The high flying, high intensity combat of the Dragon Ball series returns with Atari and Spike's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, and while this year's changes or ultimately minimal in the grand scheme of things, there's enough spit and polish to recommend it to fans of Dragon Ball Z series or high flying beat 'em ups.
Last year's Budokai Tenkaichi was a true redemption of the series after the mediocre reception of the Budokai series, with an open ended fighting system, vastly improved visuals and a slick overall presentation. This year's release builds on that success with some nice refinements but adds a handful of minor irritations as well.
The first thing you'll notice when you fire up this new DBZ title is the amount of effort that went into the overall presentation. From the menu screens to the actual combat, there's personality everywhere. The game features all the familiar voice actors from the English language series and these characters speak at you and to you at every turn. Fans of Dragon Ball will appreciate this high level of presentation and interactivity. The other part of the game that features high production values is it's overall slick look. The game - whether in menus or in combat - looks as good as the cartoon series on which it is based. But this presentation value is most noteworthy when slugging it out: characters' clothing tatters, faces get bruised and power shines as players pull off super powerful attacks and charge up their unearthly fighting skills. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is probably the best looking and most accurate depiction of the series to date.
Once you get past the slick overall presentation of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, you'll see what this year's game offers in terms of modes and extras. The first thing you'll want to check out is the rather deep training mode. For new players this is a must, and for anyone that owns last year's game there are a few new things that you'll want to check out and practice. For the benefit of those of you who have never played Budokai Tenkaichi, it's a true depiction of the battles in the series with full 360 degree combat, high impact moves, destructible environments, powerful beam attacks and super moves all in a fully 3D environment. With that in mind, there's a lot going on in this game that goes far beyond just button mashing to make your way through the game - you'll get the most out of the experience by plodding through the rather long training missions.
Once you've mastered all the old and new moves, you'll want to try out Ultimate Battle Z, which is the traditional tournament mode popularized in the series. It is here that players fight in ranked matches to earn money and fame. Dragon Tournament is as it sounds - a tournament mode with three different tournaments: Two World Tournaments and Cell Games. For more loose fun, players can check out the Dueling mode. Dueling mode is where you'll find the only multiplayer action in the game. Players can try their hand at one-on-one battles, tag team battles and team battles where each side chooses five fighters to do battle. The multiplayer aspect of this mode is kind of bare bones, offering two players to do battle ala split-screen, but it gets the job.
The real heart of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is in Dragon Adventure Mode, where players can take one 120 characters through the game's vast story mode to relive some of the more pivotal moments from the Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT series. These stories are facilitated by maps that contain key locations on a large 3D map. By finding the appropriate waypoint, you'll get the story rolling and a major battle will ensue. As you battle, battle and battle some more, you'll unlock even more stories related to Goku and the Z Fighters as they take on some of the toughest fighters in the universe. The only real gripe I have with this game is its load times, and Dragon Adventure mode suffers the most from this. Load times are sometimes excruciatingly long and really take away the fast paced nature of the game.
