If I could just turn around I'd kick your @$$

Author's Rating:

Pros: 3D fighting, good graphics, flying, swimming, and destruction.

Cons: No powering up to Super Saiyan. Music is bland.

The Bottom Line: 
I like Budokai 3 better, but I am still liking this game.

Author's Review
Another Dragonball Z game. Another $40 gone from my wallet. I can't resist buying these things for my kids even though they are so similar, that with each new game, I kick myself for buying it. Oh, how wrong I am with this game. Unlike the Budokai games, this game is an actuall 3D fighter. Part of the problem with this game though is the fact that it is a 3D game. If you lose track of your opponent, it is hard to get turned around in time to prevent a butt whooping.

Now in order to really get this game, you have to be a fan, big fan of the show. The game takes you through scenes from the animated series and at times, skips major portions of the show to get to a fight. So, if you do not know the plot, you may be at a loss on how defeat your enemy. The Z Gate is your single player guide to unlock items and build your characters. I have not played in this mode a lot, mainly because I am playing against kids all the time in single battles. From what I gather, the Z Gate is the story mode and like I wrote above, takes you through the battles. I have it set on easy at this point and I have plenty of difficulty beating opponents. So, I either suck at this game, or it is hard.

So, lets get to what I like about the game.

The single player story. Budokai 2 had this silly board game and I hated that. The Z Gate works in this game, but skips major stories in the DBZ Sagas to get to the fights. It works though only because I am a big fan. If you are not, you may not get what you are doing.

The graphics are well done. You have the ability to destroy almost everything in a battle unlike Budokai 3 where you could destroy only a few items. Hide behind a tree in this game, and a big energy blast will get you and destroy the tree at the same time. Parked cars go flying, buildings collapse, and other structures fall apart from the fighting. The battle fields are huge and the 3D effects are good, but not great. You can swim, fly, and teleport with a few simple buttons.

The fighting has been simplified. No longer do you have to perform a series of tricky moves to get off a huge energy blast. All you need is the Ki, and the L2 trigger and the right button on your keypad. It makes the fights more evenly matched and you can actually tell the difference in power levels of the characters. Dodging huge energy blasts is not easy, but you can do it with the right timing. Flying is easy to do using the R1 trigger and you can dive by using the R2 trigger. The fighting is fast paced and blocking blasts and other attacks is cool when you can pull off the timing.

Now, the bad ...

The fighting is limited. In Budokai 3, each character has a dozen or so moves and they are performed brilliantly and you can defend against the attacks as they are shown on the screen. I was hoping Tenkaichi would keep this feature, but they did not. That is what made Budokai 3 such a great game. It makes Tenkaichi fall a little flat. Also Budokai 3 had a teleportation feature that allowed you to counter attack your opponent. Tankaichi has this feature, but it is only to avoid huge energy attacks. God forbid your opponent gets behind you. The L1 trigger is supposed to help you find your enemy and help you target them. It is not easy to do. I lose fights, because I cannot get my fighter to turn around and face his combatant. It may be because I have not played this game a lot, but my kids have played for days and they have the same problem. It makes battling hard. I wish they had an automatic feature that if you are hit from behind, your character turns around instantly when you hit the L1 button.

The music is lame as well. I would have no problem with the music coming from the DBZ show. There are touches of it, but Atari, who makes the game, thinks they need to create new music for each game they make. Bad idea. DBZ fans like the old music and want their games to replicate the series as best as possible.

Where are the Super Saiyans? You have to unlock the Super Saiyan characters in order to fight with them. You cannot power up and become a Super Saiyan. I do not like this. If you have the time to power up, you should be able to become more powerful than others by being able to go Super Saiyan. If your opponent is stupid enough to let you power up to Super Saiyan, then you should get beat. If you are clever enough to hide and power up or power up when you knock your opponent to the ground, then you should be able to become a Super Saiyan. This to me is the biggest mistake of the game. I do not need the elaborate power up like in Budokai 3, but it would be nice to become Super Saoyan 4 if I have the time to in the game. I should not have to unlock all kinds of characters in order to get a Super Saiyan.

There are some very strong features and things I like about this game, but there are some areas that can be improved. If you are looking for a good 3D fighter, this is not your game. There are better fighter games out there. However, if you are a true DBZ fan, this game is fun. I still like Budokai 3 better though.