tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54574844558434424952024-03-13T12:58:23.383-04:00TRIGGER ReviewsRazor-sharp wit, bullet-piercing points, all rawD. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-23408227297932725362017-11-14T00:47:00.000-05:002017-11-14T00:47:46.703-05:00Welcome<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We are the media organization that does things ranging from reviewing TV shows and video games, analyzing news in the entertainment industry, and writing a little essay on our opinions of certain subject matters within the media. We originally intended to do videos only but we didn't (and still don't) have the equipment to do so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, we decided to start our organization with written material. Our organization was inspired by other people who were doing the same and I thought "We can doing the same" cause we like entertaining people while making them think at the same time. We planned to keep it real as possible while being professional.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Please contact if you have any suggestions.</span></span>D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-21059448964350327352017-11-14T00:30:00.000-05:002017-11-16T09:31:26.458-05:00Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkachi 3 Review - The third wave of the 360° movement<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s):</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> October 4, 2007 (Japan)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> November 9, 2007 (Europe)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> November 13, 2007 (North America)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><u>Overview</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 was in improvement from the first game in just about every way thus leading to become a fan favorite and it received slightly better reviews as a result, but the sales still continue to dwindle. Spike then has decided to pull out all the stops In order for the series to fully escape the shadow of the much more successful Dragon Ball Z: Budokai titles. With a huge marketing campaign and a roster boasting of 160 characters total (including transformations and fusions)... was it all worth it in the end?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Once again the innovative combat system from the last two games. However, Tenkaichi 3 is not the massively overhaul that Tenkaichi 2 is from the first game (not that was even needed) but it still does a lot to improve the combat for a much deeper, more refined experience. Characters now automatically lock onto their opponents so moves designed around fucking around this feature aren't nearly exploitable. Smash Attacks can also done teleporting briefly towards the opponent by charging it then releasing it the moment your character flickers bright to confuse opponents. Several character specific combos have also been added as well as several more button mashy combos from the last game being fixed or removed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Along with the new offensive moves, tweaks, and character specifics... new defensive maneuvers and movement options have been added. A new dash mechanic called Z Burst Dash can performed during the standard Dragon Dash to travel at much greater speed and move around the stage to appear behind the opponent. Super Guard has been replaced with Sonic Sway which is similar to the counterattack combo chain only this move makes you automatically your opponent's melee combo if it connects draining their ki and smack them away. Not a huge loss though as rush Blast 2's are no longer unblockable... though they still can break an opponent's guard thus making them lose ki. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A new counter move has been added called Z Counter which is difficult yet very satisfying</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> to pull off. It allows you to teleport behind the opponent like the defensive teleport to knock them away but unlike said teleport, Z Counter costs some ki and has to timed exactly when the opponent attacks (it's also only effective against melee attacks)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lastly, the AI has been improved drastically. They now actually provide a reasonable challenge.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">With another DBZ game comes yet another new single-player campaign. For this game it is called Dragon History and it goes back to it's roots of simply going from one scenario to another. However, this mode does something different from the others before it as it actually makes you feel like you're in a battle from the show by having the characters exchange dialogue during gameplay and events are predetermined. You also play as the villains occasionally when they win in the actual story instead of beating around the bush by sticking you with the losing heroes this time. On paper this mode sounds great but the execution leaves much to be desired. Firstly, while some may have found the Dragon Adventure in Tenkaichi 2 too long, Dragon History is also too short. Many key battles are mysteriously left out and the whole thing can be completed in 6 hours. Also once you're done with it there's not much reason to bother playing it again except maybe to collect the dragonballs. Most of the characters are already unlocked. Dragon History does promise alternate paths which you can discover during battle but it doesn't take advantage of that concept and there's no reward for it either. At most you just get a different (underwhelming) cutscene at the end.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tenkaichi 3 also has it's own take on the Ultimate Battle mode from the previous games. The main course here is the Mission 100 where you fight up to 100 different battles against sets of opponents based on a certain theme and they all have different rules. The others challenges are Sim Dragon which is a battle simulation where you are to prepare for a fight in 10 days (the cycle must be completed 10 times without losing) and Survival which is pretty self-explanatory. There is also a feature exclusive to the Playstation 2 version (to make up for the lack of Netplay) called Disc Fusion where you can play through the Ultimate Battle from the first Tenkaichi and Ultimate Battle Z of Tenkaichi 2 if you have working discs of the respective games. Pretty gimmicky if you ask me.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The World Tournament mode has also been changed drastically and is now called Dragon World Tour. It is sectioned off to two sub-modes which are World Tour where you get unlockables but it only allows one player and a tournament is only open at a certain time, and Free where you can mess around with friends. Aside from the that, the 3 tournaments from the last game have returned plus two new ones which are the Otherworld Tournament which is pretty much the Big Martial Arts Tournament except you fight Pikkon in the end instead of Hercule and the Yamcha Game which is pretty much the same deal except your character is randomly selected for you (something the game even acknowledges is stupid).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Training mode is just as barebones as ever with the tutorial (Battle Training) going back to teaching you mostly through cryptic text. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Also, as I hinted before the Wii version of this game offered online play though it suffered majorly from lag so it's not a huge loss for PS2 players. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Character Encyclopedia from Tenkaichi 2 has been reduced to just Character References where you look at character bios and their models.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Evolution Z has returned but the customization setting has been revamped to be much more balanced. Character stats can't be beefed up massively like in Tenkaichi 2 and the level up system is gone. Each character start off with a certain amount of slots but can increased up to 7 by generating more with Z-Points (this game's currency) and items can take more than 1 slot depending on their effects. The real upsides to this revamped system is that a bunch of more useful ability improving yellow Z-items have been added, the redundant Z-Item Fusion has been removed, and the Item Shop has been streamlined so you don't have to buy the same item more than once. Once you buy said item it will be available for every character and you don't have to deal with the membership card silliness. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Just like the gameplay, the graphics for Tenkaichi 3 isn't massively different from the last game though I would say the character models do appear less block this time. One thing I do have to say is the beams, auras, particle effects, etc. look a lot better in this game. It has much more pizzaz and resembles the anime more closely.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Once again the voice clips and sound effects are recycled from the last game barring cutscenes, menus, and of course the new characters. More sound effects from the show have been picked up though,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Just like the last game, the Japanese version has remixed tracks from Shunsuke Kikuchi's soundtrack for the original anime series while the international versions of the game gets another original soundtrack by Toshiyuki Kishi. It's not as good as the soundtrack for Tenkaichi 2 but it does it's job well enough plus a few memorable tracks.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In terms of storytelling in Dragon History, it also falls flat. It's done through in-game cutscenes but the characters are limited to their standard animation during gameplay thus leading to some really awkward scenes like Gohan tagging in just to have Piccolo die at Nappa's hands. It's a shame that Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, a game that predates this one by 5 years, completely shits all over it while basically doing the same thing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Storytelling aside though, the look and feel during combat has improved greatly. Every sequence is much more dynamic, all the ki blast attacks feel painful, and all supers/ultimates are catastrophic. it also uses more visual cues from the anime overall.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The menus also continued to get better and better. The character select screen now makes perfect sense (no 'up is down and down is up' mess), the dialogue is more memorable, more bells n' whistles, and there are more than one mini-game during the loading screen (dat loading time tho...).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Just when you thought Spike was done they still managed to impress with their third installment in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. However, I can't help but feel they have hit a wall with this title.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now this game gets an 8.1 out of 10... </span></div>
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D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-89831122954563664802017-10-08T18:14:00.000-04:002017-10-10T23:57:54.609-04:00One Piece: Grand Battle Review - Set Sail For a Battle Royal!<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s):</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">March 17, 2005 (Japan)<br />September 7, 2005 (North America)<br />October 7, 2005 (Europe)</span></ul>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><u>Overview</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ever since it's debut on the Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997, One Piece has proven itself as a juggernaut of a franchise. It's comic has sold over 300 million copies worldwide making the best-selling manga series of all-time and it's one of the biggest money-makers for Toei. In many ways, it has arguably dethroned Dragon Ball from top of the shonen empire. Unfortunately, this success never really caught on with North America (and we know why...) but we did manage to get a few video games at least.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One of those is the game I'm reviewing right now called One Piece: Grand Battle, originally released as One Piece: Grand Battle! Rush in Japan as the fourth and final installment of the Japan-only Grand Battle series. This version is significant different as much of the content is altered and removed as 4Kids hadn't gotten that far with the anime at the time it was released.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But anyways... is the game a buried treasure or a load of barnacles?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><u>Gameplay</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The gameplay of One Piece: Grand Battle is similar to that of Power Stone... a 3D arena fighting game where players can interact with the stage by using parts of it as a weapon either it be environmental hazards, objects, or pitfalls but first onto the core combat. The left analog stick allows the play to move his/her character and the face buttons allow you to do jumps, grabs (both opponents and objects), straight attacks, and up attacks while the right trigger allows you to guard. These buttons can be combined to do even more stuff such as basic combo moves, ranged attacks, and specialty moves. Likewise, the left trigger in junction with the face buttons will execute a Super art (which take at least a whole Super Gauge) like tapping the guard button twice will summon a support character to help lay on the damage. They attack in various ways ranging from being aggressive and in the opponent's face to launching projectiles from afar. You can also perform one of two Super Attacks with a 1+2 combination of the face buttons (always involving the front attack) and even a trump card called the Secret Art (which takes all 2 gauges).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The control scheme is pretty much the same for every character though that doesn't mean they don't have their own set of tools to work with and somewhat varied playstyles. As you can tell the combat of Grand Battle is quite simple and it works in it's favor... but at the same time I fear it may be a little too simple. Several moves can be spammed unfairly like the Secret Art move that every character has. It has a fairly long-range, it only consumes Super Gauges if it lands, and it can wipe out more than half the opponent's health if the user is low on health themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now with all that said and done about the combat, let's talk about the stage interaction aspect. Each stage is has all sorts of obstacles and hazards either it be a wild cow or Alvida going on a rampage if you hit them, or pirates throwing shit at you but items are typically found in treasure chests, crates, and barrels that randomly appear. The chests carry all the goods like Ham to replenish health, running shoes which increase movement speed but makes attack weaker, a shield which increase defense and makes you harder to knock down but you move slowly, a sword which increases strength and makes attacks unguardable but you can't guard yourself, and a gem which makes Super Arts more powerful and allows you to perform a Secret Art perfectly while barrels and crates come with objects for more means of offense like a Poisonous Mushroom, a Beehive to disorient opponent's movement, a Bonfire, a Bomb, and Gaimon who you can use to shoot pistols along with throwing it like all objects. These elements makes the gameplay very chaotic and that's where most of the fun is had. My only complaint is that some stages have a little too much going on within them plus there's no real option to turn any of this shit off nor is there a special stage like Final Destination in the Smash Bros series where there's next-to-no obstacles getting in the way.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One Piece: Grand Battle sports a healthy selection of game modes to choose from. First being Grand Battle which is the standard versus mode where you can either fight the computer or duke it out with a friend with adjustable setting and a stage of choose. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Next is Story Mode where you pick a character to play through their story and there are 5 battles in total however this game doesn't seem to follow an overarching story. The cutscenes before and after matches do nothing to explain the situation, and the dialogue/reasons that characters have for fighting are pretty damn stupid (not in a good way). Story Mode is also where you get all the unlockable characters which is doable by playing through the mode with all the starting characters but are actually only unlocked through beating it on higher difficulties with certain characters (Luffy and Zolo/Zoro to be more precise). It won't take very long as there's not that many characters (only 14-16 total with 10 being available from the start) and like I said, there's only 5 battles plus a box-destroying challenge bonus stage. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Third game mode of selection is Mini-Games where you play through a variety of Usopp's Pirates' minigames (originally Davy Back Fight's minigames) with a team of 3 (your choice of course...) such as the box-destroying challenge from Story Mode, cleaning off the snow pile on Drum Castle's rooftop, breaking Don Krieg's armor, a boat racing competition where you must stop the opposing team from cheating, tossing Gaimon into the opponent's goal, and a custom battle. You play 2 of them at random before facing off against Captain Usopp (Foxy in Japanese version) himself. These minigames are pretty fun and make great use of the game's core mechanics plus they can be unlocked to play at the players' leisure (with the exception of the final duel) after winning the game a certain number of times.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Fourth, there is Grand Tourney which is a tournament mode similar to that of the one in Smash Bros. You can set up a tournament with up to 32 contestants (at least 1 human player), adjustable settings like in Grand Battle mode, and a stage where the tournament takes place. You don't gain anything after completing the tournament so it's really all just for bragging rights.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Last but not least, we have Training which you can guess is the standard practice mode and it actually takes place on a stage with no real obstacles. Your options are pretty standard- you can make the computer either be a training dummy, guard while being attacks, or fight like an opponent during Grand Battle but you can also successfully perform all of your character's to earn extra unlockables for them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Game modes aside, Treasure and One Piece Art serve for the game's extras. Treasure is basically a character database stuff like belongings, voice data, portraits, and profiles while One Piece Art is frames taken straight from the anime. These features will no doubt be appreciated by hardcore One Piece fans.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One Piece: Grand Battle is a very pretty game. It makes expert use of the cel-shading technique which gives the game a color, vibrant, and detailed cartoony-look with character models that look just like their anime counterparts albeit chibi-fied. The animations accompanying them are also fun to watch although one thing I don't get about it is the mouth movement. They either move like the characters are chewing gum or don't move at all even when characters are clearly talking.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This is certainly one weak aspect of the game. The one elephant in the room has to be mentioned is the voice acting. It's pretty bad but what else can you expect from 4kids and their abomination of a dub they gave for the anime? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The music is also pretty forgettable. Sure it's fitting towards the game well enough but none of the tracks stand out for me.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If One Piece: Grand Battle has one thing going for it, it is definitely in it's presentation. Each Characters' signature moves from the anime are here and they represented quite well. The Secret Arts in particular are so over-the-top flashy making them fun to watch and </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">cathartic to pull off. Several familiar areas from the anime are also available to fight in during this game like Arlong Park, Alabasta Kingdom, Loguetown, and Baratie which have all sorts bells n' whistles hidden within them. Monkey D. Luffy and and Sanji's demeanor even change while facing certain characters. Luffy is more angry and serious in tone against a great adversary while Sanji acts lovestruck facing Nami and Ms. Sunday (Nico Robin).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Outside of combat, the game's menus always have something going on either it be characters interacting with players while other characters are messing around in the background or artifacts from the anime serving as a template for the menu structure. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The cutscenes for the Story Mode are lack though. Aside from the aforementioned nonexistent story they are demonstrated through speech talk in front of an anime cut-out for the character that is speaking. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><u>Overall</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For an anime-based fighter, One Piece: Grand Battle is surprisingly good but it's still lacking the depth and complexity for those who want more out of their fighting games. This game is definitely worth checking if you're just looking to mess around with friends especially if they're fans of One Piece. Not so much for anything beyond that.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I give this game a 6.8 out of 10.</span></div>
