Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 Review - Three times the charm... yes?

Release(s):

November 16, 2004 (North America)
November 19, 2004 (Europe)
February 10, 2005 (Japan)

Platform(s): PlayStation 2
Genre(s): Fighting
Developer(s): Dimps
Publisher(s):

Bandai (Japan/Europe)
Atari (North America)

Player(s): 1-2

Overview

Back in November 20, 1984... a Japanese man by the name of Akira Toriyama wrote and drew a chapter for a manga series called Dragon Ball made to entertain Japanese boys but beyond all expectation, it lead to one of the most successful and influential media franchise ever created (and arguably most popular anime). With such a of a franchise there's destined to be tons of merchandising- including many, many video game licenses that are released at a rate rivaled only by Star Wars and WWE. For a story with such a flexible concept of collecting Dragon Balls and superpowered warriors beating the shit outta each other you would expect the games to be good but sadly, DBZ games for the longest time have generally ranged from mediocre to pure shit *cough*Final Bout*cough*.... however, that all changed with a game called Dragon Ball Z: Budokai released in late 2002.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai.... wasn't great but it showed potential. It's sequel Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 did improve several things (notably the graphics) but as a sequel it fell a bit short and still suffered from most of the same problems that held the first game back from being a truly great game on it's own merits. In 2004, Atari announced Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 which promises to actually address the suggestions and complaints people had of the first two games. Does it deliver?

Gameplay

This game doesn't go for "more of the same thing with but with a new coat" like Budokai 2 does, Dimps truly went out of their way to give the combat a significant overhaul with the "Saiyan Override Fighting System" to make it closer to the action in the anime series and just an overall better experience. On the surface, Budokai 3's combat may seem largely the same as it's predecessors' but further playthrough yields they not only improved it to make for a good DBZ fighter but a good fighting game in general. First off, there is much more defensive maneuvers and movement options this time so battles don't quickly devolve into a matter of "Who can hit who first?" after just a few seconds in. You now have the ability of dashing backwards which is also used for dashing into or from the sky, you can perform quick dodge against physical attacks at point-blank distance when timed with an enemy's attack by simply pressing the G button, and you can also counter your opponent's attack to teleporting behind them when timed with the attack by pressing forward and the G button simultaneously... this can come in handy when you're trapped in a combo and it can also be used as a pursuit after sending an opponent flying to ping-pong them around by pressing the E button, but be careful as an opponent can counter your teleport with their own. Third, the basic attacks shared between characters now have much more diversity (such as Piccolo using his mystic ability, Trunks/Dabura using their swords, Frieza using his tail, etc.)... of course a couple of the canned moves and strings are still present but the added variety makes them far further and few in-between. Lastly, a lot of the death moves have been added and improved upon... some can even clash together to cause a beam struggle like in the show which is like Burst Mode where you either have to roll the analog stick or mash buttons faster than the opponent to gain the upper hand. The vast increase of overall speed in combat also helps with the experience as well.

The ki system has been completely revamped from the last two games. Rather than only existing for energy attacks, ki management is now essential to certain maneuvers (such as quick dodges and teleporting) as well as maintaining peak attack and guard powers. Every character now has a ki baseline specific to them which adds some strategy to picking a character and ki slowly increases or decreases to said baseline when not in use. This new system encourages strategic play like no fighter before it as you always have to make sure you have enough ki before you take your opponent head on.

Transformations are no longer a huge pain to maintain like in the last two games... it's in fact almost encouraged. Instead of draining ki, it can increase ki baseline and only runs out if you're attacked when you have basically no ki or are fatigued with a few exceptions (like Frieza or Cell).

Budokai 3 also introduces two completely new mechanics which are Hyper Mode and Dragonrush. Hyper Mode is a power-up which makes you not flinch to weaker attacks and allows you to use ki moves freely (though they still take energy) depending on how much ki you burn but it's also a high-risk technique as you lose the ability to guard, you can't replenish ki at all, and it's the only way of doing most ultimate moves... though at least you don't have to do a combo in order to execute them, it's as simple as pressing all the face buttons and it's started with an unblockable launch attack. Dragonrush is a mechanic which is activated by using Hyper Mode then attempting a pursuit to go into a cinematic 3-part button-guessing game where the opponent has to match your button input to avoid taking damage. It's basically the same for every character and is destined to annoy more devoted, less forgiving players as it can do great damage and is often spammed by the AI despite being one of the game's biggest attractions. It also doesn't help some ultimate moves are connected to Dragonrush (like Goku's Warp Kamehameha).

