Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai

"DragonBall Z: Budokai 3.5+"

Over the years, the Budokai series on the PlayStation 2 got better and better.
From cel-shading to over-the-top cutscenes, the qualities of the original Budokai increased dramatically on its way towards Budokai 3. Now lets see what happens if we take the great Budokai 3 and transfer it to the PSP.

Graphics-8/10
DragonBall Z: Shin Budokai has a cel-shading like its previous installments:Budokai 2 and 3. But of course, since the PSP isn't as powerful as the PS2, the result is not as gorgeous and cartoony as Budokai2/3. But still, they look great. The energy attacks, from a small, puny blasts to a humongous, blackish ball of death, they all look awesome on Shin Budokai.

Gameplay-8/10
DragonBall Z: Shin Budokai's battle system is greatly improved from the previous Budokai series. The new Aura Burst system allows your character to move faster and strike harder. Plus now each characters have at least 30 different combos they can pull off. With two special attacks, an ultimate attack (real-time), and chargeable ki blasts, you can say that Shin Budokai has greatly increased in gameplay from Budokai 3.

Replay Value- 7/10
DragonBall Z: Shin Budokai's story mode, called the Dragon Road, is pretty long and fun, but it doesn't take more than 2~3 hours to complete it. The branched missions are nice, but they don't play a major role. But if you think Shin Budokai is a letdown for that, you are wrong! This game has an Arcade Mode allowing you to fight through bunch of battles and see the reactions of all 18 characters using the Dragon Balls. Plus with a survival mode, time attack mode, and ad-hoc battles, the game's replay value increases. Finally, every battle you face and complete, you get money to buy stamps. Stamps are there to decorate your profile cards which you can show off to your friends. It's not as awesome as capsule collecting from the previous installments, but its worth checking out.

Overall- 8/10
Overall, the Budokai for the PSP lives up to the Budokai 3 standards and makes a great portable fighting game. This game is definitely worth checking out,

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/06