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D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-78044783948407986192017-03-19T11:59:00.000-04:002017-03-19T12:18:47.067-04:00Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 Review - The 360° power movement still goes on<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s):</span></span><br />
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November 3, 2006 (Europe)</div>
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November 7, 2006 (North America)</div>
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November 9, 2006 (Australia)</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Platform(s): Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><u>Overview</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Despite the extreme innovations, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi was a step back from Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 in just about every way and even though it did quite well on it's own, it didn't do nearly as well commercially as any of the Budokai games so I was (and probably many others were) genuinely shocked to hear that the game was getting a sequel over Budokai 3. That wasn't a total loss as from the detail that were revealed through the year of 2006, Dragon Ball Z: Budoaki Tenkaichi 2 (Dragon Ball Z: Sparking Neo) was definitely shaping up to be an improvement over it's predecessor... but just how far does it take the relatively new formula?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Budokai Tenkaichi 2 returns the unique fighting system from the first game but here, Spike actually addresses complaints fans had of the rather bare-bones combat. For one, the combo system has been revamped as you can now charge smash attacks freely regardless if you're at Full Power or if you land consecutive rush attacks successfully (though doing so would make them charge faster) and the combo chains for rush attacks are all done by pressing the ki blast button but what chain will come out varies between characters. Sure it's still basically the same combo chains shared throughout the roster added with some new ones but the way it's handled in this game gives melee combat the much needed variety that the first game lacked (even though it still could use more). Most of the combo chains can now be charged like the smash attacks and the silk-like smoothness of controls from Budokai 3 has also been brought whatnot with combos actually connecting like they should. The Wii version of this game has super moves execute through specified movements via the Wii Motion but no Nintendo controller is supported aside from the Wii Motion.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Budokai Tenkaichi 2 not only adds in a bunch of new stuff for greater offensive play but it gives you more defensive options as well. You can now steer your movement while doing a Dragon Dash and there's a new technique called Sway will allow you to "dive-in" while at close range. This move would allow you to follow up with any of the combo chain moves and if you time it right, it can used to dodge most physical attacks. Another new technique is been added called Super Guard which is a guard impenetrable to pretty much all attacks but it comes at a cost of gradually losing ki and it starts up somewhat slow so use with caution.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A bunch of character-specifics have been added into the mix like how certain characters can't stay airborne as long as they want and will eventually fall from the sky (which is honestly annoying to deal with). You can now transform during combat and the customization you have set for the characters' base form will be carry over to the transformation but the transformations still fight as though they are their own character. Some characters can transform to any state or revert back to base form if they want while others have permanent transformations that are done in linear order (like Frieza or Cell) and a certain number of blast stocks filled are required in order to transform. Speaking of blast stocks... each character now have their own maximum amount of blast stocks that can be filled instead of all of them having 3 and the amount of special moves recycled throughout the roster isn't nearly as blatant here (though they're still definitely present).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Probably the biggest inclusion Budokai Tenkaichi 2 makes to gameplay is the Tag Team feature. You can assemble up to 5 members for a team and tag out to play as any other character when the Switch Gauge is full. For the most parts, the Tag Team feature is just a fun little gimmick but it can come in handy with the yellow ability-enhancing z-items made specially for this mechanic and certain characters can do the Fusion Dance or Potara together to combine their stats into one.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">With all that said, the one complaint I have gameplay-wise over the first game is that the computer, even on the highest difficulty, is a piece of cake once you know how to play the game... that and some characters feel utterly useless, but for what Budokai Tenkaichi 2 does better this can easily be overlooked.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">With another Dragon Ball Z game, yet again a whole new single-player campaign is introduced and it's called Dragon Adventure. Much like Budokai Tenkaichi's Z Battle Gates, it mainly retells of Dragon Ball Z once again... all the way from the Saiyan Saga to the Majin Buu Saga (with some of Dragon Ball GT and various movies/TV specials thrown into the mix) which are categorized as "Scenarios" and battles are to be fought under specific conditions (though Dragon Adventure is more lenient with these) which is either defeating the enemy/enemies, surviving throughout the match, or a special </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">battle that will unlock a What-if Scenario if you win (and if you lose... you lose), but unlike Z Battle Gates which is more of a retreat to a traditional Story Mode ala the first Budokai, Dragon Adventure takes a page out of Budokai 3's Dragon Universe by allowing to fly across the world of Dragon Ball going from one point to another with one or more customizable characters. The only difference here is you don't get to choose a character's perspective to play through and it doesn't take nearly as many liberties with the concept. Sure you can still engage in Battle Points for grinding and bonus battles for unlockables or other goodies but there's no reward for reenacting the story of Dragon Ball Z or playing the mode on the highest difficulty, alternating story paths, or fun little bells n' whistles to the series that gave Budokai 3's Dragon Universe so much replay value. You can also still collect dragonballs in this mode but it's done in the same pain-in-the-ass way as in Z Battle Games though if you gather all 7 dragonballs while in Namek, you can make 3 wishes. Like the previous single-player campaigns, Dragon Adventure is also where you unlock most of the characters and there's <i>a lot</i> of characters in this game (a whooping total of over 120 characters including transformations compared to the first game's already large character count of 90) so expect that you'll spend a long time playing through this mode.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ultimate Battle has been upgraded to Ultimate Battle Z and instead of playing through a 100 fighter ranking challenge or a survival challenge, you play through multiple courses which will earn you points for completing each one for a record-breaking high-score. You can actually adjust the difficulty here and the courses may vary from fighting one at a time, soloing up to 5 opponents at once, or a 2-fighter tag team. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dueling and especially World Tournament has been changed significantly. Dueling still allows you to either play against the computer, another player, or watch the computer fight itself but you can now change up multiple settings within the Dueling menu right from changing the announcer to enabling/disabling enhancement orbs that are found the same way as dragonballs (unfortunately). World Tournament has the World Martial Arts Tournament (Tenkaichi Budokai for any purist out there) and Cell Games as separate tournaments with different levels of classes plus a tournament is hosted by Hercule (Mr. Satan in the Japanese and uncut versions) called the World Martial Arts Big Tournament, which is like the regular tournament except it takes place on random stages across the Earth that's not the World Tournament arena. You can also earn zeni like you can in the Budokai games this time.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Practice section of Ultimate Training is just as barebones as the first game (only you can adjust the difficulty of the computer making it fight back and reset to the starting position) but the Training section is at least improved as it allows you to reenact the moves taught to you in each tutorial.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Evolution Z customization system makes a return but the way it works here is a little more like Budokai 3's Level Up system from Dragon Universe and Dragon Arena in that you level up with the blue stats-boosting Z-items through gaining experience points and you can increase each stat up to 20 points. Collecting Z-Items is also been made much easier as you now have an Item Shop that is available either through the main menu or on any map during Dragon Adventure. In the Item Shop, you can buy most Z-Items at any time (including Z-Item Fusion) or sell your own Z-Items using zeni but one thing wrong with this shop is there's no indication to if you're buying a new Z-Item.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Character Encyclopedia (or Character Reference as it's called in this game) has been greatly expanded. Not only do you get to look at character biographies but you can also read synopsis of each saga from the series and listen to the game's soundtrack.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A new mode called Data Center which allows you to enter a password to unlock custom characters and if you have a saved data of the first game, you will earn 100000 zeni.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The graphics from the first game have been refined here doing away with the drab color scheme and somewhat blocky character models so now everything is very colorful and vibrant like it should be. The beams, aura, and particle effects also look even better than before although some real nice effects such as the dirt leveling up as you power up on the ground are missing, but at least the stiffness of the animation has been addressed... somewhat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Once again, most of the voice clips for characters and SFX have been recycled from the last game only here the audio issues from the first game have been fixed. Not only that but international versions of the game get an entirely new soundtrack instead of stock music from the Budokai games. The new tracks are actually very fitting to the game and are probably up there the Budokai soundtrack in terms of greatness. You can choose what track you have to play during battle as BGM in Dueling and Practice.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There is much more effort put into telling the story of Dragon Ball with Dragon Adventure than with Z Battle Gates though it kinda suffers due to how limited most of the cutscenes are (even though they allow more than 2 characters on-screen this time) and it could also do with less battles. Aside from that, everything regarding aesthetics has been improved. Special moves have a lot more flair and a lot of them truly feel devastating when the hit lands... you can even destroy certain stages with them like you could in the first and third Budokai games.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The anime-inspired menus still continue to get better and more importantly, the character select screen has thankfully been improved. The characters are all aligned multiple rows making it much easier navigate though it has this weird up is down and down is up thing that certain games have going on. Anyways, the anime cutouts for the characters within the menus now change expression to represent how they feel breathing more life into these menus and if you stay idle long enough they might say something interesting.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This game went above and beyond by turning a game that was, in retrospect, little more than a fun little experiment to an actually worthwhile game thus making the Tenkaichi series a fan favorite so there was not much complaint with it replacing the Budokai series as the major game releases... but could Spike keep up the momentum they had gained? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Overall, this game gets an 8.3 out of 10.</span></div>
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D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-25305801767230464042017-02-21T00:42:00.000-05:002017-02-22T13:18:19.108-05:00Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi Review - 360° of movement is a power move for the franchise<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s):</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">October 6, 2005 (Japan)<br />October 18, 2005 (North America)<br />October 21, 2005 (Europe)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Platform(s): PlayStation 2</span><br style="font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br style="font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Developer(s): Spike</span><br style="font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Publisher(s):</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">While the Budokai games were generally seen as clunky and stiff fighters by critics, that didn't stop them from selling like hotcakes. Actually... Budokai 3 was a different story- not only was it a good Dragon Ball Z game but it was simply a quality game regardless of it's license. The fact Dimps actually went and addressed the issues people had with the games shows they really do care for the fans, and when Budokai Tenkaichi was first announced... you bet your ass fans were hyped. However despite carrying the 'Budokai' name there is next to no relation between this game and Dimps' highly popular game series... in fact they aren't even by the same developers. But more important... does it hold up? Let's find out.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Let me reiterate Budokai Tenkachi is NOT the beginner-friendly traditional 3D fighting game like Budokai. In fact I don't think there's any fighting game that plays quite like this one. First thing about this game is instead of dedicate it's camera to the side of the characters it has more of an "over-the-shoulder" camera angle and as the title of this review indicates this game boasts of allowing players to have 360° control over movement across the battlefield making it a more authentic combat system to the show than previous attempts. One complaint off the bat I have with the camera is that it's too close up to your character's back which isn't so bad when you're actually fighting (since it's designed with that angle in mind), but when you're not directly facing your opponent especially if you're in a corner, your whole perspective is fucked up and you can't do anything about it. Another thing about this unique system is that you can use the huge environments to your advantage either it be hiding behind mountains, slamming your opponents through or into obstacles, or destroying parts of them entirely.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now for the controls... well one button does basic melee attacks, one button does ki blasts, one button is for guarding, and another for dashing. The right shoulder buttons allow you to jump/ascend into and descend from the air while the left shoulder buttons allow you to lock-on into your opponent (which only works if their within eyesight minus a few exceptions) and to build up ki. For more advance moves is where things become real tricky. You can teleport like you can in Budokai 3 (only it's not a counter and requires no special gauge consumption) but the timing is extremely strict as you have to tap the guard button just before the attack lands and it only works against specific attacks... you can also escape grabs by tapping the guard button at the right time. Speaking of grabs.. they are done by pressing forward and the dash button at the same time but only if you're close to your opponent. The melee attack button can be held to do a smash attack and the longer you charge it the stronger the smash attack is but how long it can be charged depends on how many hits you land (good luck with that). You also have a stun hit move (which has to be pressed at the right time or it's easily blockable even if you already hit your opponent with a basic melee attack) by pressing the dash button, a kiai (which breaks guard on impact) by pressing the ki blast button, and a counter by pressing the guard button as combo chains. There's also a more powerful dash move which makes you dash at greater speed (at the cost of some ki) by pressing the building ki button and the dash, jump/ascend, or descend buttons at the same time but you can't steer your dash once you start it so it's better to just avoid it. You can still do special moves by pressing the building ki button and guard button at the same time for ones that boost states and are more defensive called Favorite Techniques or pressing the building ki button and ki blast button at the same time for ones that more offensive called Finishing Moves... but you can no longer transform while in-game as transformations themselves are treated as different with their own movesets instead of mere power-ups like in Budokai. There are two of each super move type for every character. Ultimate moves are done by pressing the building ki button, the ki blast button, and down at the same time while in Max Power mode (which makes your other moves stronger and even allows you to do an unblockable smash attack) called Super Finishing Moves only the ultimate moves in this game aren't necessarily sequence-based like in Budokai.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This game does sound quite like a handful and to be frank, I had never felt so overwhelmed by the controls of a fighting game before this one but once you do get the hang of the mechanics... there really isn't much to the game beyond that. Every character in this game plays pretty much the same aside from their special moves (and even those are shared plentifully throughout the roster). Sure their playstyles may differ and their attributes may vary like some characters aren't as easy to knock down as others (or in the case of Hercule, you can't knock anyone down easily not even himself... well shit), but you won't find yourself switching between characters with much trouble and there really isn't a whole lot of variety offensively or defensively to keep things interesting for long. You just wind up using the same moves over and over again hoping they land. The computer even realizes this and tries to win battles by being a cheap bastard in the higher difficulty settings.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It may seem like I'm hating on the game but hear me out the game can be quite fun with it's authentic and fast-paced combat. It's just after how good Budokai 3 was, you'd expect a little more polish with this game especially when it prides itself as being the "Ultimate Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT Fighting Game".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The staple game modes Dueling, World Tournament, and Practice have made a return but there's yet another single-player campaign introduced for this game called Z Battle Gates where you play through various key battles from each saga of Dragon Ball Z and some of Dragon Ball GT plus a few alternate storylines and a couple Dragon Ball Z movies. Each battle varies in terms of objective either having you simply win the battle, defeat the opponent under a time limit, survive till time runs out, or defeat the opponent with a specific (Super) Finishing Move. Generally you're required to clear battles in linear order but completing a whole saga with the extra battles is all up to you. These battles mostly provide a reasonable challenge but some are ridiculously hard for the wrong reasons like the one in the Saiyan Saga where you have to defeat Nappa using the Ki Blast Cannon Finishing Move with Tien and since Tien is supposed to drop like a fly in the actual fight your attacks do barely any damage to Nappa while he can take a HUGE chunk of your health with just regular physical attacks. Another thing is the dragonballs.. since there's no RPG exploration aspect like Budokai 2 or 3 they are achieved through battle and I'm sure some game designers' laughing their asses off when they decided you have to collect them by finding one ball per match as it's hidden within stages... WHILE IN THE MIDDLE OF A GODDAMN BATTLEFIELD!