Content

Much like Budokai 2, Budokai 3 introduces a new single-player campaign with RPG elements called Dragon Universe only it does away with the tedious board game setting from Budokai 2's Dragon World in place of a much more interesting system where you can choose from one out of 11 characters (half of which are unlockable) from the 40 character roster and fly across the world of Dragon World going from one point to another. Your main objective to fly towards to the location of the red dot found on the map in order to progress and engage in battle (with some having you fight under special conditions) but you can do other things like in Budokai 2's Dragon World such as collect dragonballs, find zeni and capsules, fight in battle points for extra experience points, earn voice data by reenacting moments from the series (a treat for fans), and get hidden unlockables. Also, unlike Dragon World, Budokai 3's Dragon Universe actually tells the story of Dragon Ball Z but not only that it also covers material from the movies Cooler's Revenge, The Return of Cooler, and Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan as well as some of Dragon Ball GT. They are apart of several alternative paths in the game... of which you can cross after your first playthrough with certain characters in Dragon Universe along with other unlockables giving players more incentive to unlock extras. There's also a Leveling Up system which is similar to the power ups you find in Budokai 2's Dragon World but the system is much deeper and will last throughout Dragon Universe. You can increase health, attack and guard power, the damage output of death moves, the effectiveness of your support capsules, and the computer's intelligence (when it plays as your leveled-up character). However, like Budokai 2's Dragon World, you still can't backtrack so if you miss something you would have to start all over to retrieve it.

Dueling, World Tournament, and Training (renamed back to Practice) remain largely the same but there is a Cell Games class in the World Tournament mode which is unlockable by playing in the extra game mode (I'll get to it later) and in the Cell Games class, anything goes much like the Cell Games rules setting in the GameCube/Japanese version of Budokai 2 except it actually takes place during the Cell ring, Computer-controlled opponents are also equipped with a Breakthrough capsule, and there are 5 rounds like the Advanced class meaning the sum of zeni earned is the same. The Practice section of the Practice mode now allows you to play against another player and the Training section returns only it generally goes even more in-depth with Budokai's core mechanics as well as explaining the newly introduced mechanics though it's still a bit vague regarding certain details.

The redundant physical capsule (throws are now integral to characters) has been dropped completely in favor of the item capsule. Item capsules are basically your character's thump card and it can turn the battle around in your favor in various ways similar to the equipment capsules ranging from increasing attack/guard power dramatically for a short amount of time to restoring health or crippling your opponent but you can only equip one item capsule. This change makes equipping your character with the desired skills much easier. The Skill Shop is mostly the same as Budokai 2's but it's made even easier with an indicator for you buying an additional ability capsule and there is a new set of equipment capsules called Sparking that increases the sum of zeni you earn from the World Tournament... meaning you can even earn over 100,000 zeni playing through the Advanced/Cell Games class once if you're good enough at the game without having to rely on ability capsules.

Budokai 3 introduces yet another new additional game mode called Dragon Arena, which you can unlock from playing with every character in Dragon Universe (except Broly) and it has MUCH more longevity than either The Legacy of Hercule or Babidi's Spaceship. You choose a character and fight against many leveled-up opponents while you level up your character... even characters that aren't available in Dragon Universe (which are most of them). This is also where you get certain unlockables... which I find unnecessary but whatever... you can also fight against another player's leveled-up character or submit a password to fight against a player's leveled-up character as controlled by the computer. One complaint I have is the passwords are too long and another is you can't really play online with any of your leveled-up characters... granted not that many PS2 games had online play but it still would've nice to fight other players with this feature in mind.

