Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi

"A blue print for greatness..."

Well, let's start.

Graphics 8/10
I must say, the graphical style used in this game, is much like the former Budokai games (which stands apart from this completely different game). However, the graphics aren't as crisp and beautiful as they should be. The quality of the cell-shaded graphics are somewhat downgraded. The reason for this maybe so we could have more characters. Pick your poison.

Sound 7/10
I'm really annoyed by the sound. While the music is decent, the sound effects are not. Some characters grunt/speak at such low volumes, you can't understand what they are saying. A lot of the voice acting seems emotionless, which is strange, because the last few DBZ games had great sequences.

Gameplay 6/10
I was actually a little disappointed, a bit. I went in, thinking this was part of the Budokai (1-3) series. The fighting is drastically different. The engine itself isn't too bad, and makes for some fun fights. But, the real downer is that almost all of the roster fights the exact some. Only certain characters have special animations and what not. Another bad thing is, lower forms of characters can be just as strong as high forms. An example of this is Base Form Goku being as strong as Super Saiyan 4 Goku. So you can pretty much figure that there is almost zero character individuality. Pretty much the only difference maker in a fight, is the size of your character.

Presentation 9/10
It as has great presentation, what can I say? Easy access to everything. Only annoying this is you can't restart matches (forcing you to exit the match and re enter is just annoying).

Overall 7/10

When I bought this game, I was expecting much more. But I was satisfied. I must say though, if they create a sequel, we can expect a much better game. It seems this game was made as a stepping stone, to see what works and doesn't work. The game itself felt rushed, which may have led to things not being so polished.

It was pretty much the same thing with Budokai 1-3. The first was ok, the second got much better, and the third was awesome. Each time the next game got significantly better. I hope it's the same for DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/25/05