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another game mode Budokai Tenkaichi introduces is Ultimate Battle where you choose a character (both normal or customized) to engage in two courses: Super Warrior 100 Ranking or Warrior Training. Super Warrior 100 Ranking is a 100-man challenge fighting characters from weakest to strongest which earns you one point after winning a battle plus extra for either getting a perfect, a near-death win, and/or winning with a Super Finishing Move with a chance of earning five points from defeating a sudden intruder, but if you lose two points would be subtracted and losing all points would get you booted from the course (if losing all points is even possible). Warrior Training is a survival challenge course that earns you points depending on how many wins you get and you don't lose any points for losing so you can participate anytime. It's no Dragon Arena but it works well for what it is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Dueling and World Tournament modes are largely unchanged from the Budokai games. Dueling is the standard versus mode that either allows you fight against the computer, the second player, or watch the computer fight itself. World Tournament is where you select a character and compete against other characters to put your skills to the test where elimination is either determined by K.O.! or by ring-out (which is very easy in this game btw... much easier than Budokai). There are four classes in total (Notive, Adept, Advanced, Cell Games) and each class is harder than the last with more contestants... the difference here is Adept, Advance, and then Cell Games are unlocked immediately after winning each the classes respectively. There's also no prize money earned if you win so there's not much point to World Tournament unless you just wanna mess around with your friends (up to seven of them).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Practice modes has been changed and it's not for the better. The practice section has been stripped down to the point where the only setting option you have is to either have the computer do nothing or fight back and the tutorial isn't interactive like in Budokai, instead it's all text-based with a short demonstration clip which doesn't do much to engage newcomers to learn the ropes of the game's core mechanics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">With the Evolution Z mode, Budokai Tenkaichi introduces a brand new customization system called Z-items which functions similar to Budokai's Exciting Skill System (</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strike>still a lame name)</strike> in terms of boosting stats, enhancing abilities, and crippling your opponents but unlike the E.S.S, Z-items doesn't allow you to customize your characters' special movesets to your liking (all moves are integral to the characters). The way Z-items are found is also completely different as instead of buying them from an Item Shop or finding them specific spots within certain modes, they are pretty much given pretty much entirely at random (kinda putting the RNG of the Skill Shop from the first Budokai in a totally new light) and each item is determined by one quantity anytime you earn it instead of being practically infinite like the E.S.S. The most notable difference is you can mix-and-match two Z-items to take a new item with a Z-item called Z-item Fusion (another lame name) including some characters aren't readily unlocked from playing through Z Battle Gates. Rather unnecessary if you ask me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There is no extra game mode to be unlocked like in the Budokai games but you do unlock the Character Encyclopedia, which gives you a biography on all the characters including their voice actors/actresses (both in English and Japanese), after winning a battle in Z Battle Gates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Budokai Tenkaichi uses a very similar cel-shaded style to Budokai 3 though the color scheme is more muted in comparison, but it's still quite a pretty game regardless. The character models along with the beams, power auras, particle effects etc. capture the look of their anime counterparts almost perfectly and the stages are highly detailed even though there's not a whole lot going on within them. The effects characters have on the stages are also really nice like when you power up on the ground with the dirt piling up and rocks are leveled or when characters are flying across the ocean with the speed skidding across the water... though getting knocked down doesn't damage the ground like Budokai 3. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The animation isn't nearly as impressive as in the Budokai games especially since it runs at 30 fps instead of a silky smooth 60 fps but it works well enough on it's own... at least during gameplay. The animation is otherwise limited and often robotic which is especially noticeable during cutscenes. One thing I would give it is the basic fighting animation is completely unique between each character and really compliments their fighting styles from the actual series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A couple voice clips are recycled straight from Budokai with the new voices are made courtesy of the new OkraTron 5000 sound production company founded by the voice actor of Vegeta in the FUNimation Dubs, Christopher Sabat, and it really shows. The new voice clips notably more quiet plus they downright goofs at times like some characters would mistakenly have their Japanese voices instead and speaking of Japanese... you can change the language to the original Japanese voices for fans who prefer the original dub for Dragon Ball.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The soundtrack for Budokai Tenkaichi is also made entirely of Kenji Yamamto's tracks for Budokai only here it's not really done to enhance the experience as so much as a cost-cutting alternative to getting the remixed tracks of the anime's soundtrack (which the Japanese version of the game has... </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">lucky</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">). It's all stock especially during gameplay which is randomized with some of the less memorable tracks.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Z Battle Gates tells the story of Dragon Ball through in-game cutscenes like Budokai's Story Mode minus the episode prologues and next episode previews, but the storytelling is just plain lazy. Sure you can look up basic info for the characters in the Character Encyclopedia mode but that only serves to hinder the (poorly-told) story rather than help explain it. Aside from that the aesthetics for this game is spot on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A ton of moves from the series are recreated in this game including the iconic Kamehameha Wave and they're represent very nicely even if they look plain in comparison to Budokai 3. The menu screen also continue to get better and better with the anime/manga-inspired layout... the only complaint I do have is the character select has all the characters lined up in a single, narrow row with no fixed order which isn't really a big deal but it sure is annoying considering the game has like 60 or so characters and there's no way to shortcut this. They at least fixed the loading time while adding a new fun and interactive loading screen where Gotenks makes his Kamikaze Ghosts before they explode.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What can be said about Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi? Well... it's a nice little experiment but that's pretty much all I can say. It was fun while it lasted even though all it really left me wanting is a sequel (something I was surprised was even being made at all) that improved the formula.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Overall, this game gets a 6.2 out of 10. </span></div>
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D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-74916148098686552712017-02-09T22:09:00.001-05:002017-07-22T11:30:17.883-04:00Tekken 5 Review - Heihachi went out like a Jack and a bomb<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Release(s):</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> February 24, 2005 (North America)</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> March 31, 2005 (Japan)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> June 24, 2005 (Europe)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Developer(s):</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Namco</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Namco (Worldwide)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sony Computer Entertainment (Europe)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Player(s): 1-2 </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Though the glory days of Tekken 2 and 3 are well behinds us by this point that hasn't stopped the franchise from still going strong. After the non-canonical fun of Tekken Tag Tournament and the innovative (yet controversial) Tekken 4, fans were hungry for more especially with the franchise's 10th anniversary on the way and that's where Tekken 5 comes in being released on arcades of late 2004. Does it make for a sufficient anniversary gift? Let's find out.. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Most of the mechanics introduced from Tekken 4 have made a return for this title but Tekken 5 brings the 3D combat system a bit closer to it's roots so the control scheme is back to what it once was. Position Change has been removed pretty much entirely from the game meaning the secondary grab attack move is back to it's original command input and the stages are no longer have uneven terrains like in Tekken 4, but at least there's no pesky obstacles to get in the way of combat. You can still use the walls to your advantage and there are even some "infinite" stages like the ones in pre-Tekken 4 games.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another thing about Tekken 5 is that it goes through all the stops to make characters as balanced and unique as possible (thus removing any hyper-similarities they once had). In fact, the only characters that can be seen as OP are Nina Williams and Steve Fox but not nearly as OP as Jin Kazama in Tekken 4 (where he's just broken). Speaking of Jin, players now actually have to play their cards right as he lost his overpowered moves. The new characters are a nice addition like the Canadian Ninja Raven who probably could give Yoshimitsu a run for his money, the tomboyish Asuka Kazama (Jin's younger cousin) who uses the </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://eng.tekkenpedia.com/wiki/Kazama_Style_Traditional_Martial_Arts" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080;" title="Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif;"> but with her own little twist to things, and the psychotic Chinese Kempo master Feng Wei. Old-school characters who haven't been in any Tekken since after Tekken Tag like Ganryu, Bruce Irvin, and Baek Doo Son have made a return with revamped movesets</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The game modes you expect to return are back in this game. Story Battle is mostly the same as it was in Tekken 4 only there's 9 stages in total and the final boss is... Jinpachi Mishima (the father of Heihachi Mishima), who's arguably the cheapest character in Tekken history but good thing he's not playable. The hidden characters are also unlocked through here once again entirely on how many characters you complete it with and all of them are unlocked this way except Devil Jin (who unlocked after fighting 200 times in Arcade Battle or completing Tekken: Devil Within). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It also seems Tekken has taken a page out of Virtua Fighter's book by having you play through Arcade Battle as long as you want and choose whoever to fight next just like VF4: Evolution's Quest mode. There's also a new ranking system just like the Quest mode where you can go from Beginner to 5th Dan to Tekken Lord. This ranking system determines how tough your opponents are and the amount of G (multiplied by the occasional bonus) you earn after winning each match as well as your chances of being promoted while fighting against tougher opponents. Be careful not to lose too many matches or you may get demoted as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now, you're probably wondering what purpose does G (an obvious abbreviation for Gold) serve in this game? Well they can be used within the Customize mode to modify a character's appearance with different color schemes, additional gear or different clothing, and even a new super expensive costume... but these accessories are purely cosmetic so they don't have any real purpose unless you want your character look cool. You can also earn G from Story Battle (which gives you 100,000 after completing it with a character), Time Attack, Survival, and Devil Within (which gives you 2,000,000 after completing it) but Arcade Battle provides faster and more consistent results.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One thing I've neglected to mention in my <a href="http://triggereviews.blogspot.com/2017/02/tekken-4-review-step-into-next-millenium.html">Tekken 4 Review</a> (since that game was the first to make that change) is that you can now pause during gameplay in Time Attack and Survival. Another thing I've neglected to mention is within the Attack Replay option of Practice is you can make the computer repeat any move from their Command List with varying input speed instead of just replaying their 10-hit combo moves (which is a good thing because not every character had a 10-hit combo move... they do now, though)... but the Training mode has been removed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As celebration of the series' 10th anniversary to gracing Playstation with it's ports, Tekken 5 comes with the arcade versions of the first three Tekken games plus another arcade classic by Namco called Starblade (which is unlocked after completing Story Battle with every character or completing Devil Within) in Arcade History. Despite including four extra games into one disc the transition are done to perfection with no signs of slow-down or graphical errors (like distorted character models or misplaced colors).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lastly, we come to Tekken: Devil Within which is the action-platformer spiritual successor to the Tekken Force mini-game only it uses it's own mechanics instead of using the game's core gameplay as a base. In Devil Within you take control of Jin Kazama as you go around various corridors and fight off generic monks to discover a way to rid himself of the Devil gene and find his missing mother with a boss waiting at the end of each stage. This most likely takes place shortly after (or during... I dunno) Tekken 3 as Jin fights using his old mix-pot style with a very simplified combo system and you can even turn into the devil form (at the cost of gradually losing health) with the lasers and whatnot... if your red gauge is high enough. Admittedly, this sounds great on paper but the whole experience is bogged down by repetition and a bogus difficulty curve which saps out much of the fun had rather quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">With 3 years of development under it's belt there is definitely a graphical improved and this game is easily the best-looking Tekken has ever gotten on PS2. No matter how you slice it, Tekken 5 is a gorgeous game- everything is just so crisp and detailed. This game may be one of the best-looking to ever be released on PS2. The animation on both the characters and especially stages have been improved as well making the whole thing very lively. You can even cause damage to the floors and walls of most stages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Most of the voice clips are recycled from Tekken 4 but some returning characters have reprise their roles so now all the voice actors/actresses sound perfectly good. The SFX now sound crunchier and are overall much more viscerally satisfying than before. As expected the music is quite good... in fact, I'd say this game has the best soundtrack in the series aside from Tekken 2. It's very diverse with each stage having music that's atmospheric/region-specific.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Much like Tekken 4 most of the story in Tekken 5 is told through text-based prologues and epilogues (though there aren't as many epilogues in this game) on top of an ending movie for each character to set things off. We also now get a few interludes for each character.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The main story of Tekken 5 is shortly after Jin had defeated his father and grandfather respectively, Homaru is under attack by a bunch of JACK models but suddenly during fighting off the JACKs, Kazuya had left Heihachi for dead and one of the JACKs went kamikaze thus killing Heihachi... or does it? This explosion destroyed the Homaru building which allowed Jinpachi, who was trapped under the building and starved to death, to break free and take back the Mishima Zaibatsu (which was founded by him) from his crocked son. 2 months later... Jinpachi had started the 5th Iron Fist Tournament so he can find an opponent strong enough to beat before the demon possessing him (which awoken from the very presence of Jin's devil form in Homaru) takes full control and destroys all of mankind. Now this point in Tekken is where I believe is where the story started to become wack whatnot from the needless retcons of Tekken 2 and 3's great storylines to turning once respectable characters into just comic relief (including my fave Paul Phoenix).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">On the other hand, the look and feel of the menus continue to get better and better but this also seems to imply to characters' intro and winning sequences during battles including more dynamic camera angles and subtitles so you can understand the foreign characters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Despite the increasing niche of the fighting game genre and the dying arcade scene outside Japan, Namco still managed to pull out yet another great game for this franchise... but how long can Tekken keep up this momentum before it hits the wall like the Virtua Fighter series? Only time will tell...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Overall, I give this game a 9.5 out of 10.</span></div>
D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-20736846382120305412017-02-03T03:08:00.000-05:002017-07-22T11:31:17.057-04:00Tekken 4 Review - Step into the next millenium<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Release(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">March 28, 2002 (Japan)<br />September 13, 2002 (Europe)<br />September 23, 2002 (North America)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation 2</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Developer(s): Namco</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Publisher(s): </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Player(s): 1-2</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">With three games and one non-canonical title under it's belt, Tekken has proven time and time again it can hang with the big boys of the fighting game genre. The true fourth installment was also in the makings and was set to be released in 2001 for arcades... to make way for a new era of fighting in the 21st century. Just how far does it take this re-revolutionary movement with 3D fighters? Let's find out...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Once again the award-winning 3D fighting from previous Tekken games have return so that's good but there are a couple fundamental changes that makes this game stand out. For one you can't jump backwards or vertically... you can only jump forward which isn't a big loss but it's something you'll notice when it's gone. A new grab move which allows you to shift your opponent to a more favorable position and it's done by pressing LP + LK of which the secondary attack grab is supposed to be. A couple other control schemes have been made but the biggest change Tekken 4 makes of the combat system is that for the first time ever, Tekken takes full advantage of the 3D fighting concept by actually having you fight on a 3D plane instead of an illusion of one. You can use the environments to your advantage by slamming your opponents to walls or trapping them into stage obstacles on uneven terrain stages forcing a slower and more strategic approach to combat. Now, I understand why Namco would make such changes and a couple of these concepts are quite good but at the same time they are alienating to long-time fans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The new fighting styles are also a mixed bag. For example, Jin Kazama no longer fights with a mix of the Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts and Mishima-ryu in favor of traditional karate which makes him his own character now but he is really OP in the game notably due to his Laser Scraper move. Tekken 4 brings in new characters with completely unique movesets like the Vale Tudo fighter Craig Marduk who uses a grappler style not quite like no other (especially with his tackle) but his moveset just feels... incomplete. Though on the positive there's also the british boxer Steve Fox who, instead of using his additional punch attacks for his kick buttons like most fighting games would for boxing character, uses he left and right sway dodges for the LK and RK buttons which makes him an especially fun character to master. Lastely there's Combot... an ever-so-pointless replacement for Mokujin who instead of switching to a different character's fighting style each round he does it after an entire match. