Simple button mashing that should entertain for a while.
Dragon Ball Z is a Japanese cartoon that has been around since the dawn of time. Well ok, not really, but it has been around a while. Starting in 1986 it had 291 episodes, 13 movies and few spin offs! The basic premise follows Goku and friends as they defend the earth from various villains.
If you are a fan of the series then whatever is said here will make no difference
In Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2 we are presented with an alternate story line. In this one, Goku is dead (the greatest fighter of all time died of a heart condition) as are the rest of the fighters. The only one left to defend the Earth now is Trunks. So what does he do when Earth comes under attack, goes back in time and brings Goku and friends to the future! Anyone who has seen DBZ will like the sound of this as it is just complicated enough to make sense to them. For the rest of you, just forget the story line and play the game!
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2 is a fairly basic fighter. It has a couple of modes; arcade, time attack and a multiplayer ad-hoc mode. The most interesting one though, is the Story mode.
This sends you off as Trunks to various landscapes where you must defend cities from the enemy fighters. As well as Trunks you can select a couple of unlocked fighters to aid you. Although you don’t play as them, they can help by weakening the enemy. You float around above the map until you come into contact with a fighter and then it is go time! Once you have defeated an enemy you can regain your health and repair the city by floating over it. Each mission can be replayed from the select screen. You can also choose your path from there as well. As well as the main mission there are normally a couple of side missions, like defeat Krillin with out losing any health.
The combat in Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2 is very simple, yet quite satisfiying. You have Hard and Light basic attacks and then energy blasts. You can also charge up your Ki to let out more devastating attacks. Moves are all simple to pull off, with some really tasty combos to be seen! It is basically a 2D fighter, but you can move around each other in 3D and even up into the air!
After each fight you are given the chance to collect a Dragon Ball Card. These little beauties can be combined with your character to improve his stats. You can also give them to other unlocked characters to boost them for each mission. Fights are graded depending on how much health you have left and how stylish you were. Points means money. You can buy more cards with this money!
The graphics are colourful with a nice cartoon feel to them. The moves and combos, especially the energy blasts, look amazing!
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2 is a simple game. That is not a bad thing though. Each fight will last only a minute or so, but for a portable game that works very well. Fights can just become button mashing affairs, but with some practice you will soon find there are some nice subtleties to the system.
If you are a fan of the series then whatever is said here will make no difference, you will probably go and buy it whatever! If you are not a fan then this is a difficult game to sell. It is a nice fun fighter nicely suited to the younger player, but it lacks depth and replay value. Hard core fight fans will find little to keep them going as the fights can get very repetitive.
However, for people who just want to have a button mashing 5 minutes, it is perfect! The controls are intuitive, combos are easy and satisfying. You will feel like you are good at it in very little time!
The Bad: Lacks Depth
Bronze Y Award