Before I truly get into this review, let me say upfront that this game is truly meant for fans. Most non-fans will probably get little out of this game, overall. It’s possible for non-fans to enjoy the game, but they won’t ‘get it’ like fans will, and if they’re looking for a decent (and new) fighting game, they’re best to look elsewhere.
This game, a Playstation 2 exclusive, is of course, based on the best-selling, uber-popular, manga and anime series Dragon Ball Z. The game was originally titled ‘Dragon Ball Z: Sparking!’ in Japan (this is a reference to the first theme song of the anime). The U.S. name ‘Budokai Tenkaich’i’ comes from the series itself. (However, Atari reversed the word order, for some reason; it’s a Japanese phrase, so you cannot do that without creating grammatical errors...) I’ve always heard the phrase as being translated as ‘Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament’. I have not played the last 3 fighting games released by Atari, the Budokai series, so I cannot say how this game is an improvement or not from the last games. However, within its own context, the game plays out very well, and real fans of the series should love it a lot.
The game incorporates 60+ characters from the series, a few of them from the movies (which do not take place in anime continuity) for players to control. An important concept from the show to understand for this game is Ki, energy released from the body to attack opponents. In addition to just hand-to-hand fist fights, players can engage in Ki combat, setting off Ki attacks at their opponents. This can be done close up, or from far away, which can be quite fun to do. It’s possible for 2 opposing Ki attacks to cancel each other out though, which can be very useful when the enemy is on a Ki offensive. However, you do not have an unlimited amount of Ki; Ki is used up on your meter at the top of the screen. You can recharge your Ki by ‘powering up’ (by holding L2), just like characters do in the series (the difference is, in the series, ‘powering up’ does not recharge; it only summons more Ki, but it will eventually exhaust someone). When your meter becomes blue from charging up, you can then perform a character’s Finishing Moves (by pressing/holding L2+Up+Triangle) , and Super Finishing Moves (by pressing/holding L2+Down+Triangle). A Finishing Move is a very powerful, Ki-based attack, and a Super Finishing Move thusly is an even more powerful attack. Once you use one of these attacks, you’ll have to charge up again before you can do either one again. You can see the list of any character’s attacks by pausing, and choosing to view the attack list from the options presented.
You can also fly, as characters do in the series. By pressing R1, you take off, and by holding it, you can ascend higher. To descend, you’d press or hold R2. I found it VERY fun to fly around, especially with a fast character like Chao-Tzu. It can also be quite fun to fly around and fire Ki attacks at your opponent. You can charge away by pressing/holding X; in the air or on the ground.
During single player mode, there are 2 basic kinds of fights; I’ll refer to them as survival and defeat. In a survival fight, the game notifies you that you must simply survive the fight within the time provided. Most of the time, you absolutely cannot defeat your opponent. You are physically not able to, so it’s pointless to try. Also, if you do happen to defeat your opponent, you can rejoice for just a few seconds before the game informs you that did not actually win the fight. Most of the survival fights have your needing to survive for only a minute, but there are a few (such as SS Goku and SS Vegeta VS. (kid) Buu fights) that last longer, for about 2 minutes. These battles will often have you running away and dodging attacks as much as possible (which can be harder than it sounds, especially since Ki attacks follow you). You can fend your enemy off by using your special attacks and stalling them for a while. During a defeat battle, as you can guess, this is where you must defeat your opponent completely, by any means necessary. During one of the story scenarios, the game gives you two messages; that you must ‘defeat your opponent with swift attacks’ and ‘defeat your opponent with all your might’. Seeing as how your swift attacks are all of your might, I have seen no difference in how these play out.