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">All the game modes from Tekken 3 have returned for Tekken 4 but one in new game mode this game introduces which also becomes a staple in the Tekken series from then on is Story Battle. Story Battle is just like Arcade (Arcade Battle) only it actually goes out of it's way to tell the story of Tekken (which honestly makes Arcade rather redundant). You will fight 6 randomized characters then a possibly character-specific sub-boss and Heihachi Mishima as the final boss... though some character's stories may play out differently and will unlock a specific character (if they aren't already). Another player can't attempt to challenge you so they can take over like Arcade Battle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The Tekken Force mode in Tekken 4 has received something of an upgrade from Tekken 3 as it takes full advantage of the whole interactive environment mechanics within the game's combat. You can also lock-on manually to an enemy instead of automatically locking onto the closest enemy and losing no longer means a game over (though you lose your total score from previous stages... not that it means much in the end) but the actual difficulty has increase with enemies potentially attacking you at every corner even during his boss fights. Speaking of boss fights... they are no longer character-specific... every character in the end of each stage will face Combot, Kuma/Panda, Kazuya, then Heihachi. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Aside from that stuff there's a mode called Training which determines how fast you can input each character's bread-and-butter moves, and you can record a battle by pressing the select button at the end of the match and it can be viewed within the Theater mode. You can now pause in Time Attack mode and Survival mode.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br style="font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">At a glance there's not much of a difference graphically between the Playstation 2 port of Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken 4 but Tekken Tag was already a great-looking so it's not really to be taken as an insult. I suppose Tekken 4 looks sharper is especially evident with the stages naturally as they're now part of the gameplay experience and there's no sign of slowdown like what happens with Tekken Tag sometimes. There are no longer any character-specific stages however...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Almost all of the voice actors/actress have once again reprise their roles for Tekken 4 and they sound better than ever before. What's even cooler is that for the first time ever in a Tekken game the characters finally have actual dialogue instead of just making battle grunts and occasional laughs. Some voices are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhvYJh7Aqs0">questionable</a> like Marduk's battle grunts which are like weird animal growls but overall they do a good job. The soundtrack for this game also shows quite a drastic change in style to reflect with the changing with the times. The synthesized music is now largely downplayed in favor of a techno/rock mix and there are no character-specific themes for the stages. The soundtrack also isn't remixed for the console port like previous games but that aside... the soundtrack is still head-bobbingly good nonetheless. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Like I said earlier Tekken 4 actually goes out of it's way to tell the story through the Story Battle mode including text-based prologues and epilogues so you aren't just left guessing what happens. Each character still has their ideal endings after completing Story Battle but also like I said earlier this game features dialogue and the endings themselves have much more relevance to the main story so most of them actually feel like they're telling a legit story instead of basically being slideshows. As for the story itself... Kazuya Mishima has mysteriously came back from the dead<span style="border: 0px; font-size: 2.6px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 3.016px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">which is bullshit</span> thanks to G Corporation and is out for revenge against Heihachi for foiling his plans while Jin Kazama, who now has a deep hatred for anything related to the Mishima bloodline after Heihachi's betrayal (including his lineage, his fighting style, and the Devil Gene within him), is out for the same thing so Heihachi had announced the 4th Iron Fist Tournament to lure both of them out so he can claim the Devil Gene for himself. There are some other cool twists to the story as well like the once respected and feared Vale Tudo fighter Craig Marduk being responsible for the death of Armor King (King's mentor) which lead to him getting an invitation to the Iron Fist Tournament despite being charged with manslaughter, Steve Fox trying to discover his real parents while ducking the Mafia (whom may not be quite what they seem), and Ling Xiayou getting involved in the complicated history of the Mishamas to reunited with her schoolmate Jin and discover the truth to Heihachi's intentions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The game's interface is significantly improved from previous games like each game mode in the main menu given a description and a mini screenshot to give you an idea of what it's about, and the screen transitions have actual flare to them rather than them simply going to the next screen. This is also a clear move to the next millennium.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Another thing I must add is that the character also speak their native language (like the Mishimas and Jin speaking Japanese, Hwoarang speaking Korean, etc.)... though some characters (like the replacement Capoeira fighter Christie Monteiro and Nina Williams) who are foreign don't even have a discernible accent when they should... but that's no big deal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">What can I say about Tekken 4? It's a black sheep alright and it's a damn good one at that! It may not be the best in terms of gameplay (even though it has some REALLY good and even revolutionary ideas) but you can't deny it's done a lot of good in terms of aesthetics and content.</span></div>
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D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-70521210177832368282016-12-10T19:10:00.000-05:002016-12-12T14:49:55.116-05:00Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2 Review - The hero is you... once again!<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Release(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">October 25, 2016 (North America)<br />October 28, 2016 (Europe)<br />November 2, 2016 (Japan)</span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Platform(s): Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Cs7lmUKopTmZAmR_M1R4Q9JF0nhUqDy_mft0ZlzbZOMhXT6RX53NkYNrUJiuvzDQqBbcmCHeJ6Q51KWWk4tjUYMilC7mHpkuEi93Z92oql7pjEBU6hP48S3GEUvqtecC1dOY8MW8trEC/s1600/Dragon-Ball-Xenoverse-2-Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Cs7lmUKopTmZAmR_M1R4Q9JF0nhUqDy_mft0ZlzbZOMhXT6RX53NkYNrUJiuvzDQqBbcmCHeJ6Q51KWWk4tjUYMilC7mHpkuEi93Z92oql7pjEBU6hP48S3GEUvqtecC1dOY8MW8trEC/s400/Dragon-Ball-Xenoverse-2-Cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The past several years have not been kind to Dragon Ball Z games. Developers all just took one interesting concept and ran with it hoping it'd land but as a result the games did poorly... then came Dragon Ball: Xenoverse which does borrow the created character RPG concept from Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi and the super authentic co-op fighting from Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z but it brings them back to their roots from the fan favorite Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi (Sparking! in Japan) series'. A lot was riding on the game as not only did the combat have 360° movement as fans have gotten used to and there was an RPG action-adventure element that would serve as a crux for the game but the developer behind was Dimps, who not only have pedigree among the Dragon Ball franchise for creating the Budokai series they also developed various other popular games such as The Rumble Fish, Sonic Advanced, and even worked on the Street Fighter series since Street Fighter IV in collaboration with Capcom. For the most parts, Xenoverse lived up to the hype and became easily the most successful DBZ game since Budokai Tenkaichi 3.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Now a sequel has been announced on short notice and a lot of new things noticed along the way, good things were to be expected... but does it keep up with the momentum that Xenoverse had already established?</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gameplay</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This game returns the fast-paced, 360° movement fighting mechanics from the first game along with the same simplified control scheme where all the basic moves are mapped to the face buttons (you have a light physical attack button, a heavy physical attack button which can be charged, a button for ki blasts which also now can be charged, and a jump/ascending button) while guarding and more advanced moves either involve multi-button inputs or the shoulder buttons. Xenoverse 2 also introduces a bunch of techniques to give a visceral experience closer to the show such as the Homing Dash which allows you to automatically dash towards your targeted opponent by pressing the light attack + jump/ascension buttons at the same time while doing an Aura Dash at the cost of one stamina bar and press the light attack + jump/ascension buttons again to circle around the opponent. Charge attacks can also be used to break your opponent's stamina while they are in a guarding state and there are even physical attacks that are specifically used to break an opponent's stamina by pressing the light or smash attack button in junction of a tilt movement. Stuff like Step Vanish have been fully implemented into the game (even being encouraged in the tutorials) and they can used either in the middle of a light attack (at the cost of one stamina bar) or a Dash Step by tapping the jump/ascend button at the right time like you would a Snap Vanish.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Other mechanics have been refined from the first game. Aside from the stamina breaking technique I mentioned earlier, the way Super Saiyan for example works in this game is revamped to where you can no longer spam super/ultimate attacks as you have ki but it does increase stats (depending on what level you transform into) and it allows you to warp towards a locked opponent if performing a light attack or charged attack. Not only that but all races of created characters now have their own transformations that have their own unique attributes. </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It's still far from being a balanced gameplay experience (nor is it terribly deep), whatnot with characters still being blatantly better than others or certain characters being completely useless to others, but it's at least much less frustrating to play than the first game (you can even see the computer's full HUD). It's pretty solid overall.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Xenoverse 2 follows the same concept as the first game where you created a character who acts a time patroller who's mission is to restoring time to it's natural order from the wicked witch Towa but it's a new patroller this time taking place of the old one... of which you can choose between a pre-made character or if you still have a saved data from the first game you can have a created character from that save data as the legend. Other characters may help out but for the larger parts it's a one-man mission and while most events are linearly available, some require you to explore the rest of the game doing side quests in the hub world (which also serves as the game's main menu) called Conton City. It's several times larger than Toki Toki City from the first game but here you can learn of hover board, flight (which functions just how it does in combat), and the Flying Nimbus that serve as quicker means of transportation making exploring the hub world far less tedious than better.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Stuff like Parallel Quests, where you and a party of either AI-controlled characters or online players go to fight a select set of enemies and some cases, collecting Dragon Balls while each quest will reward you in the end, have returned. One thing that's change is the drops isn't nearly as reliant on RNG and is based more on you fulfilling the requirements. New types of side-quests have been added to the game such as protecting Guru's House along with Nail by collecting dragon balls all the while fending off Freeza's men who may want it, completing various challenges given by Mr. Satan, exchanging items between other characters, race-specific training (like training under Vegeta to learn Super Saiyan), and the most challenging of them... generically named Expert Missions. In these missions you and a party of 5 (online players or AI-controlled) will fight against a possessed, more powerful version of enemies from the main story who have the ability to brainwash you or any of your partners into fighting against the rest of crew. If you get captured then you would have to fight yourself and win to escape but if you lose then mission failed. You can also train under most characters in the game to learn their super moves (with a few exceptions) like in the first game only now you don't have to accept any of them as an instructor (though it's still an option) in order to do so. No characters from the fairly new anime TV show Dragon Ball Super, sadly (unless you pay for DLC).</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Unfortunately, there's still no difficulty setting so what ever challenge this game gives you is what you get but Dimps have at least addressed the No Training Mode issue in the first game by adding a Training section within the Offline Battle Mode. The Training section in Xenoverse 2 allows you to use the computer as a training dummy who either acts as a punching bag, guards constantly, guards when being attacked, performs Just Guards, performs super moves or ultimate moves on patternly, an opponent of varying difficulty levels, or even controlled by another player... but if that's not enough you can set you or the computer's gauges to either be normal, dangerously low, or infinite and you can set the damage ratio and/or commands to be displayed. It's not as great as the training modes in other fighting games (maybe not even as great as Budokai's) but it still does the job well enough. The Multiplayer section of Offline Battle Mode now allows for other stages outside the World Tournament arena to fight at and the tutorial is not only available at all times (unlike the first game's which only was available at the start) but it's greatly extended even teaching players of more advanced moves.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphics</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The graphics engine is the same for Xenoverse 2 compared to the first game including animations only things have been tweaked. Lighting has been subdued giving character models less of a glossy thus easier to look at, though it makes things appear somewhat dark. Environments and particle effects are significantly more detailed... but that's not the best part of all. It's now the home consoles versions are capped 60 fps instead of 30 fps like the first game though PC users can set it to even higher than 60 fps (even as far as 120 fps). Still not the best-looking game out there but it's very pretty and flashy fanservice for fans.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sound</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Xenoverse 2 uses much of the same voice clips from the last but new ones recording for new moves, cutscenes, and of course... new characters which I don't mind because FUNimation do a great job like they always do. The problem I can't get past is the lip-syncing especially during cutscenes.... it's sloppy at best and horrendous at worst. Fortunately there's still the option of the Japanese voices if the issue really bothers you. SFX can also be on the annoying side as well, namely when heavier attacks and super moves are involved.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The music on the other I have no serious complains with (aside from a new annoying tracks during the Conton City hub world). It's fairly good stuff and is fitting to each situation even though a lot of tracks are recycled from the first game. It's not particularly memorable though.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aesthetics</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Like I said earlier, the story behind Xenoverse 2 follows the same concept as the first game where you take control of a Time Patroller who's mission is to restore time to it's natural order from the wicked witch Towa but this game takes more advantage of the concept and as result we get much greater character development, a more fleshed-out story, and some actually interesting plot points. Aside from story there's pieces of humorous lines and various nods to the actual series.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tons of moves from the actual series have also been recreated even more obscure ones like the spinning escape Goku during his fight with Tien in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament and they all presented extremely well, even though they're all real-time and not one is cinematic like with the PS2 games. The destructive ability on environments is still lacking you can only cause real damage to smaller objects while the damage in others are mysteriously undone.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">While it's not a massive overhaul over it's predecessor it does what it should as a sequel and more. The story and universe are more fleshed out, it looks better, and it plays better too. It's a slow, but certain step in the right direction for the Dragon Ball video game franchise under years of failed games due to badly realized concepts.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Overall this game gets a 7.8 out of 10.</span></span></div>
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D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-5319280057497373832016-11-03T13:41:00.000-04:002016-11-03T13:41:23.079-04:00Tekken 3 Review - A Year Later... A Few Months After<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Release(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">March 26, 1998 (Japan)<br />April 29, 1998 (North America)<br />September 12, 1996 (Europe)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Developer(s): Namco</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Publisher(s): </span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Namco (Worldwide)<br />Sony Computer Entertainment (Europe)</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Player(s): 1-2</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqoHRE1TKfsQ2GnX5si_ZPqYfVxK8nnLhxUYSiZkKfWXBbt24Ko3NNJ6VN7_Vsk1qXhgSUq2a0W1mG1WQGMkFcYrnaOHIxSOINEuMtLjJipRezn5i9MeW6Fs59tobI6byKdwGTlef83jU/s1600/300px-Tekken3boxart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqoHRE1TKfsQ2GnX5si_ZPqYfVxK8nnLhxUYSiZkKfWXBbt24Ko3NNJ6VN7_Vsk1qXhgSUq2a0W1mG1WQGMkFcYrnaOHIxSOINEuMtLjJipRezn5i9MeW6Fs59tobI6byKdwGTlef83jU/s400/300px-Tekken3boxart.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As I've said in my review of Tekken 2, that game turned out to be an even bigger critical and commercial success than it's predecessor. Not only did the Playstation port sell over twice the amount that the first game did, Tekken 2 was given several accolades from major video game journalists as among the best video game ever and was the #1 most-played arcade game for several months straight (considering how big arcades were at the time, this was saying a lot). This officially established Tekken as a household name among other big-name fighters such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. The most logical step for Namco to take would be another sequel leaving players waiting as they shit their pants in anticipation for how far Namco can take their new hit series.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gameplay</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Once again Tekken 3 returns with the award-winning 3D combat system from the first games and just when people thought Namco couldn't take things even further, they did. One thing is that the sidestepping mechanic has been fully implemented for every character and they also have several moves that are tied to it including a powerful, inescapable throw from either the opponent's left or right just you can do from their backs. Characters now jump at realistic heights rather than 30 feet like they do in the first two games making aerial more easily controllable. Recovery time when down is now instantaneous keeping the flow of combat constant. The controls are even more tight and fluid, there's more ways counter, and there's even more diverse fighting styles.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Speaking of styles.... most characters from the first two games have been removed so defamiliarization of those games is a must for this game especially since while several characters may share likeness to the one they've replaced notably Jin Kazama (the bastard son of Kazuya Mishima and Jun Kazama), who is like mixed pot between the Advanced Mishima Style Karate and Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts, they have enough of their own moves to set them apart.