Graphics

Budokai 3 continues with the cel-shaded style from the last game but once again Dimps went the extra mile and made Budokai 2's already stellar graphics even better. Not only are the character models and shading more refined but the particles, ki blasts, auras, etc. look like they were taken straight from the anime. The environments are all also vibrant and colorful with interesting little details... the game even gives you time to admire the scenery in the Dueling mode. The animation for characters- at least the idle animation, is more unique capturing each character's personality such as Cell's arrogant and imposing pose or Kid Buu's unyielding wildness, but the basic attacks still has a lot of canned animation and sadly, that also reigns especially true for Dragonrush.

Sound

Just like Budokai 2 much of the voice clips are recycled from the previous games with exception of cutscenes, certain pre/post battle quotes, and of course... new characters. Likewise a lot of the music is recycled from the previous with a couple of new tracks thrown in... though the tracks Budokai 3 introduces are more versatile in terms of musical styles/genres ranging from rock, techno, funk, and electronic... but they're not as memorable outside a few. The sound clips...are pretty much unchanged from Budokai 2.

Aesthetics

Since Dragon Universe actually tells the story of Dragon Ball Z, the storytelling within it is miles above the one found in the weird mess in Budokai 2's Dragon World but it still doesn't measure up to the storytelling in first Budokai's Story Mode as you would have to play through multiple characters' perspectives in order to make sense of what's going on (even then it still leaves out a lot of details) and the cutscenes are all represented by still portraits with text bubbles which makes the already convoluted storytelling even more confusing... but the mass amount of exploration in Dragon Universe and various bells n' whistles makes up for it.

In terms of ultimate move cinematics, Budokai 3 is the same as the last game but environment effects are much better presented here whatnot with the dirt building up into the sky as you power up and your opponent leaving skid marks as you send them sliding across the floor. Knocking your opponent into environmental hazards are even more satisfying to watch as the land makes the opponent their bitch as you do the same. There's also a lot more character-specific pre/post-battle quotes than the previous games (Budokai 2 actually had none). Even Dragon Rush is nice to look at as you smack your opponent around.

The manga-inspired menus still remain but in Budokai 3, pretty much every menu has one tidbit even with the stage selection where every stage is circled around King Kai's planet (as they're all within his jurisdiction... well most of them) and Bubbles is messing around. The characters even speak to you with voices as they explain each mode and section... which is amusing in that it gives the menu more liveliness but it can get annoying notably in the case of Launch within the Edit Skills mode. 

Budokai 3 also has another mini-game in the loading screen where you roll the analog-sticks to make multiple Saibamen pop up on screen but the load times are a little worse than Budokai 2's.

Overall

The quality jump from the first Budokai to Budokai 3 is honestly quite astounding. Dimps took what was a relatively shallow fighter that pretty much strictly for fans and made it into a game that's simple, yet surprisingly deep DBZ-fighting experience with tons of replay value and can be enjoyed by even non-fans of the series. Could I ever recommend it over other popular fighting game series' such as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? Probably not (though I don't see much of a reason to not get either), but all I know as far as DBZ games are concerned, Budokai 3 set a benchmark in DBZ gaming that no other has yet to surpass.

I give this game a 8.7 out of 10.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 Review - A small step somewhere...

Release(s):

November 14, 2003 (Europe)
November 23, 2003 (Australia)
December 4, 2003 (North America)
February 5, 2004 (Japan)

Platform(s): PlayStation 2, GameCube
Genre(s): Fighting
Developer(s): Dimps
Publisher(s):

Bandai (Japan/Europe)
Atari (North America/Australia)

Player(s): 1-2




Overview

Just about a year prior to this game, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai was released and even though it received conflicting reviews from critics it was a huge commercial success and it was well-liked by fans so there was no doubt in mind a sequel would be in the makings. Dragon Ball Z had officially aired it's final episode in the US and that's where Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 comes into play with a lot of additional material to work out. But the one thing that matters is if it's any better than the first game?