The game has several play modes. Dragon Gate is a scenario series in which you delve into battles that occur throughout the series’s various sagas. They are: The Saiyan Saga, the Freeza Saga, the Android Saga (also known as the Cell Saga), and the Majin Buu Saga. By completing scenarios, one can gain access to additional scenarios that branch off or expand on previous ones, or completely new ones altogether. Among these are The True Ultimate Android, The Cosmic Emperor, The Destructive Majin, A Final, Lonesome Battle, Future Super Warrior, Threat of the Galactic Warriors, The Evil Monster Janemba (yes, fans, Janemba is in this game), The Ultimate Android (this is a different scenario, not a typo), The Revenge of the Saiyans, The Plan to Conquer Earth, and The True World Tournament. The fun thing about most of these scenarios is that they focus mostly on the player becoming villains, instead of heroes. They serve as ‘What If-?’ scenarios. For example, in The Destructive Majin, the player assumes the role of Majin Buu’s various forms and battles the heroes. The Cosmic Emperor is Freeza’s scenario, in which he finally wins against the Saiyans he hates so much. However, others that branch off from previous scenarios include: Future Super Warrior, which comes from when Trunks travels back to his own time to battle #17, #18 and Cell, and A Final, Lonesome Battle features Burdock battling Freeza and his minions (only this one has a different ending). The True World Tournament is not quite explained, but it mirrors previous battles that occur in Dragon Ball, before ‘Z takes place.
The battles in these scenarios can become ridiculously hard. Your opponents often have the clear advantage over you in just about every way. One prime example is the Super Saiyan Son Goku VS. Broly (yes again, fans; Broly is in this game, too): Broly is VERY tough, in regards to taking hand-to-hand damage, and he can take a lot of Ki attacks very well…Because characters have their own strengths and weaknesses, pitting one character against another is not always a fair fight.
Also, it can become aggravating, annoying and boring if your opponent just performs the same attack on you several times in a row, or just bombards you from a distance. A single Ki attack alone does not take much damage, but in a series, it can do more damage. Also, there are characters whose Finishers and Super Finishers do more damage than others. It can also depend on how much of the force you take. Most characters who use a Super Finisher on you with a direct hit can kill you instantly (depending on how much health you have), or leave you barely alive (especially if it’s something like Freeza’s Death Ball, Son Goku’s Spirit Bomb, or Super Buu’s Super Kamehame-Ha). It’s possible to avoid many of these attacks, however, and will really relieve a player.
The Ultimate Battle mode has players fighting against every character in the game, in a Top 100 Warriors list. This does not mean there are 100 characters in the game, however; some characters have more than one place on the list for some reason. You are given battle points in this mode; you start any character off with 10 and gain more as you win battles. If you lose any fights, you lose points, and will lose your place altogether in UB mode if you lose all your points. I need to point out that this is NOT explained in the game itself, and as I did not have the manual to read either, assuming this information is in the manual. You can use as many characters as you want in this mode, and each one will have its own ‘quest’, on one save slot for this game. There is also a practice session in this mode, where you simply fight against random characters, and does not use a point system.
In the World Tournament mode, you fight in a tournament style reminiscient of the original Tenkaich’i Budokai in the series. There are 4 levels: Novice, with 3 rounds, Adept, with 4 rounds, Advanced, with 5 rounds, and the Cell Game, with 5 rounds, and is a tournament hosted by Cell himself, mirroring the same event in the original series.
Dueling mode is player VS. player, or player VS. com combat.
Practice mode explains itself; players can practice, but there is also a tutorial (‘hosted’ by your ‘master’, Piccolo) that explains how the fighting system works. New players should definitely read the information in here.
Evolution Z is the customization mode of the game (and is ‘hosted’ by the Elder Kaio-shin). When you win battles, you gain Z Items, which you can equip to characters outside of Dragon Gate mode (so this is really most useful for characters being played in player VS. player or Ultimate Battle). There are items that increase health, Ki, defense, and attack powers. The Fusion area within this mode is useful for a few reasons. When you go here, you can fuse two alike items together to get a new one. Only statistical items and character items can be fused, however. For example, if you fuse a (Z)Ki +3 with another one, you will get a new item, (Z)Ki +6. The bad thing is 6 is the highest number you can have of any Z Item; so you could not fuse two Ki +6 items to get a Ki +12, for example. Character items are Z Items with character names on them, or otherwise character information related to them. These items can be fused together, too, but only certain items can be fused. This is another way in which fans will get the advantage; in being able to more easily figure out what can be fused with what. For example, if you fuse a (Z)Super Saiyan with another Saiyan character Z Item (whose SS form has not been released yet), you will unlock that new SS character. However, if it comes down to it, a player can simply go through trial and error of trying to fuse two items together until they get one right. This is the way in which a great many characters will be unlocked. I’ll give you this hint; what do you think will happen if you fuse (Z)Absorption with (Z)SS 3 Gotenks? And if you fuse (Z)Babidi with (Z)SS 2 Vegeta? Try it and see. >: D
Options mode allows you to change game options, of course.