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The AI has been toned down considerably from the first two games now providing a reasonable challenge for newcomers and there is no instances of cheap difficulty </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">spikes... well, it actually does get harder as you go along but it never feels overwhelming. One could argue Namco may have made it too easy but in any case, it's at least much more adjustable.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">All of the game modes from Tekken 2 have returned but the Arcade Mode has a different method for unlocking characters. Instead of playing through it with a specific starting character to unlock a specific hidden character, it's now determined by how many characters you've completed Arcade Mode with and the last character you will unlock is the of course, the final boss... Ogre and then it's transformed state True Ogre. The options for Practice Mode was been extending massively from the last game.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Everything you can do in Practice Mode from Tekken 2 is here but you can make the computer dummy perform various actions such as crouch, guard in standing and/or crouching positions, perform a quick roll while laying on the floor, or even have another player take control. You can also have the computer act as a fighting opponent of varying difficulty (</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">deja vu</span><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">) and all these are sectioned to three modes called "1P Freestyle" where you can basically do whatever (evident from the title), "VS CPU" where you fight the dummy as if it were an opponent, and "Combo Training" where the game helps you perform more complicated combos. There's a few options encompass the whole Practice Mode such as the "Hit Analysis" which makes the characters green but blinks red whenever they are completely vulnerable and the "Attack Data" like in Tekken 2 only in 3 you can see the total amount of damage both characters have dealt to each other throughout the whole session. Unfortunately, the replay feature is just as unreliable as in Tekken 2 but at least now the game doesn't boot you back to the main menu for keeping it idle.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tekken 3 introduces a mini-game called Tekken Force Mode of which you select a character and fight your way through a bunch of generic mooks beat 'em up style but with Tekken controls. There's a total of four stages each one ending with a boss depending on the character till the last stage where you fight Heihachi Mishima (except Mokujin). This mode is hella fun and if you manage to beat it three times you will get a chance to fight Doctor Bosconovitch then unlocking him if you win but be careful, because if you lose then it's gameover. You can also gain points based on well you do but they're completely inconsequential.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There's also another a mini-game called Tekken Ball Mode only this is unlocked through completing Arcade Mode with all the starting characters. In this mode you select a character then play against another player or the computer in a game of volleyball but with Tekken controls as well and your goal is to dwindle down your opponent's health by either sending the ball to their side of the court or hitting them with the ball directly. You have the choice of three beach balls (two of which are unlockable)... a beginner ball which can do up to 40% damage, an expert ball which can do up to 60% damage, and a grand master ball which can do maximum damage... the amount of damage that the ball can do is represent through a parameter that builds up from landing successive hits. This only works for certain attacks, however... surprisingly this mode works as well.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For the first time in non-Japanese versions, a mode called Theater Mode will also appear after you've completed Arcade Mode with all the starting characters. Here you watch opening sequences for the game and the endings for the characters you've completed Arcade mode with. If you get all of them, you gain the option to listen to the game's soundtrack (both arcade and remixed) in the music section or load the endings/music of the first two games in the disc section.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The graphics just keep getting better and better. The character models and animation are significantly detailed than they were in the first two games plus the backgrounds don't clash so much with them along with the environments like they used to. Unfortunately, there isn't nearly as many unique stages for each character as there are in Tekken 2. With the exception of Heihachi, Ogre, Bosconovitch, and Gon (who is unlocked through Tekken Ball Mode after beating him) all the hidden characters have stages shared with the starting characters.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sound</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The voice work has been given a major overhaul from the first two games with several familiar voices thrown into the mix notably the late Daisuke Gōri as Heihachi Mishima (who voices him from the anime adaptation to Tekken 6 before his passing, rest in peace... </span><a class="postlink" href="http://orig02.deviantart.net/cbc2/f/2010/025/6/6/daisuke_gori_tribute_by_ochan28.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(93, 143, 189); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #5d8fbd; direction: ltr; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">champ</a><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">). They still only make battle grunts (with a few exceptions) but at least now they doesn't awkward as they did previously. The soundtrack however doesn't hold a candle to the one in Tekken 2 but it's still got the great classic arcade synthesized feel to it.... though personally I prefer the arcade tracks over the rearranged tracks here for the most parts.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aesthetics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The lore behind Tekken 3 isn't as strong as the one in Tekken 2 either but there's still plenty of interest within it. 19 years have past since the 2nd Iron Fist Tournament and Heihachi had reclaimed his throne from his (literally) demonic son Kazuya, who he threw into an erupting volcano (no way that sucker's making it out ali</span><a class="postlink" href="https://youtu.be/nruEPZqFpjY?t=75" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(93, 143, 189); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #5d8fbd; direction: ltr; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">... shit</a><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">), but something strange has happened. Many of the world's greatest fighters are gone with most of the absences being linked to the ancient being from Mexico named Ogre, who robs fighters of their abilities by attacking them, and Heihachi announces the 3rd Iron Fist Iron Fist Tournament to lore him out (best expect there'd be an ulterior motive behind it). Some of the fighters from the previous tournament have returned (like Nina Willaims who was cryogenically frozen for 19 years and is in search for her lost memories) but a bunch of new faces like the young and innocent Ling Xiaoyu who wants to build the perfect amusement park in China, the loner Jin Kazama who takes over as the main protagonist and wants to get revenge against Ogre for presumably killing his mother, the street punk Hwoarang who wants to settle the score with Jin, and the </span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: line-through; vertical-align: baseline;">Brazillian button-mashing</span><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> capoeira fighter Eddy Gordo who wants to piece together the murder of his father and seek retribution.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Just like the first two games the fighting styles for each character in Tekken 3 is based off real-life fighting styles so real-life martial artists would certainly appreciate the attention to detail. For authenticity sake, Eddy Gordo's animation is notably done using motion capture from a real-life capoeira fighter.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall</span><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">While Tekken 3 may not be as aesthetically pleasing as Tekken 2 it's still a substantial improvement where it comes over an already amazing game. Many say this is the pinnacle of the series (it even did the best both commercial and critically) and I can definitely why. The combat is done to near-perfection but even if you're not a huge fighting game nut there's still plenty of other shit to do and it gets just about every single aspect.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Overall, I gave this game a 9.8/10.</span></span>D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-81875598096264684582016-09-24T23:07:00.000-04:002016-09-28T08:07:35.403-04:00Tekken 2 Review - More than a sequel... one in a million<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Release(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">March 26, 1996 (Japan)<br />August 27, 1996 (North America)<br />October, 1996 (North America)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Developer(s): Namco</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Publisher(s): </span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Namco (Worldwide)<br />Sony Computer Entertainment (Europe)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Player(s): 1-2</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><img alt="Image" class="postimage" height="400" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/6d/28/e4/6d28e4f58349f960e80109e89773eb63.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: text-bottom;" width="399" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Even though the first Tekken game is dated by quite a bit, it was still a great and revolutionary game when it first came out with it's console version being the first Playstation game to ever sell over a million units. The next logical step would be a sequel to refine what worked with the game and fix what didn't.... that sequel came just months after the first game took arcades by a storm. How much can Namco accomplish in that time span? Let's find out.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gameplay</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tekken 2 returns with the innovative 3D combat system from the first one so just about every mechanic you can think of is here... but don't think Namco just adds in new moves and characters then calls it a day. This game does a lot to improve the solid foundation that the first game had created whatnot with every character having a powerful and inescapable back throw, a counter system that allows you to escape grabs or tackles (a feature that was experimented with in the first game but never fully implemented) by pressing the left or right punch button at the right time, the ability to roll to the side while laying on the ground, and more diverse fighting styles meaning hidden characters are no longer derivative of the starting characters. The controls are much tighter here than the somewhat stiff controls in the first game and running actually has a purpose in battle as you can either bum rush them, stomp on them when they're laying on the ground, do a jump kick, or with the right timing... tackle them to the ground to lay on the beatdown. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The gameplay still has some issues though... the jumping mechanics are still awkward and the AI's been beefed up significantly. While the first game's AI difficult curve is mostly adjustable (unless you fought Heihachi), Tekken 2's is downright unforgiving to newcomers. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I ain't playing, this game.. WILL.. OWN.. YOUR.. BUTTHOLE!!! It would input complex button combinations at a rate and consistency that's seemingly impossible for a human player, they guard just about any attack you throw at them, will punish you for any mistake (if possible), and grabs or tackles... don't even consider them as a strategy. They'll counter them all the time and it just gets worse as you progress... but even with that Tekken 2's combat is still a lot more enjoyable than the first game's for the reasons I gave earlier so you'll naturally have the incentive to improve.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">All the game modes from the first game have returned but Tekken 2 adds more meat to the bones. Arcade mode still has you select a character then fight 7 of the starting characters then a sub-boss that will depending on the character you play as (which will be unlocked after completing Arcade mode) and the final boss... this time it isn't Heihachi Mishima it's Kazuya Mishima then Devil. After completing Arcade mode you won't be given a record on fast you completed it but you still get treated with an ending for the character you've completed it with even the hidden characters have endings of their own. Kazuya and Roger/Alex do require a special condition to unlock them... the latter you have to beat stage 3 by getting a great (winning a round with 5% health or less) at the last round and the former you will have to unlock all the hidden characters besides him then complete Arcade mode with one of the hidden characters without getting a continue. That's a little better than the first game's method with Heihachi and Devil Kazuya but still more work than necessary.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tekken 2 also introduces a bunch of game modes that will become staples of the series such as Team Battle mode where you can select up to 8 different characters and either fight against another player or the computer. You still fight one-on-one as always but if you defeat your opponent the current character you're playing as will recover health and if you lose you will play as the next character you have selected.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There is a Time Attack mode which functions just like the Arcade mode except the only thing you have to worry is completing it at the fastest time possible to set a new record and the difficulty setting you have in the options menu doesn't effect it so it's medium by default. One problem I have with this mode is you can't pause it during gameplay so you have to play through it constantly.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There's also a Survival mode where you select a character with only one health gauge which recover after each match and you take down as many opponents as possible without losing for the possibly of setting a new record. It's difficulty is also fixed like the Time Attack mode and unfortunately it carries the same problem of not being able to pause during gameplay.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Last and not least, Tekken 2 adds in a Practice mode which would be rather archaic by today's standards where fighting games practically teach you how they design the game but I'd imagine it being somewhat impressive at the time when practice modes were uncommon. You set the attack data to display total amount of hits you did in a recent combo and a damage ratio to maximize damage. You can also set your initial attacks to count as counter attacks all the time and you can practice combo moves/strings either through reading them from the command list found in the Pause mode (which is in all game modes... thank god) or key displays including the infamous 10-hit combos. You can even replay combo though it's ruined by the fact you can't manually set the recorder to start or replay the record at any time... the game sets the recorder automatically. This mode also demands constant attention as it will send you back to the main menu if you remain idle for too long (damn, what a selfish game!).</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The character models have been smoothed out and refined considerably from the blocky ones at the first game had plus the animation is even more realistic. The static 2D backgrounds on stages still clash with the rest of the game's graphics though not nearly as much as the first game. Speaking of stages... each character now has a stage unique to themselves right from the ambient Japanese bamboo forest for the mysterious samurai-ninja Yoshimitsu, the desert for the Native American Michelle Change, or the room filled with dark for the final bosses Kazuya and Devil.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sound</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The voice clips for Tekken 2 are recycled from the first game but this time none of the characters other than Armor King, P. Jack, and Kuma share the same voices with other characters and the badass announcer is even more badass. Musically, Tekken 2 is a major step-up from the first game. All the tracks are memorial and are completely atmospheric to every stage (and characters they represent). It's even remixed for the Playstation version... of course, the same can be said for the first game but here they really went the extra mile and... the music for the port is just amazing. It makes you wanna go back to the older times and the sub-boss characters even have their theme even though they're just the tracks reused from the first game, but it's still better than them sharing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0_GgXy9_BU">the same song</a>.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aesthetics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The story of Tekken 2 takes place 2 years after the story of the first game and the plot thickens. Kazuya had gotten his revenge on his father but as a surprising twist instead of righting the wrongs of Heihachi, he not only continues the corrupt ways of the Mishima Zaibatsu but he takes the evil acts to even greater extremes as he let his hate consume him and the Devil is feeding off from it. Because of his various illegal actions (drug-dealing, smuggling endangered animals, assassination, etc.) several fighters have entered the 2nd King of Iron Fist Tournament to beat him for one reason or another with some new faces to boot, including Heihachi who shockingy survived and wants to reclaim his throne. The best part about all this is the FMV cutscenes aren't nearly as uncanny as in the first game... </span><a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft-udSF7zQQ" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(93, 143, 189); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #5d8fbd; direction: ltr; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">for the most parts</a><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Also, just like the first game many of the moves are based on real-life fighting moves giving it a more grounded feel to it than other fighting games, even though it's still clearly exaggerated since most of the fighters are superhuman.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tekken 2 does things in less a year that other game sequels don't in few years or more.... it's a significant improvement from the game that proceeded in almost every way resulting in even greater commercial and critical success. It's also a prime example of an arcade port done right so with that... this game may actually be worthwhile to have in your collection even if you play or own the later Tekken games.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Overall, I give Tekken 2 an 8.9 out of 10</span></span>D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-7364031416865799542016-09-20T19:23:00.000-04:002016-09-21T21:31:36.149-04:00Tekken Review - Enter the Tekken!!<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">March 31, 1995 (Japan)<br />November 7, 1995 (Europe)<br />November 8, 1995 (North America)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Developer(s): Namco</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Publisher(s): </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NtZUf3EKISAp1Cewlvr8gkQjquQwkl76-6ale-E9RzCampdF2fRxf4h-45TKaoQXYzv8uGfpSPCT6-pMFuEJjLA5E0dDPhZs5G87VLIZSI81n6SXfWYAMLbN0WymppmbW129U_9WobZf/s1600/Tekken_1_10_.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NtZUf3EKISAp1Cewlvr8gkQjquQwkl76-6ale-E9RzCampdF2fRxf4h-45TKaoQXYzv8uGfpSPCT6-pMFuEJjLA5E0dDPhZs5G87VLIZSI81n6SXfWYAMLbN0WymppmbW129U_9WobZf/s400/Tekken_1_10_.JPG" width="311" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br /><br /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">For those who don't know I love Tekken... in fact, it's my favorite fighting game franchise of all-time and in anticipation of Tekken 7: Fated Retribution coming on home consoles/PC, I've decided to look back on the whole series beginning with the very game that started it all.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">In the 90's, arcades were sweeping the nation with fighting games being one of the most predominant genres. 3D graphics were also starting to emerge at that point so naturally fighting games followed suite and while Virtua Fighter was the one that pioneered 3D fighting games, Tekken was certain the one that put it on the map. The one thing that really matters here is does the first game still hold up in spite of it's legacy.