Gameplay

If you're familiar with the last game then I feel there's no need to go over the fundamentals of the combat as it's still the same core mechanics so I'll instead go over the changes and additions Budokai 2 makes to it. One thing Budokai 2 adds to the combat is that Death moves no longer require you to perform a pre-set chain in order to execute them, they can be done by simply pressing the E button and the forward/backward directional button simultaneously. Not only that but they seem to do noticeably more damage than standalone basic combos thanks to fixed damage scaling, making them actual useful to variety of situations instead of just serving as combo enders.  Another additional is certain special moves have you fulfill a requirement before fully executing them like rolling the analog-sticks to fill a perimeter or play a button-guessing game with the opponent. Do it right and the desired effects would happen but do it wrong and the effect would be weaken or some cases backfire. 

Aside from that, there aren't any major changes Budokai 2 makes to the combat system. Granted, the small tweaks Budokai 2 adds into the mix do help spice things up but they don't change the fact that the overall gameplay is more or less the same only with a new coat. The roster is still full of clones, battle still often boil down to who can land the first hit, and special moves are still awkward to pull off.

Content 

Although the combat system is basically the same, Budokai 2's single-player campaign definitely is not the same. As an attempt of increasing longevity, instead of simply going from scenario to scenario like the first Budokai's Story Mode, the game mode Dragon World (which covers the entirety of the Dragon Ball Z storyline) takes place on a map setup like a board game, and you play as Goku and choose a select number of allies depending on the stage where you have to complete an objective (which usually involves defeating the main enemy) so it doesn't exactly tell the story of Dragon Ball Z either but bases material around it. You can also do several other extra stuff such as hunting for Dragon Balls (you can grant a wish after completing Dragon World if you collect all 7), collect zeni, gain attack/guard power ups (which last an entire stage), and find hidden unlockables. Dragon World has some good parts but due to the simplicity and slow pace of the board game-like setting it gets boring after a while especially in the later stages where you have to face an overabundance of the same enemies like the Saibamen or Cell Jr. over and over again which adds to the tedium of getting breakthrough for characters... not only that Dragon World is very linear so if you miss something you'd have to start all over if you want to receive it, though the game does give you the benefit of having the option to customize each member of the team's skill sets this time.

The 3 other game modes Duel (now Dueling), World Tournament, and Practice (now Training) all now let you change your character's skill set in the character selection (though it will not be saved). The World Tournament mode now allows up to 8 players which can really be fun if you have friends around especially if they're a fan of the anime (just remember who to switch the 2 controllers to) but no one earns any prize money in the end. Training now has a menu for two different sections. One is called Practice where you use your opponent as a training dummy like the last game and the other is Training which is a step-by-step tutorial that teaches you the fundamentals of the combat in the game. It's rather vague and redundant but it does help you learn how to play the game.

There now seems to be a percentage bar indicating how many capsules you've collected within the menu of Edit Skills so you don't have to browse through the Skill List in order to find out which skill you're missing all the time.

The Skill System is the same as it was in the first Budokai only a few new capsules were added... the most notable of which being the Fusion and Potara capsules (which you activate during gameplay like a special move). These give you a considerable increase in attack power and some new skills. Fusion capsules have a severe time restriction before it wears off but it has an infinite ki gauge which can be extremely effective in the hands of a skilled player.  The Potara capsule will last for the rest of the match but it has a limited ki gauge like any other character. Only certain characters have them... some that are pleasant surprises you may never find in any other DBZ game such as Tiencha (the fusion of Tien and Yamcha) and Gokule (the potara of Goku and Hercule). Neither the Fusion or Potara capsules can be used during the World Tournament mode.

The Skill Shop, while still random, is vastly improved as you now have the option of 3 random capsules from each category (ability, physical, support) which makes the trip of getting the capsules you want much easier and much less tedious.