Chracter Illustrations lets you view the 3-D characters as they become unlocked, and a little bit of biographical information is given about each one.
Password mode is a very special mode you have to unlock. Here, you can use passwords from the last game released, Budokai 3. I have never played this game, and thus have not used this mode, so I cannot say anything more about it, unfortunately.
There is also a way to use the Dragon Balls in this game. For non-fans: the 7 Dragon Balls gathered together summon the dragon Shen Long (‘Shenron’), and grant a wish. You can unlock some additional material in this game by finding the Dragon Balls and having the ‘wish’ for that addition made. There are more hidden characters, and a Dragon Gate scenario to unlock with wishes.
The greatest strength of this game is one that can also be a weakness, and that’s the fact that this game is basically fan service. Players can fight with a vast oodle of characters (about 83, at my count), and most people’s favorite is highly likely to be in there. Dragon Gate mode is based on the battles that take place in the game, and although there is dialogue, there is no real story in this game. Fans will know what this is all about, but non-fans should be confused to all Hell, wondering what in Hell is going on, and who all these people are. For example, why does Cell call Piccolo his ‘brother’ (non-fan note: Cell and Piccolo are not literal brothers)? Why does Majin Buu have so many very different forms? And just what is a ‘Super Saiyan’, anyway? The game doesn’t tell you. Although the prime focus is, of course, the fighting, even fighting games tend to tell some type of story or background for its characters. This game tells very little. The advantage about this fact is the game thus presents some spoilage material, but not all. The spoilage material presented would be, of course, characters and the various forms they take. But without telling the player why these things are so, the player can still have some surprise if they decide to read the original comics or watch the anime. The game also does not tell you, even when you win fights, who lives and who dies in the series. Fans are also most likely to have a sheer blast playing as their favorite characters, flying around and using some favorite attacks. Non-fans can certainly enjoy this, but it will mean much more to fans, especially when the most recognized attacks, such as the Kamehame-Ha are performed ( non-fan note: Yes, it is performed just like the Street Fighter Haduken. I have no idea why; this is just how series creator Akira Toriyama always had it).
The graphics are very colorful, lush and liquid. I wish this game would be released on the GameCube, because it would look even more brilliant that on the PS2, I think. As far as color goes, it is one of the more impressive games I’ve seen on the PS2. From screenshots I’ve seen of past Budokai games, this game tops them all in graphical presentation. The characters are very reminiscent of their anime or manga counterparts, while also being displayed in 3-D. The sound effects come right out of the anime, which is good and bad. Good in that familiar sounds are there, but not so good in that the anime never featured truly impressive sound to begin with. A lot of attack sounds and explosions sound scratchy and fuzzy. However, this is not the fault of the game’s creation, as these sounds were lifted from the anime itself.
Whether a player is a fan or non-fan, the game features a very colorful cast of characters to choose from. Of course, you have to earn most of them through Dragon Gate mode, from winning battles and gaining Z Items to fuse. One problem with this is that a lot of characters have few differences in themselves, and their attacks. When some characters have few special attacks they used in the series, Bandai just filled in those spaces with Full Power Attack Volley and High Power Energy Rush. Both are decent enough attacks, and on one hand it can be useful for more than one character to have them. But then again, it leads to a lesser number of unique attacks among characters. Fans also may be disappointed in how some characters play out. I hate to say this, fans, but Broly is not that great to play as. He’s too sluggish, and your enemy may gain the immediate upper hand while you’re trying to slug them, or power up. The Oozaru (‘Great Ape’) is the worst character of all to play as; even worse than Broly. Trust me. However, fans can be happy that Janemba is pretty fun to fight as. The other movie characters that appears in the game are Coola, who is…all right, but not that great, to fight as, and Bojack (transformed), who plays a lot like Broly does….I can’t recommend him.
