Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi

"DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi - a Whole new world"

Since Budokai 1 for the PS2, the whole series of budokai was played quite the same...the graphics were of course improved, so was the fighting system, game modes, and gameplay...but they were all based on the same concept. Now Spike brings us Dragonball Z budokai tenkaichi..that changes the whole thing, making the Typical 3-D fighter we used to know and turning it to one which is trying to get as close as possible to the feeling of the original anime.

Graphics: 10/10

The graphics are cell-shaded, very good and close more then ever to the anime. The background are quite rich, detailed, with all the mountains, trees and buildings. The Characters have they're beautiful glowing aura and colors that makes them very close to their original selfs. Although we know the graphics are average for the PS2, we're grading it by the similarity to the anime. That's why the Graphics got this grade.

Sound & music: 8/10

The music is the same music of the previous budokai games we all know...some people might say its good and some might think differently, but the music is quite familiar with the game so its nothing new here. As for the sound, I had a little disappointment..although some sounds are very good (teleporting, dashing, punches) there were others that were kind of lame: the Blasts and the voice actors when they're calling the names of the attacks. Another thing is, that in some cases you just don't here sounds at all - some ultimates and character voices..

Gameplay: 8/10

The gameplay changed a lot in here...and I mean almost in every aspect.
First, the control are different: different buttons for blocking, ki, charging ki, new buttons for dashing and a move system that reminds the old DBZ games. This system is quite fun and refreshing when you learn how to use it properly. The learning curve is a bit long, you can spend an hour or two just to get used to the controls. As for the moves - They're quite the same from the last budokai games, with few changes. Now you can roam freely in the game zones which is quite big. You can hide from your opponent and ruin almost everything in the game arena, throwing the enemy at it - very similar to the show. No more long cutscenes for the Ultimate attacks, which have quite made the game slow and repetitive. The moves are not too unique, but every character have at least one unique move and the variety of characters is enough. It's quite a disappointment they didn't make a way to modify moves or purchasing moves like they did the previous games..every character gets a set of moves and thats what he has, so the game losses replayability. Another thing is that you can't transform in-game. That means ou need to pick the form of the character you want to be before the fight. This have pros - You don't need to charge ki all the time or worry for your character transformation wearing off. Again, not everyone will like this. every form has something different than the other, so it's quite good having this new system. The battles give you enough things to do, so it's quite of fun and you can enjoy it in many different ways.

Replayability: 9/10

There are several game modes, that offers you quite much to do. First, there is the story mode, which is very long and has all the sagas from the show, and some more stories of movies and DBGT. This gives you something to work about, as the battles there are quite challenging and have many things for you do to - Unlocking characters, getting Z items for fusion or for Upgrading your character stats, and collecting the Dragonballs, which can grant you wishes like getting more characters and other useful items like a tool which gives you an opportunity to bring your budokai 3 character's stats from the dragon arena and using them. In Ultimate battle mode you can beat 100 characters to get a high rank for your character. The same old tournament mode is here to, having the Novice, Adept, Advances and Cell games in it. But the new fighting system makes the Tournaments somehow lousy and weird, and you can't get money either, because there's nothing to buy(so you get Z items). There is the Dueling mode, that allows you to play VS the Computer or a friend. Playing with someone is quite fun, but because the new fighting system, the screen will split into two, making it quite confusing sometimes. the Evolution Z mode allows you to Add stats to your characters and modify them the way you want, and you can also fuse items to make better ones. There is an option to read about each character profile, which I found nice and creative, if someone wants to know something about a character he doesn't quite know.

Before I finish , I'll remind the option to change the voice act from English to Japanese. Finally someone thought about making a game for people who don't like one voice act and want to have another. Great Job!

Final Score: 8/10
I Recommend the game strongly for DBZ fans, who'll find the game very close to the anime and refreshing after the previous games. For others, rent the game first, see for yourself if it's worth buying ot not.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/05