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gameplay</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Tekken plays similar to any other traditional fighting game. You have your crouches and jumps (which are done at ridiculous heights in the game for some reason), high/low blocking zones, and intricate button inputs for special moves but there quite a few diversions as well. One is instead of having your basic attacks determined by strength of the attack your attack buttons in Tekken are assigned to each limb allowing for greater combo intuition. Another is there's no special gauge meter of any sort so any super powerful attack can be pulled off at any time but there is no projectiles in Tekken which limits your ability of keeping opponents at bay. Lastly, there's a lot of combo moves and strings to memorize for each character which you would need to know in order to make the most of the game's combat... in fact, the series as a whole is very well known for it's huge library of complex button combinations notably the chain throws and 10-hit combos making it an extremely hard (yet satisfying) fighter to truly master (which is made even harder with no command list to look at) but there aren't as many to master with the first game as later on (naturally). Special moves are also done differently from tradition. In Street Fighter, the inputs for special moves reward accuracy and speed but in Tekken, it slows down the action for greater strategic play.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">However, there are a few notable problems with the combat. For one the controls feel somewhat heavy especially when you're trying to run towards the opponent (run is useless btw) and another is the hidden characters play too similar to the starting characters. Granted the starting characters themselves are completely diverse and the Playstation version does remedy this issue by giving them some individual moves from Tekken 2 but this point still stands. You can say I'm spoiled by the later games which refined the formula but age certainly revealed a few flaws with this one in the gameplay department.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">This is a mid 90's fighting game so don't expect much in terms of game modes. You have an arcade mode where you select a character and fight 7 of the starting characters plus a sub-boss (who is one of the hidden characters) and the final boss who is the root of all evil, Heihachi Mishima. Another player can intercept at any point to take over and you can earn a new record based on how fast you complete it along with being treated with a character's ideal ending (starting characters only). Arcade mode is also where you unlock the hidden characters although the one you unlock depends on which character you complete it with except for the big bad Heihachi Mishima who is unlocked by playing through Arcade mode without any continues and Devil Kazuya who is unlocked by beating all 4 levels of the Galaga game which happens before the actual game boots up... but is it worth it?</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">There's also a 2 player mode which is the standard versus mode where you play against another player. You both select a character and set each other's handicaps before fighting on a random stage.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Tekken is one of the first 3D fighting games and it really shows. The character models are very blocky and pixelated with the floor being done on 3D while the rest of the environments are clearly done with static 2D images giving it a rather ugly look even for it's time. However, it's not all bad... the characters are animated realistically in a way that makes you feel the attacks being landed and they all have animation that's actually representative to their unique fighting styles. The environments are also familiar as they're based on real-life locations... but you don't really get to choose any of them.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sound</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Aside from the (kickass) announcer, there isn't much voice acting in Tekken aside from the battle grunts characters make and I can't really knock that either (except a few voice clips are just plain bizarre notably with Marshall Law) but one thing that to complain about is that aside from Wang Jineri, all of the hidden characters' voice clips are blatantly recycled from the starting characters. The sound effects is great stuff though as it helps make you feel the pain of the attacks and the soundtrack is great stuff which can be said for the whole series... even though the music for this game is rather subdue in comparison, there's a lot of memorial tracks especially for those who enjoy 90's synthesized arcade music and they're quite fitting to the environments they represent.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aesthetics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Even though there's technically no story mode in Tekken, the story it has is surprisingly involved for a fighting game. You have the basic international fighting tournament plot but Tekken has characters all with their own reasons for participating that you would actually care about. Kazuya MIshima wants revenge against his father Heihachi, Yoshimitsu wants to provide for the poor, Nina Williams sent to assassinate Heihachi Mishima, and Paul Phoenix wants to prove he's the strongest. Of course, you won't get all the details in-game but you'll get a gist of it from the endings... that is if the uncanny FMV facial animations don't haunt your dreams first.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Just like I said earlier the environments in Tekken are based on real-life ones and the same be applied to each character's fighting styles. Unlike something like Street Fighter which does base each character's fighting style on real-life martial arts but makes it super flashy and sorta does it's own, you'd notice the parallelism to real-life martial arts with Tekken almost instantly even if it's still exaggerated due to almost all of the characters actually being superhuman.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">With all this does Tekken hold up by today's standards? No really... don't get me wrong, I won't deny Tekken is a very revolutionary and innovative game... in fact, it was noted as the "First Fighting Game to Feature Simulated 3D" but there's practically no reason to go back to this game after playing the others unless it's for nostalgia.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Overall, I give this game a 7 out of 10.</span></span></div>
D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-67376059969984500472016-08-29T22:59:00.000-04:002016-09-22T21:23:59.145-04:00Super Dragon Ball Z Review - Super Dragon Fighter Z II Turbo!!<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">June 29, 2006 (Japan)<br />July 18, 2006 (North America)<br />July 28, 2006 (Europe)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation 2</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Developer(s): Arika, Crafts & Meister</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Publisher(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Banpresto (Japan)<br />Atari (North America)<br />Namco Bandai (Europe)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Player(s): 1-2</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zVlMAImJagzQi_kkyDwJmn9g_m2ZBn4JOaIMDoiuNanZEqVIDLyHsKkM2Rs7QP9J70pXPuIJVJKWRAEs7m3RM2I1FeBjo10VmhmzfOsabfgBaeQHpwwP8QpyDnW_vzN3IILh4U-RlGW5/s1600/260190-super-dragon-ball-z-playstation-2-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zVlMAImJagzQi_kkyDwJmn9g_m2ZBn4JOaIMDoiuNanZEqVIDLyHsKkM2Rs7QP9J70pXPuIJVJKWRAEs7m3RM2I1FeBjo10VmhmzfOsabfgBaeQHpwwP8QpyDnW_vzN3IILh4U-RlGW5/s400/260190-super-dragon-ball-z-playstation-2-front-cover.jpg" width="282" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Early to mid-2000's was a good time for DBZ games. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (simply known as Dragon Ball Z 3 in Japan) in late 2004 was particularly impressive not only for being a night-and-day sequel to the first two Budokai games but it's viscerally fast-paced and authentic combat can be enjoyed even by people are otherwise disinterested in Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (also known as Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! in Japan), while not as impressive as Budokai 3, still retained the visceral, fast-combat feeling of combat and was like no other fighting game before it. However, there is one that released between the first Tenkaichi game and the then upcoming sequel Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Neo) that hardly any fan seems to remembers, and that game is the one that's center for subject right now: Super Dragon Ball Z.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Super Dragon Ball Z was touted as the franchise's first "serious" fighting game... in fact, it was an Arcade game before being ported over to the PS2 and it was directed by Akira Nishitani... the man who, along with Akira Yasuda, created the quintessential fighting game Street Fighter II so there's a bit of pedigree to this game. While it was a modest success in Japan (enough for it to be ported), the game (released only for PS2) never caught on in North America. Is there a reason for this failure or is it yet another overlooked gem?</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gameplay</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Super Dragon Ball Z is a fighter that combines elements from 2D and 3D fighting games for combat system. Unlike the last few DBZ games that proceeded it, Super DBZ brings it's combat closer to it's fighting game roots so fans of older DBZ fighters and other fighters in general may find it more respectable than say... the Budokai games and Budokai Tenkaichi. The basic controls are rather easy to understand and accessible... you have one button for light attacks, one for heavy attacks, one for jumping/bukujutsu, and one for guarding... all of which can be combined to do various attacks as throwing, dash attacks, and ki blasts. Super DBZ also has combos in the form of a dial-up system similar to the what you'd find in Mortal Kombat or Killer Instinct- albeit a very simplified one. Each character has their own set combos by doing consecutive light and/or heavy attacks but they're pretty limited and like the Budokai games, there's only one blocking zone so not a lot of strategy between attacking high or low is involved. You can also use the environments to your advantage as you slam opponents into walls, hide behind rock formations or buildings, or send your opponent through stage transitions though it isn't close to the level of environmental interaction you can do in Budokai Tenkaichi as battles are more up close and personal. Like the Budokai games and Budokai Tenkaichi, each character has a set of super and ultimate moves at their disposal but unlike said games where executing them are simply done with 2-4 button combinations, the super and ultimate moves require more complex inputs like the quarter-circles or half-circles which people play other fighting games like Street Fighter would be familiar... however so players who are used to the simplified controls for these moves in previous DBZ games and/or are total newbies at fighting games are definitely gonna be thrown off by and frustrated with the intricate button commands. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Super and ultimate moves have widely varying attributes and uses during battle which is a nice touch, but you only have a handful of them are immediately available to you. You can learn more but there's a limit to that as well and a lot of the upgrades are shared between characters. The way super and ultimate moves also function basically the same how special and super moves function in Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat... super moves require no gauge to be used even for ki-based ones and can be chained off from normal attacks while ultimate moves 1 require or more bars from the Ultimate Gauge. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">As you can tell Super DBZ takes a lot of cues from other popular fighting game series (Goku even has a super move similar to Ryu's Shoryuken called Blast Fist) but when you compare it to the very fighters it take influence from this game doesn't offer that many options in what you can do in combat. Super DBZ does sport a healthy amount of strategy and diversity but with other 2.5D fighters like Tekken or Virtua Fighter which have tons of technical depth, Super DBZ just can't measure up. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Not only is the game shallow in comparison to the popular fighters it tries to emulate, it's also too slow and traditional to satisfy DBZ fans. Sure you can do dash attacks by pressing one of the attack buttons in junction with the guard button and you can use bukujutsu by pressing the jump button while in the air to speed things up, though they are limited to an Action Gauge (which admittedly does add strategy to combat), but innovative mechanics that previous DBZ fighters had offered to the table in order to emulate the action from the series such as teleporting, pursuing, beam struggles, and ki building are sadly absent. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">There are a fair amount (though not ideal) of game modes in Super Dragon Ball Z to play in which are Original, Versus, Z-Survivor, and Training. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Original plays like the arcade version of the game where you select a character then fight up to 7 of the characters that were available in the arcade version which leads up to the fight with Cell and you earn a dragonball as a custom character after winning each fight meaning you can get all of them in one go. Just like the arcade version another player can come to challenge you (without the cost of a quarter) in order to take over and no... there is no story to follow so bummer. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Versus is well... the standard versus mode where you play against another player... you both set your handicaps, select a stage, and then fight.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Z-Survivor has you play as a custom character and fight with only one Health and Ultimate Gauges against up to 9 of the characters available in the arcade version without losing, and unlike most survival modes where you're healed instantly after each fight you play a Bonus Roulette mini-game where you can either recover health, fuel Ultimate Gauge, increase attack/defense power, earn B.P/EXP bonus, or earn a dragon ball. At first, the roulette is rather slow but as you go along, while the earnings get better the roulette spins faster and enemies become harder especially ones with over a million B.P. If you're lucky you might gain the option to fight one of the PS2-exclusive characters at the end for a massive BP and EXP bonus increase at the risk of losing all your earnings from your recent playthrough of Z-Survivor if you are defeated so choose wisely!</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Training is yet another surprisingly deep Training mode where you can use your opponent as a training dummy to act as a punching bag or have them perform various actions (like guarding constantly, guard after being attacked, attacking after guarding, performing a quick recovery after falling to the ground, etc.). There is also an option for a damage ratio and command display to help maximize damage or practice more elaborate moves, and you can set obstacles with varying sizes, numbers, and endurance all to your liking. You can even make another player join in as a sparring partner (though they lack the display options) but for some reason you can't have the computer act as a fighting opponent. There's also a lack of a tutorial section which would have been especially helpful as the bulk of this game's playerbase certainly wouldn't have the skills or patience to learn the more complex moves. </span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">All in all, Training is good for what it is but it isn't nearly as extensive as the training modes in other popular fighters such as Tekken and Dead or Alive.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The one mode that is really noteworthy is Customize. In this mode, you create up to 30 custom character cards with a custom name for you to level up and learn new skills. Unlike the customization system in the Budokai games where skills are either bought or found in various parts of certain modes, skills are earned through EXP points and how do you earn said EXP points? Simple you earn them after each fight and once your gain at least one experience bar you can learn a new skill. B.P points work the same way but they're only there for the high scores chart so they do nothing skill-wise... though one thing interesting about it is they will make your scouter explode if you gain over a million B.P points. Anyways, the EXP points you accumulate can be redeemed within the Customize mode through something called a Skill Tree where the next skill you can learn will be determine which skill you choose and there are various types of skills to learn such as new super or ultimate moves (like mentioned before), faster recovery on the Action Gauge, greater movement speed, slight increase in attack or defense power, armor properties on dash attacks, super cancel (the ability to chain super or ultimate moves into another ultimate move), and if you complete a character's Skill Tree you can inherit another character's signature move (they would have to be skill inheritance compatible as well). This is a great system that gives the game a lot of replay value and is honestly the best part about the game's combat but for single-player this means you have to constantly grind through the Original and Z-Survival modes (preferably the latter). Dragon Summoning allows you to wish for additional skills after collecting the dragonballs with selected character some that are not even available on the Skill Tree at all but not only that you can wish for a few accessory such as a new color scheme, a new costume, a Win:Loss ratio, and a new scouter. Unlockables are even achieved through wishes such as hidden characters, extra stages, or certain characters serving as the announcer.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">One thing that should be addressed is the roster. It's seriously small in comparison to the rosters in Budokai 3 and especially Budokai Tenkaichi as there's only 18 characters in total (5 of them you have to unlock). Not only that but popular characters such as Yamcha, Tien, the Ginyu Force, and Broly are all left out... but it's not a total bomb as there are a few pleasant surprises to the roster such as Chi-Chi, King Piccolo, and a newly designed Mecha Frieza.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Like Budokai 3 and Budokai Tenkaichi, Super Dragon Ball Z uses a cel-shaded graphics style but unlike most DBZ games which tend to resemble the anime this game takes it's visual cues from the manga (though it's not as extreme as the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja game series)... which is why several color schemes are different from most would be familiar with (Goku's gi being regular orange and blue, Piccolo's skin patches being yellow instead of pink, Perfect Cell's exoskeleton being dark green instead of neon green, etc.) and hit,explosion, and ground effects are represented through onomatopoeia. That being said the character models and stages do look nice. They're colorful, vibrant, and are animated reasonably well (though not as well animated as the Budokai games) but the auras, ki blasts, and particle effects are nothing special. They look too much like they were done on a computer... nothing like what you'd expect out of the series.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sound</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Once again the voice actors/actresses from the FUNimation Dub have come to reprise their roles but for some reason the audio quality on the voices sound really muffled as if they were recorded with a low-end mic and the voice acting itself sounds considerably less enthusiastic than usual as if they didn't wanna work on the game (not that I blame them entirely). Also, there's no option for the Japanese voices like in Budokai Tenkaichi and the Greatest Hits version of Budokai 3 so North American fans who prefer the Japanese version will have to endure the subpar voice work of the English version. As for the music, Super DBZ goes for a completely different approach from most DBZ games which tend for a modern music mix. The soundtrack is like a tribute to 90's synthesized music for old arcade games and they mostly do a good job at keeping you invested in the action... several of the tracks are actually quite catchy. The sound effects is also something completely new as it mimics the onomatopoeia and it helps give the combat a comic book feel. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aesthetics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">One thing that made the DBZ fighting games so endearing over the years is how much the combat resembled the over-the-top action of the series and that reigns true with Super Dragon Ball Z... to an extent. A lot of familiar moves from the series are here for the coarse but they aren't presented in a particularly impressive way. The camera is almost always fixed to an angle (that being the side of the characters) and there's no cinematics accompanying any of the attacks. For example, Goku's Spirit Bomb is an extremely powerful and hard-to-avoid attack in the game but on a spectacle level you don't really get the sense of it being a super devastating attack like in the series. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Like I said earlier, the game goes for a more manga-inspired feel and that easily can seen right from the main menu. Each mode in the main menu is sectioned off like panels from a page in the manga and the loading screen are like a Tankōbon cover for a volume of the manga featuring your next opponent. There are even some cameos and references to Akira Toriyama's other works like Suppaman, a character from Dr. Slump who's an obvious parody of Superman, randomly appearing after destroying one of the buildings in Eastern Capital. