"A must have for any self-respecting DBZ fan, and other people should get it too."

I have been a huge fan of DBZ for eight years. When the first Budokai came out, I was all for it. Sadly, my mom didn't let me buy. I got Budokai 2 and felt disappointed about what they had done with the game. Yet, a true DBZ fan never gives up, and I got Budokai 3. I was extremely impressed. Needless to say, I played it for many hours. I had heard about BT1 from friends who said it was mediocre. I got the Wii, and I had heard that BT2 was coming out. At first I shunned it, avoiding it because I thought my inner DBZ fan would get the better of me. However, then I read the reviews. They said it was great. I finally gave in, and bought it.

Since it was my first time with a Tenkaichi, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was used to the normal Budokais, and was a little thrown off by the "behind the back" camera. At first, I thought I had just wasted fifty dollars on a game that I would play for a few minutes. I went through the training and found it to be quite enjoyable. No, wait. It was awesome. Compared to B3, it was definitely superior. With better graphics, and better controls.

In this game, the controls are awesome. You can pull back the Wii remote and the nunchuck to execute a kamehameha, or button mash to see how much pain you can inflict on the other person in one combo. You can even wave the nunchuck and Wii remote around a little bit, for certain moves, and watch the rush attack that ensues. You can punch and kick at the same time your enemy does, to match him (or her in some cases) blow for blow, and then come out with a powerful smash to send them reeling. Then, as they are recovering, you can charge up and execute your ultimate blast to annihilate as much of their health as possible. All of that can happen in about thirty seconds, maybe less.

The ultimate move scenes are amazing. I think sometimes the battlefield is damaged if the attack is super powerful, but I can't remember because my mind just went blank, sorry. After you pulverize the enemy, you can see what you have done because of the awesome in-game battle damage. The graphics on this are quite pleasing to the eye. Electricity streaks across SSJ2 Goku because of his immense power. Nobody wants to mess with someone when there is electricity on them. Effects are done nicely. When you smash someone into the Cell Games arena, there is a little crater where you put them.

However, with all this, DBZ BT2 does have its downsides. The learning curve is extreme. To be "fluent" with the controls may take anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple of hours. The teleportation is a bit confusing, in my opinion. Sometimes when you try to execute a move, it doesn't work. I think that's just because I keep doing right after another move. Grappling is kind of weird. You have to use this strange nunchuck technique. This is more of an annoyance then a real problem, but when you transform, you need to press the "1" button. The problem with this is that it's below your comfortable reach. So you have to shift your hand in a weird way, press the button, and then move the analog stick in the indicated direction. It's actually not all that bad, but they could fix it. This isn't really bad or good, but it is worth noting that transformation no longer depends on energy, but rather blast stocks. If this was included in the last Tenkaichi, my apologies. I didn't play that one. Another thing to fix is the stages. Some parts are kind of crappy looking and need to be touched up. They are not horrendous, but they are not pretty either. The character models however, are quite stunning. With some particle effects, it would be awesome.
For some of this stuff, I give credit to n64guy. His topic, "The Perfect BT3" elaborates on the touch ups needed in the game.

Despite minor faults, this is an awesome game. If you have ever played the other Budokais and enjoyed them, you should pick this up. If you are mildly interested in it, I suggest that you buy it, but if you are really unsure, rent it, it will most likely be worth your while. For those who can't stand waving their arms about like DBZ fighters, you can always use a GC controller.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/07