some real music (hell, even classic music is better then what we hear in that game).

REPLAYABILITY
If you like repetitives game with no originality, well this is for you!! This game, basicly, never ends. You can always keep fighting on and on till the end of time, but personally, I think that you'd be better off playing some REAL games then wasting your time on this one.

CHALLENGE RATING
This game is easy... Much too easy. The only point that is hard is when you got no capsules, but as soon as you get a few, it becomes really easy.

BUY or RENT?
If I did not manage to convince you with my review, then go ahead and waste 5$ on the rental. Buying it would simply be a total waste of money, believe me. If you want to play a real good Dragonball game, buy Bukodai 1.

Score

GAMEPLAY = 3/10
STORY = 2/10
GRAPHICS = 8/10
SOUND = 4/10
REPLAYABILITY = 3/10
BUY or RENT? = Rent (only if your not 100% convinced by my review)

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/04