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Is Super Dragon Ball Z a bad game deserving of it's relative obscurity? No... not at all but I feel the game suffers a bit of an identity crisis. It either tries to appeal to fans of Toriyama's megahit manga series or gamers who are serious about their fighting games but doesn't do quite enough to please either parties in the long run. Even it does feature a good amount of strategy and depth, it's not really the hardcore fighter Atarti wants you to believe</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">and at the same time a</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> lot of staples that people have come to expect out of DBZ games are compromised,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> making you sorta question who it was really intended for.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">If you're looking for a solid fighter with the Dragon Ball license then I definitely recommend giving this game a shot. It plays well, the customization system can be addicting, and the visual cues taken from the manga is definitely gonna appeal to a certain niche plus it's sold rather cheap nowadays (functional copies coming as little as $5 - $10 w/o shipping on various online stores like Amazon or eBay) but if you're one of the extremes I mentioned earlier then you may wanna look somewhere else.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Overall, I give this game a 7.4 out of 10.</span></span>D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-38360876548392583402016-08-28T14:55:00.000-04:002016-09-04T22:01:35.427-04:00MDK2 Review - Murder. Death. Kill (?): The Second Carnage <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEfHwfeExdpxt2JvxRwQ8THmotXZbQCl100bAoK4R5A_dP3S_3GVLEzr1R_D_1MkfnkS3GoVy1VfpY0zh-bAOdMhclnwHgcMhn5ixMDVkvRzf8qP_L8xOA2lUzqhdihWt-WiAejj4TBEzi/s1600/14305-mdk-2-windows-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEfHwfeExdpxt2JvxRwQ8THmotXZbQCl100bAoK4R5A_dP3S_3GVLEzr1R_D_1MkfnkS3GoVy1VfpY0zh-bAOdMhclnwHgcMhn5ixMDVkvRzf8qP_L8xOA2lUzqhdihWt-WiAejj4TBEzi/s400/14305-mdk-2-windows-front-cover.jpg" width="327" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s): March 31, 2000 (Worldwide)</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Platform(s): Dreamcast, Windows, PlayStation 2 </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Genre(s): Third-person shooter</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Developer(s): BioWare</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Publisher(s): Interplay Entertainment </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Player(s): 1</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">MDK is easily one of the most innovative games but not only that it was a huge commercial success and received critical acclaim (for it's technical accomplishments and unique gameplay) so a sequel just had to be made. However as Interplay confronted Nick Bruty, the man behind the very existence of MDK, was not available for the next game so the license was handed over to the then little-known developer BioWare. Does MDK2 live up to the high standards set by the first game?</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gameplay</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">If you're familiar with how the first game plays then there's no worries while getting into this game as Kurt controls just the same as he did on MDK (there even references to the first game)... in fact, I'd say he controls a bit tighter here than his already great controls in the first game. Infinite chain gun, sniper mode, ribbon chute, etc. are all here for the coarse but there is a few fundamental changes and additions. Grenades now come 5 a piece and take time to detonate unless it makes direct contact with someone which adds a little strategy while using it, the super chain gun can now be equipped manually and have 500 ammo each, and health is more plentiful this time around. Certain items such as I Feel Top!!!, Tornado, and Hamster Hammer sadly hadn't made the cut but MDK2 makes up for it by adding a bunch of new items such as the Cloak which makes you invisible for a while, Black Hole that literally wipes out anything within range (include YOU), Sniper Shield which prevents you from taking damage while in sniper mode (but it obstructs your view), and Laser Chain gun which is even more powerful than the Super Chain gun but require more accurate aiming and only has 100 ammo. There's also these blue glowing orbs that are placed during the puzzle-solving sections that require you to use sniper mode to dissolve them... these orbs are what keep you from progressing and tend to be hidden where enemies are at bay. At first they're pretty easy to dissolve (just aim and shoot with sniper mode) but in later levels they start to show various patterns like floating up and down the area or bouncing back and forth across the area... so positioning and timing is a critical factor here.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Another thing is that you can now play as Max (Dr. Fluke Hawkins' gutter-mouthed six-legged k-9 unit and pet) and Dr. Hawkins (the eccentric man of science who hired Kurt as a janitor), both offer their own style of gameplay. Kurt is like the middle man between the two... his levels are a mix of stealth, puzzle-solving, and manpower while Max's levels are all about manpower, and Doctor's levels are about inventory and puzzle-solving with very little manpower involved. </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">In Max's levels, you can find many types of guns to add to your disposal that you can equip or unequip like Magnums, Uzis, Gatling Guns, or Laser guns though Max always comes strapped with a special Magnum with infinite ammo like Kurt's chain gun but it's pretty weak on it's own so it's not a good idea to rely on it. Max can also equip up to 4 guns at once and he's the strongest of the 3 having 200 health points (which is twice the amount Kurt has) so naturally you encounter the most amount of enemies with Max making his levels the most action-packed. Max doesn't come with a parachute like Kurt but you do find a Jetpack halfway through each of his levels that functions a similar way only you don't have to go under an air vent for it to make you fly into the air... the Jetpack has limited fuel however so always remember to go near a gas pump, which you'll find at certain spots throughout the rest of his levels, when the fuel gauge is low. You do find an Atomic Jetpack in later levels which doesn't go as fast but it refills automatically when not in use.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">In Doctor's levels, you can find many common objects of which is either sectioned off to your left hand or right hand to be equitable. Having one item on each hand can do various things... such as being combined to make a new item to use or even be used as a weapon. Like I said earlier Doctor's levels are puzzle-solving heavy featuring parts where you play as Doctor's pet fish Chuckleberry Fin swimming your way through a maze in the crate of the Jim Dandy ship to find the button switch while at the same time avoiding spike bombs and bigger fish will eat you once it gets close to you or hit buttons corresponding to a specific pattern (if or not under a time limit). Doctor isn't nearly as physically capable as Kurt or Max (for obvious reasons) as you only have 60 health points, low jumping height, and can't climb onto ledges so platforming and manpower isn't much his territory but you can hold your own against enemies with the Atomic Toaster which can be used with an strangely unlimited loaf of bread (among other things) to make atomic toast that, while not as easily flexible as Kurt's chain gun, can do great damage and can bounce off the area then stick to it before exploding, or his Leaf Blower.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">MDK2 still retains the rough difficulty curve of the first game. Enemies still come large in numbers and take quite a bit of manpower to bring down... though MDK2 introduces a completely new, wider roster of enemies such as the Buttrocks who are the most common enemies and are like bigger version of the Grunts (who fans call "Poopsies") but not as big as pushovers (they can attack at close range and launch grenades similar to Kurt's), Coneheads who are seemingly harmless at first but have psychic attacks that go through walls, Birdbrains who are owl-looking robots that fly around and will hunt you down like a hawk (oohh!!), and the dreaded Bifs with their powerful homing lightning staff attacks and high amount of health, plus puzzle-solving is just as tricky as ever and bosses still require varying alternative strategies. In fact, I feel MDK2 may be quite a bit more difficult than the first game... there's a stronger emphasis on platforming and puzzle-solving this time around, and those sections some of the challenging you'd ever face in any game period. In many parts it's seemingly impossible to get past without going through trial-and-error... Doctor's levels are especially hard for this very reason given his levels mostly revolve around puzzle-solving and there's also his limitations.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Like MDK, you have the option to either create a new game data or load an existing save date but for some reason the console versions of MDK2 don't allow you to save at any point of game like in the PC version, the game will save your data for you once you reach a checkpoint but you can at least revisit a checkpoint to redo a certain part of the save data. MDK2 has a total of 10 levels and each level switches between Kurt, Max, and Doctor in that order except for the last level where you choose one of the 3 you want play to as and as always their approaches are completely different even though you're ultimately doing the same thing with all of them... you will get an alternate ending once you beat the level with each of them. Not only are there more levels in MDK2 but the levels themselves are even bigger and more diverse.... you won't be graded by your performance like in the first game though. After playing through each level you can load your save data to watch the cutscenes from all the levels.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Just like MDK the graphics for MDK2 are quite dated with the muddy textures and low-polygon count on character models (especially for the PS2 port MDK2: Armageddon) but the detailed and cool-looking designs make up for it. Another thing worth mentioning is there aren't as many corners cut with the graphics as the first game (most likely due to better resourceful) as there's no parts of the environments that are simply left black and there seems to be some actual lighting effects employed along much better looking (and less computer-looking) explosions and particle effects. The animation is also a lot better notably with Kurt... his movement is actually natural and smooth-looking not at all jerking like in the first game... so with age aside, MDK2 is a very pretty-looking game.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sound</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The sound effects in MDK2 are just as cathartic and hilarious as the first game. Voice acting is more plentiful now that characters have actual dialogue and they add just as much to the experience as the alien grunt noises. MDK2 also goes for a totally different musical approach from the first game... in fact, it's done by completely composers who areJesper Kyd, Albert Olson, and Raymond Watts. While there are some orchestral tracks in the game (mostly during Doctor's levels) but for the most part the music in MDK2 is techno and honestly it's more suiting to the game's cyberpunk influence but not only that it does more to get you pumped up during the heat of battle due riffs find in the faster songs.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aesthetics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">MDK2 features the same cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic atmosphere with a dash of unique, off-the-wall humor. Like I said earlier MDK2 has actual dialogue this time around so expect a lot of dialogue-based humor and this game features some of the funniest dialogue in any game (who's my puppy-wubby dingy doggy). MDK2 also fleshes-out the story in comparison to the non-existent story from the first game so we actually get to know the titular characters (nobody knows what it stands so stfu!) and the aliens they face while playing the game... the story is told through cutscenes that appear in the beginning, in the middle of, and towards the end of each level but don't expect it to be super compelling as the story never really takes itself very seriously. It's all told in a pretty tongue-in-check matter with witty banter and subversive humor.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">With all that said, MDK2 manages to be even better than it's predecessor despite being handled by a completely different development team. Brutal difficulty aside it took what made the first game great then expanded upon it while at the same time fixing most of the (mostly minor) shortcomings... it's just a shame this game never caught on the same way it's older brother did.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Overall, this game gets a 9.5 out of 10.</span></span>D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-64780164140977722612016-08-13T17:48:00.000-04:002016-09-04T22:05:42.569-04:00MDK Review - This is top!<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">Release(s):</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">April 30, 1997 (Worldwde)</ul>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Platform(s): Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation </span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Genre(s): Third-person shooter</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Developer(s): Shiny Entertainment</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Publisher(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">PIE (North America)<br />Interplay Entertainment (Europe)</ul>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">Player(s): 1</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2moQSpblYAuzWRK2OgjS8nDi26LNnowT1W99iqWi-p7OHwcX3oSWerg6PCAaqyFHI5DLiKrI21bdrEYhFj7HJEJXLL6p1PNHaPEm-onTELnQswvD6uT5kDhRjkLy8u0PZ6ywu6Fet2VY/s1600/3042-mdk-dos-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2moQSpblYAuzWRK2OgjS8nDi26LNnowT1W99iqWi-p7OHwcX3oSWerg6PCAaqyFHI5DLiKrI21bdrEYhFj7HJEJXLL6p1PNHaPEm-onTELnQswvD6uT5kDhRjkLy8u0PZ6ywu6Fet2VY/s400/3042-mdk-dos-front-cover.jpg" width="337" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><b>Overview</b></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><span id="goog_824716648"></span><span id="goog_824716649"></span><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">Ah, yes... MDK, the abbreviated title of Max Doctor Kurt... or Murder Death Kill... or.. whatever, no one knows but one thing is known is the developers behind the game- the now defunct Shiny Entertainment has a history of making unique and difficult games that are beloved by pretty much everyone who's played them (aside from a few lackluster movie tie-ins), like Earthworm Jim. The revolutionary third-person shooter one of those such games. But does it hold up today? Let's find out...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><b>Gameplay</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">MDK is a third-person shooter like no other. The movement controls is similar to that of Doom.... the arrow keys/directional buttons allow you to move up/down and turn left/right while pressing the shoulder buttons/left and right arrow keys in junction with X allows you to strafe. One thing that really sets MDK apart from the average third-person shooter is Kurt Hectic, the character that you play as, uses an unlimited ammo chain gun that is attached to his coil suit as his main weapon and this gun can be used even when you're moving Kurt around. You can also find other weapons scattered throughout levels such as the grenade (which come 3 a piece) which deals great damage (a lot more than the chain gun) and breaks glass walls instantly, a super chain gun which evidently is a more powerful version of the built-in chain gun but it equipped automatically and only lasts for 200 rounds (why this is a weakness I'll explain later), and the Dummy Decoy to keep the dim enemies away from attacking you by attacking you for a considerable amount time... along with less common weapons such as The World's Smallest Nuclear Bomb which destroys anything within it's radius but it only appears to be using them to bust through otherwise indestructible doors (kinda a waste if you ask me), a Tornado which bit-by-bit attacks all enemies across the field, and The Very Large Hamester Hammer which springs left and right shaking the ground while destroying anything that the hammer bashes on. The game also combines third-person shooting action with platforming and with that Kurt also has the movement of a shooter along with the mobility of a platformer like Crash Bandicoot, the controls are tight and fluid on top of this. Kurt also comes equipped with a reusable ribbon parachute (usable from holding the jump button while in the air) that either slow down your landing which is convenient when landing from dangerous heights or reach to greater heights while under an air vent. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">And finally, the most stand out feature of all in MDK is Kurt's Sniper Mode. In this mode, your fixed into position with a dead-center aim and you can zoom in or out from your aim. It also comes with an unlimited ammo shooter although not as easily flexible as the chain gun it does more damage and if you aim at a non-boss enemy's vitals it's an instant kill... you can also find different types of sniper bullets such as Homing Bullets and Sniper Grenades (you can even have Max assist you) but those have a limit so it's best to use them only against stronger enemies. Your movement during Sniper Mode is limited so use it with caution... with that said this Sniper Mode adds a nice stealth element to the game.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">Now with these vast amount of weaponry and flexibility you would figure the game would be easy... it is not. In fact, the game can be quite brutal in it's difficulty. Enemies come at large numbers and they take quite a bit of brute force to bring down even with the Super Chaingun. The most common you face in the whole game are generically called Grunts, who spend just as much time messing around and cowering as they would attack you but there are others enemies who are stronger, more aggressive, and use more tactics against you. The bosses are evidently the hardest as they require completely different approaches to be defeated and this is where the game really takes advantage of the whole Sniper Mode feature. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">Fortunately, you can often find food for health scattered throughout each level though they kinda scarce... there's even a I Feel Top supplements which brings your health all the way up to 150 pts (in contrast to your base of 100pts) and can last throughout the whole level but you can't maintain it.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"> Puzzle-solving in this game also prove to be rather tricky... while in other games, the puzzles given to you are fairly straightforward but MDK forces you to think outside the box and solve things completely on your own. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">Once you get past the steep difficulty curve you'll find MDK is a game that in encourages player inituition and creativity as well as knowing when/how to attack or when/how to move.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"><b>Content</b> </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: start;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;">You either have the option to start a new save data or load up an already saved data... not only had you can save at any point of the game by pressing F2 or holding the select button while the game is paused. There is a total of 6 levels of which you will be graded by your performance after each level and while the levels themselves are vast in size and are fairly diverse, the game only clocks in at 6 hours tops. There is no extra unlockables, no backtracking, and you don't even get much of a conclusion after beating the game. Sure, you would get an amusing Music video by French singer BZK (Billy Ze Kick) doing a cover for the French 1973 anti-war pop song</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; text-align: justify;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;">Non Non Rien N'a Changé (No No Nothing Has Changed) but certain rereleases of the game doesn't have it like the Playstation version.... otherwise you just get Kurt climbing on top of the MDK logo like in the Title Menu and the credits roll.