The characters I really enjoyed were: Piccolo, Majin Vegeta, Dabura, Super Buu (Gotenks absorbed), and #16. Although I really, really hate Freeza, from the series, I admit it was often fun fighting as him, using the Death Beam and Death Ball. He’s not that bad to play as. Chao-Tzu, as mentioned, is VERY fast, and it’s quite fun to zip around as him. The fat Majin Buu also can have his moments. I have to say about any of the fusion characters (Gotenks, Vegeto, Gogeta) are fun to play as, most of the time. I think the most powerful attack of any character is Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta’s 100x Big Bang Kamehame-Ha. It’s pretty awesome if you’re able to use it on someone.
The farthest I reached in Ultimate Battle was with Super Buu (Gotenks abosorbed). I was able to reach, after much work and anger, rank 20 on the Top 100 (I had to take the game back, so I didn’t finish it).
Also, whether a fan or non-fan, you may wonder what the point is of playing one character when there are some superior forms of the same character. For example, why play as Gotenks when Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks is better? Why play as Vegeta w/ Scouter when Majin Vegeta is better? These characters add to the effect of Dragon Gate mode’s ‘story’ battles, but if you’re playing player VS. player or Ultimate Battle, it seems pointless to be certain characters. The advantage of this could be the challenge; the game’s modes certainly can be more challenging when playing as the ‘lesser’ form of a character.
Fans will also notice inconsistencies among characters in the game. For example, throughout all 3 of Cell’s forms, his grunts and shouts all sound like his first form; he has a different voice for each form (although 2 and 3 are similar). This seems like it was done out of laziness on Atari’s part. Also, neither Goku nor Gohan appear in their Saiyan combat fatigues in this game, even during the battles in which they wore them. These could have been nice outfit (but not character form) changes, but certainly not essential to the game. Also,Vegeta appears on Namek in his Cell Saga outfit, instead of either of his Freeza Saga outfits. I think this was done potentially out of laziness on Bandai’s part, as Vegeta is different in each saga, and each could be a different character form. Also, a Super Finisher for Super Saiyan Son Goku is the ‘Instantaneous Transmission (Movement, dammit!) Kamehame-Ha’, right out of the series. However, Goku reaches SS status in the battle with Freeza, when he didn’t know how to teleport. This I understand, as there was no point for Bandai to make 2 different SS Goku’s; one with teleport and one without, which would be the only real difference. All of these things really are nit-picking, but they are things fans are bound to notice. Some of these could have been fixed.
Now I must talk about the voice acting. Yes, Funimation has once again lent their VAs to perform characters. Funimation gets a lot of flack for their VAs, and yes, they mostly deserve it. A lot of their characters sound TERRIBLE. And I do mean terrible. Kid Buu is so awful it’s painful to listen to him, as is Baby (non-fan note: Yes, that’s the character’s name: ‘Baby’.) And I’m not sure why Chris Sabat thinks he has to do almost every male character, but lo, he does. He alone plays: Mr. Popo, Shen Long, Piccolo, Vegeta, Yamcha, Jisu (‘Jeice’), Zarbon, (half of) Vegeto, and (half of) Gogeta (and he does even more on the anime). ALL of them are just poorly done. A few characters sound okay, such as Cell 1, #16-20, Dabura, Coola, and Mr. Satan (‘Hercule’). Kent Williams is the one Funimation actor I do enjoy, playing as #20, Tao Pai Pai, the Elder Kaio-shin, and Kaio-shin (who only appears as a voice in this game. And even then, he just says ‘Ready? Go!’).
However, fans and non-fans alike can rejoice because you can change the audio to the Japanese VAs! However…is that necessarily a good thing? In all honesty, I do not find the Japanese VAs to be much better…Non-fans will probably especially become bewildered at hearing Son Goku scream like a (hoarse) girl. Because he is indeed played by a woman. A few of them I thought were okay, such as Coola and Piccolo. So just beware that although you have the choice, there is not necessarily a superior choice, or even a ‘lesser of two evils’. But, you decide which you prefer.
