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Developer: Spike
Publisher: Atari
Genre: Fighting
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 18 Oct 05
User Rating
9.7 (54 votes) -
- Hardcore DBZ fans would be happy with the new flying skills and bigger environments to traverse, but be mindful of its basic and shallow combat system.
Overview
Anime is of course a very popular form of entertainment, one that has been growing over the years and becoming one of the more popular choices of entertainment for gamers outside of gaming. Well unfortunately anime has never been turned into great video games, and thus many people are instantly turned away from games that feature any sort of anime characters. Dragon Ball Z is one of the anime series that have not had much success, but are back on the saddle again with Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi, which is the latest fighting game for the franchise. So does this one manage to create a great fighting experience? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
Now let me just take a brief second to talk about some of the previous Dragon Ball Z Budokai games which have been released in recent years. You see when you take a look at these games, you will find that although the presentations of these games were top notch, the gameplay never could hold up its fair share of the load. You would consistently find that the gameplay in the previous Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 & 2 much too unrefined and lacked any real depth. The games' fighting was definitely accessible, as it was very easy to learn, but falls short in the long run as there's not much more to the fighting engine as was shown. So can Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi take this popular anime show and finally create a great game?
One of the big fundamental changes from the previous games to Tenkaichi, is that this game introduces something that a lot of Dragon Ball Z fans have been waiting for, and that is the ability to fly. Now this ability does give the game a much broader and more open-ended, but at the same token causes some problems. Giving you the ability to fly around actually has a negative effect on the camera, which seems to just float behind your character, giving you a weird view of the environment. The camera angle does work, but for me I just never got over my awkward feeling about it.
For the first time however, the game actually has a story mode that is worth talking about. The mode is actually titled Z Battle Gate, and it takes you through a lot of the very popular Dragon Ball Z adventures. Without giving anything away, I will say that the developers did a much better job in this game, allowing you to become more involved in the storyline and it just for once really takes the series to a new level. The story mode at times does get repetitive, but I have to say for the most part I was impressed with what the developers were able to create in this mode. It definitely shows how the game has the potential to take an interesting story and put it into a video game.
The game of course has modes outside of the story mode, with options like a Duel Mode, which is your standard arcade-style fighting mode, putting you up against another character of your choice. Then there is the Ultimate Battle, which I would classify as like a tournament mode that you would find in a sports game. Basically you can take the character you worked with on the story and continue to battle with him in a tournament setting, and although this isn't a huge deal, it works well nonetheless.
The biggest issue I had however with Dragon Ball Z is the fighting system itself, which is too basic for my taste. The fighting engine has some issues with the flying mechanics and camera angle, but for the most part this is just a standard fighting game without any new or original bells and whistles. I have to say that the potential of Tenkaichi was extremely high, but falls short due to the underwhelming fighting mechanics.
Graphics
The presentation aspect of the Dragon Ball Z games has been the franchise's core strength, and it continues here. The developers have definitely improved upon the cel-shaded graphical engine. Strictly looking at the character models, I have to say that the developers did a fantastic job of creating very detailed characters that fans of the show will really appreciate.
The biggest problem the visual presentation of Tenkaichi has is the camera, which takes quite a bit away from the environments. You can see the developers put some nice touches on this aspect of the game, but never could you fully gather that effect in the game and thus the visuals didn't get as high of a score as they had the potential to do.
Fun Factor
I have to say that I consider myself a pretty big fan of fighting games. In fact, you name a fighting game, chances are I am going to get pretty into it. With Tenkaichi, I got into this game right away and really enjoyed the ability to fly around. But unfortunately this feeling pretty quickly subsided and I started to see some of the lacking qualities of this game. First off the game is not deep and smooth enough to satisfy hardcore fans of the genre, compared the Tekken or Guilty Gear franchises. It is obvious the developers are making strides in the right direction with this franchise, but Tenkaichi was not a game that I can say I outright enjoyed.
Overall
There is no doubt in my mind that Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi is a worthwhile game and a good game. But it is also going into a market that is full of great fighting titles, and in order to compete you really have to come out with a great game rather then just a good one. Fans of Dragon Ball Z will truly enjoy the game for its much more intriguing storyline and its entertaining gameplay. This game is an easy pick for a rental, but a purchase is probably not a good idea for most people, as there are better fighting games available.
- Gameplay
7.0 - Graphics
8.0 - Fun Factor
7.0 - Overall
7.0