The unlockable game mode Legend of Hercule has been replaced with a mode called Babidi's Spaceship which Is unlockable from wishing for it with the Dragon Balls. The difference is you have the option to play with another player and can select any character. The single-player section has play 4 different challenges which are defeating the opponent as many times as possible, survive the opponent as long as possible, land as many physical attacks as you can on the opponent while under a time limit, and deflect as many ki blasts as you can under a time limit... they all earn you Kiri depending on how well you do. You need Kiri for a meter that unlocks the Majin characters and their skill capsules depending on how much you fill it. The multi-player section has 4 mini-games which are both players basically play hot potato as they both try to be the last one to land a hit as the bomb sets off on the unlucky player's HUD, both player's health gauge is the same as their ki gauge, and  both players trying to inflict as much damage on each other as possible at once and sending each other out of the ring as the distance they are sent flying increases the more they are knocked back in Super Smash Bros fashion. It's all good albeit limited fun and is a clever incentive to make players get better at the game... in theory, but in terms of unlockables you would soon get tired of playing the same mini-games over and over again unless you're a fan of the Majin characters.

Graphics

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai utilized graphics that where fully computer-generated and the end result was low-detailed character designs with boring, lifeless environments. Budokai 2 decides to go for a cel-shaded processing style with more defined outlines... of which is used for almost every DBZ game since and I'd have to say it's the best direction taken with this game. Not only do the characters look much better but they resemble their anime series counterparts even more than the first Budokai did. The environments have been touched up as well... the colors are sharper and there's a bit more going on in the background though some environments fall a bit into the bland side, but the show was never known for it's amazing backgrounds so fans certainly won't complain.

Though the special effects in the first Budokai was done well enough, Budokai 2 still went the extra mile and gave it a spectacle boost. Particles effects are sharper, auras spike up and have sparks during certain transformations, and ki blasts are closer to the show in style. Ki blasts are now much more diverse no longer resembling generic fireballs and ki attack ultimate moves are more catastrophic. The animation is still just as solid as ever but the canned fighting animation still just as present as ever.

Sound

Most of the voice clips in Budokai 2 are recycled from the first game with the newly recorded voices reserved mostly for ultimates, pre/post-battle quotes (which are thankfully more audible), cutscenes, and of course the new characters. Likewise, most of the soundtrack is the same as the first Budokai's but is more subdued.... which is a good thing and there's a couple new.. mostly jazzy due to the influence of American R & B band Tower of Power tracks thrown into the mix, but they're just as good as the tracks from the first Budokai. Even the sound effects used during fighting is the same as the first though there's more sounds effects from the anime series being used.

Aesthetics

Although Budokai 2's Dragon World doesn't really tell the story of Dragon Ball Z, there's still a story being told and the way it's told in the game feels like a serious afterthought. Fan or not you will find yourself scratching your head saying "wtf!?" to most of the events that transpire... with things such as Babidi somehow being able to revive Majin Buu despite explicitly needing energy to do so or Frieza or Cell revived multiple times without explanation. Also unlike the first Budokai's Story Mode, there are no fully animated cutscenes. Most of them are represented by small portraits with speech bubbles as if the storyline alone wasn't confusing enough... some cutscenes are animated but it's never to the extent of the first Budokai's cutscenes. Admittedly some of the conversations and liberties taken with the story are amusing. 

Speaking of amusing conversations... in the game's training section of the Training mode, instead of just having another dull tutorial of the game telling you about the combat mechanics it has you play as Goten and other characters as your teacher while the mechanics are told through conversation between Goten and his teachers in context of the series.

The ultimate moves also have much more of a cinematic flare than last time which makes them even more satisfying to pull off (when you actually manage to pull them off) and the manga-inspired formatting is still present... perhaps even moreso than the first game. There's even a fun little mini-game during the loading screen where Master Roshi is spinning atop of his flying turtle Baby Gamera and you use the analog sticks to spin him around. Budokai 2 also loads much much faster than the first Budokai as load take no more than 10-20 seconds as opposed to the 30-40 second load times found in the first game.

Overall

Couple of the additions and fixes are nice (notably the graphics) but overall Budokai 2 feels sorta underwhelming as a sequel. It seems more like Dimps was just testing the waters with this one and put most of their effort into the fanservice. With this in mind I sorta see why Pyramid skipped over this game in the HD Collection. Outside the various original hypothetical fusions nothing about the game really stands out comparison to the other two (at least not in a positive way).

I give this game a 6.9 out of 10.