Also, Funimation’s spellings and names have been incorporated into this game, which is VERY bad. Funimation has misspelled and re-named a number of people and things so unnecessarily it makes you wonder if they care that much about accuracy. ‘Frieza’ should actually be ‘Freeza’, ‘Bardock’ is actually ‘Burdock’ (burdock is actually a type of plant, and fans will know why this is fitting), ‘Tien’’s name is actually ‘Tenshinhan’, and his attack, the ‘Neo Tri-Beam’ is actually called the ‘Ki-Ko-Ho, ‘Chiaotsu’ is actually spelled ‘Chao-Tzu’, ‘Reacoome’ is spelled ‘Rikuum’ (his name is an anagram for ‘kurium’; ‘cream’), ‘Burter’ is ‘Bataa’ (‘butter’), ‘Jeice’ is ‘Jisu’ (‘cheese’), the ‘Hyperbolic Time Chamber’ is actually the ‘Room of Time and Spirit’ (that’s probably the worst one), and as mentioned above, ‘Hercule’ is actually ‘Mr. Satan’ (to give credit where it’s due, ‘Hercule’ started when DBZ aired on U.S. TV, but they retained his actual name in the ‘uncut’ dubs of the show on video. However, Viz, who published the manga, has also decided to use the ‘Hercule’ name for some reason…). ‘Vegito’ should also probably be ‘Vegeto’, although the name itself is never explained in the original series. I also suspect ‘Broly’ should probably be ‘Broli’, as many fans refer to him as; his name, like most Saiyans, seems to be a word play on vegetables. His reference is probably broccoli; hence, ‘Broli’.
The one name I noticed that they kept original that was changed is SS3 Gotenks’s ‘Galactica Doughnut’ finishing move; in the anime, Funimation renamed it the ‘Cosmic Halo’. A half-way keep, half-way change is Son Goku’s teleport. The name of the teleportation technique is actually ‘Instantaneous Movement’; Funimation renamed it the ‘Instant Transmision’. What, Goku can become radio waves? What’s he ‘transmitting’? The game has the technique named the ‘Instantaneous Transmission’….. -,- This also might seem like nitpicking, but I don’t think it is. Funimation should have been more accurate, and Atari didn’t need to play into this by using Funimation’s misnaming. In that respect, Atari is also not being accurate.
Another bad aspect of playing is that you can become paralyzed in a fight. I have no other way to explain it; it’s just paralysis. If your opponent has you locked in a fist battle, and is just kicking the crap out of you, you can’t do anything, often. You usually have to end up button mashing to just get out. Pressing the buttons for any attack doesn’t always work either. Also, you can become locked in a fast-moving fistfight, just like in the anime. However, you do NOT want to get involved in one of these. God help you if you find yourself in one, as I have never successfully broken free, or ‘won’ one. The same applies with a ‘power struggle’ of two finishing moves. There are a number of times in the original series where two people become locked in a finishing attack, each one trying to overpower the other. If you get into one of these, you have madly turn both analogue sticks to break free. At least, I think that’s how it’s done. I have never successfully won one of these either, and they’re just too dangerous.
The game sometimes suffers from unresponsive controls. You can have the correct Ki needed for an attack, press the right buttons, and nothing will happen. This failure to defend yourself can definitely cost you a fight.
Also stay away from walls. And stay away from water as much as possible. The camera can REALLY become so obscured it’s obscene, if you’re pitted against a wall. You’ve been warned.
They also highly overpowered Videl, from what she SHOULD be like. When you fight her for the first time, you might have trouble with her.
You’ll also notice despite the fact that this is a PS2-exclusive game, there is no online play. A lot of people would take off major points for this, but I won’t (my PS2 isn’t online anyway). Sure, players would have a blast playing others from across the globe, but one can easily make the most of it, with single or multiplayer.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaich’i for the PS2 is made to be a domain for fans of the series. Its strengths in its pledge to fan service will please many fans, but this is perhaps it’s greatest drawback, actually. Non-fans will have a hard time grasping the essence of the game and what it’s all about, and it doesn’t help that story information is left out of the game. However, the game has a clear, directed audience, and it’s a big one, and should have no trouble doing well among those fans. As a fighting game, it’s not revolutionary or truly spectacular, but it provides mindless, and quite challenging, gaming fun, and a well-structured homage to the series. Single-player is great, but since this is a fighting game, one might as well grab a friend and do what Dragon Ball characters were born to do; kick the living crap out of each other. Do you have what it takes to be the Strongest Under the Heavens?
Breakdown:
| Budokai Tenkaich'i | ||||||||||
| Story/Plot: | 1 | Graphics: | 8 | Sound: | 6.5 | Gameplay: | 8 | Misc.: | 7 | 8 |
| Overall: | ||||||||||
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