</span><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;"><b>Graphics</b> </span><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;">Although this is a tricky section to review since this game is almost 2 decades old I still think this is a fine-looking game regardless. The level are all very nicely detailed and all very diverse... same goes for the character models. The rich design of the game is also accompanied by a consistently smooth framerate of no lower than 30 fps across all computer system as the game's graphics uses software rendering rather than relying on a special graphics processing unit. The game's graphical accomplishments and visual appeal helps masks it datedness whatnot with the low polygon count (especially the Playstation version) and Kurt's animation is rather choppy (there are actually a few times I messed up a jump due to Kurt's awkward jump animation). One thing I do have to complain about in the game is that in order to maintain it's frame rate performance, many parts of the environments are simply left untextured leaving a bunch of black in certain areas without reason. </span><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;"><b>Sound</b> </span><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;">There isn't much voice acting within MDK but when there is, it's usually the enemies making weird and sometimes funny noises. The game also has some really nice sound effects as there's always a sound when you pick up an item that represents said item including some really amusing ones such as the Gunta food making walrus sounds or those weird cow things making moo noises... the gun fires and explosions are also really lethargic. The whole strong point here is with the soundtrack as it's done by a composer who's a fairly big name in the industry, Tommy Tallarcio. All the tracks for MDK are combination of rock, orchestras, and synthesizers which is fitting as the game's story is pretty much about war and it's very sequence-based, keeping silent while running through corridors but comes blazing when something's about to go down. All the tracks work so well it's really hard to point to a specific example of how well it works but regardless, it's good stuff. </span><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;"><b>Aesthetics</b> </span><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;">I'll say this once and many who's played the game would agree, MDK is one of the most aesthetically-pleasing games I've ever played. The whole game carries a post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk atmosphere right from the menus to the gameplay while the same time very comical. On top of the silly sound effects, there's several other oddities such as the I Feel Top supplement suddenly sprouting legs trying to run away from you making screeching monkey sounds. The enemies are also odd-looking and grotesque while the same time showing such odd-ball behavior (like the Grunts acting like jackasses and Gunta jigging around) that you can't help but laugh at times. My only complain however is the story almost isn't there... all the story that you're given is aliens invade *insert city, state/province, country here* and it's up to Kurt Hectic to bring down the aliens' minecrawlers. You never even really get to know any of the main characters.... almost all of the story details are within the game's instruction manual as told from Doctor Fluke Hawkins' Journal. </span><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;"><b>Overall</b> </span><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;">Despite being nearly 20 years old this game still holds up very strong as being one of the greatest and most significant third-part shooters of all time. Once you get past the short length and the dated visuals (or even immerse them into the experience), MDK is a fun yet challenging and unique game that is worth the time/money for any hardcore gamer. </span><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.4286px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.4286px;">I give this game a 8.5 out of 10.</span></span></span>D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-66872994275170867682016-07-24T02:01:00.001-04:002016-10-12T20:06:09.304-04:00Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 Review - Three times the charm... yes? <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s):</span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">November 16, 2004 (North America)<br />November 19, 2004 (Europe)<br />February 10, 2005 (Japan)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Platform(s): PlayStation 2</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Developer(s): Dimps</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Publisher(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Bandai (Japan/Europe)<br />Atari (North America)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Player(s): 1-2</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjO-xWglYw4UBEfF_LSdr9q8ZSq0dbDHTCWI8fcY-zpA4dLuOcHTwb5M9Ycioui7O5mnjP-jEzmqvok-HN6OI31JjBufxVzBRQfo6Gz182g4EGVDiSmumhbW-X5BprGuF780tTp8_pfX79/s1600/59898_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjO-xWglYw4UBEfF_LSdr9q8ZSq0dbDHTCWI8fcY-zpA4dLuOcHTwb5M9Ycioui7O5mnjP-jEzmqvok-HN6OI31JjBufxVzBRQfo6Gz182g4EGVDiSmumhbW-X5BprGuF780tTp8_pfX79/s400/59898_front.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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?</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gameplay</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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).</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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).</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The redundant </span><span style="border: 0px; color: #0080ff; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">physical</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> capsule (throws are now integral to characters) has been dropped completely in favor of the </span><span style="border: 0px; color: yellow; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">item</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> capsule. </span><span style="border: 0px; color: yellow; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Item</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> capsules are basically your character's thump card and it can turn the battle around in your favor in various ways similar to the <span style="color: #6aa84f;">equipment</span> 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 </span><span style="border: 0px; color: yellow; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">item</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> 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 <span style="color: red;">ability</span></span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> capsule and there is a new set of <span style="color: #00bf00;">equipment</span></span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> 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 <span style="color: red;">ability</span> capsules.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sound</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aesthetics</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">I give this game a 8.7 out of 10.</span></span>D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-79967524472434734852016-07-19T13:33:00.002-04:002016-09-09T11:01:45.236-04:00Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 Review - A small step somewhere...<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s):</span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">November 14, 2003 (Europe)<br />November 23, 2003 (Australia)<br />December 4, 2003 (North America)<br />February 5, 2004 (Japan)</span></ul>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Platform(s): PlayStation 2, GameCube</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Developer(s): Dimps</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Publisher(s):</span></span><br />
<ul style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Bandai (Japan/Europe)<br />Atari (North America/Australia)</span></ul>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Player(s): 1-2</span><br />
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/38/ba/2c/38ba2cad62d2ea7848c4bfadb0689861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/38/ba/2c/38ba2cad62d2ea7848c4bfadb0689861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/38/ba/2c/38ba2cad62d2ea7848c4bfadb0689861.jpg" width="282" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overview</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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?</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gameplay</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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. </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The Skill System is the same as it was in the first Budokai only a few new capsules were added... the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">T</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">he Skill Shop, while still random, is vastly improved as you now have the option of 3 random capsules from each category (</span><span style="border: 0px; color: #ff0040; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ability</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">, </span><span style="border: 0px; color: #8080ff; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">physical</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">, </span><span style="border: 0px; color: #80ff00; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">support</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">) which makes the trip of getting the capsules you want much easier and much less tedious.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphics</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sound</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aesthetics</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">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).</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">I give this game a 6.9 out of 10.</span></span>D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457484455843442495.post-29213515655817987332016-06-29T16:11:00.001-04:002017-01-11T23:10:58.791-05:00Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Review - The game that started it all<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Release(s): November 2, 2002 (Europe)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> December 3, 2002 (North America)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> February 13, 2003 (Japan)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Platform(s): PlayStation 2, GameCube</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Genre(s): Fighting</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Developer(s): Dimps</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Publisher(s): Bandai (Japan/Europe)</span><br />
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cb/Dbzbox.jpg/220px-Dbzbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><img border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cb/Dbzbox.jpg/220px-Dbzbox.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Overview</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Ahh... 2002, back then Dragon Ball Z was at the height of it's popularity in North America. The series was everywhere... it had multiple toylines, a training card game series, birthday supplies, has been published on several major newspaper articles, and was the dominant show on the Cartoon Network block Toonami... this new found interest in the show was so great that the franchise as a whole was revived in Japan from years of inactivity in the wake of Dragon Ball GT's lack of success. There's no doubt in mind there would a video game license for this juggernaut of an anime and a Japanese video game development company by the name of Dimps thought "Hey, why not make game for the hottest consoru on the market?". However, many gamers and older fans of the series alike were skeptic of the game's success as most DBZ games up until that point have amount to little more than low-quality cash-ins... but what does Budokai do exactly to change that? Let's find out.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Gameplay</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Budokai is a 3D fighting game that's structurally similar to Soul Caliber or Virtua Fighter and though it resembles a traditional fighter, it's fighting mechanics are quite unorthodox. You can't crouch or jump, there's only one blocking zone so there's not much strategy involved when it comes to attacking high or low. There's a special move meter in the form of a ki gauge where every character starts off with a baseline of 3 (out of 7) bars which can be refilled without having to attack an opponent by charging (hold guard and press back twice). Combos in this game are done by performing a series of punches and kicks of which technique can be changed by doing a punch or kick in junction with pressing left or right, and there's quite a bit of combinations to memorize. The set combos varies between characters but the variety isn't that good as characters tend to share the same canned moves between each other. Special moves are even executable after performing a series of punches and kicks meaning battles have to be at close-range at almost all times which does help in reducing spamming but it's not very exciting to pull off in combat either and makes signature Death Moves kinda useless since good players can do just as much damage (if not more) with using basic combos alone. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">On the bright side, the control scheme is easily accessible and the controls themselves are smooth like butter. You have one button for punching called the P button, you have another for kicking called the K button, another for guarding called the G button, another for using energy attacks called the E button (at the cost of some ki), and the directional buttons or analog-stick moves the character. Combining each button can do various types of attacks... like combining the P and K buttons allow you to perform a strong attack called the Charged Punch (you can also change it's technique in junction to pressing left or right) which can be charged into being unblockable or have nullifying attributes that allow you (up to a point) to take other physical attacks. You can also preform throws by pressing the P button and G button at the same time but an opponent can escape the throw by doing the same as you attempt to grab them. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The game also features some other quirky mechanics that that fans may be familiar with like the ability to send opponents flying into environment hazards, stage transition, or the stage boundary wall to deal damage along the ability of flight and doing dash attacks which can either be performed while dash towards an opponent or simply pressing the P button and/or K button while tapping forward twice... dash attacks can also break an opponent's guard. Something called a Burst Mode cab be activated when two attacks with nullifying attributes clash together... here both fighters starting really fast like in the show and you have to roll the analong stick or mash buttons faster than your opponent to gain the upper hand. You can even</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> transform while in battle which boosts your attack power by 10% with each transformation (making Goku's Super Saiyan form the strongest in the whole game) and gives you access to certain moves... but transforming slowly eats away your ki and the higher transform the faster the ki gauge drains which makes maintaining a transformation a real bitch as you lose that form if you get knocked down while below the minimum required number of ki bars. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">With all that said, the combat in Budokai is rather... stiff. For not for the fact you can't execute special moves outside combos and the characters' lack of diversity in their movesets, your defensive maneuvers are limited to guarding and back/side-stepping for the most parts. The flight combat aspect of the game is unreliable too as you can only go airborne if you knock your opponent up into the air (same for getting out of the air) and because of these limitations, battles tend to feel like you're trying to outlast a war of attrition so unless you're already a fan of the series you may not get much out of this game's combat.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Content</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">As for Game Modes, I'd say there quite a bit to do in the game. Budokai's single-player campaign is generically titled Story Mode which tells the story of Dragon Ball Z from the start of the Saiyan invasion to the end of the Cell Games so no characters from the Majin Boo Saga are in this game (except Gt. Saiyaman for some reason). In this mode, you just go into scenario after scenario where you have to defeat an opponent with a certain character and certain set of skills (which I'll get into later) though some battles have you fight under a specific conditions or even a different objective (like rolling the analog-sticks for Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon)... though it may take away freedom from the player it's really effective at what it does as it makes you feel like you're part of the story. This is also where you unlock most of the characters and that's something you'd want to do as one of the first things with the game as only 5 out of the 23 playable characters are immediately available. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The next mode is Duel which is the standard versus mode where you play against another player though you also have the option to fight the computer, have the 2nd player fight the computer, or have the computer fight itself. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">There's also the World Tournament in where you select one character to compete one-on-one in 3 classes of choic</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">e (2 of them are unlockable)... one each harder than the last and has more contestants with a bigger prize money waiting for you in the end if you go undefeated, and the way of winning is by either KO or knocking the opponent out of the ring (which can happen very easily). This is also the only method of earning money which called Zeni (that's also the currency within the world of the actual series). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Then there's Practice which is the game's (surprisingly deep) training mode where you can use another character as a dummy to test your abilities by either having them act in a certain way ranging from doing nothing, performing a specific action (like guarding constantly or after being attacked , deflecting a ki blast, breaking fall, etc.) or using them as a sparing partner of varying difficulty so you can harness your skills. There is even an option to display status and button commands so you can practice more complex moves, gauge attack and defense power, maximize combos/damage, etc. It's not close to what you can do in the practice mode of other fighters like Virtua Fighter or Tekken but it's still a great way to learn the roles of the game and it's nice that the game even has it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">This mode has another unique factor in Budokai's combat system and it's called Edit Skills. It's revolved around a system the game calls the E.S.S (Exciting. Skill. System..... lame) and in this system these special skills are determined by 3 different categories of capsule. The </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">red</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> capsule is a character's special abilities (Death Moves and Ultimate Moves) such as Goku's Kamehameha or Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. The </span><span style="color: #40bfff; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">blue</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> capsule is a character's physical move which are Throws, Rush Attack moves, Ki blast barrage moves, and Follow-up moves. They vary between characters and each character has at least 3 of them but they lack diversity. The </span><span style="color: #00bf40; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">green</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> capsule is a support skill that enhances a character's abilities in various ways (such as increasing states, restoring health, handicapping your opponent, etc.) and some that do very specific things that only certain characters can equip. Sounds like the makings of a great mechanic in the combat system but it's marred by one problem with the Skill Tray which is what allows you to customize set skills. Each character is limit to only 7-slots which wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact you have to equip two of the same ability or physical capsule to increase it's effectiveness and certain capsules take more than one-slot. This makes it rather difficult to make the most out of the system especially for characters like Goku who have several transformations so you may find yourself resorting to getting the Breakthrough capsules (a capsule that allows the character to use all their enhanced special moves) and getting that opens up another problem within the Skill Shop.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The Skill Shop is where you buy these aforementioned skills and you can buy one capsule for each type but the one picked out for you from the type of capsule buy from is completely random... in fact, the only bit of certainty is with the recommended option and even the way that works is for the most parts random. This is also the only effective method of getting the Dragon Balls of which you need all 7 balls in order to wish for each character's breakthrough capsule, though they are rare and really expensive so you'd not only have to constantly go in and out of the Skill Shop before a Dragon Ball become purchasable in the recommended option but you'd have to do quite some grinding at the World Tournament along the way. The constant going back-and-forth between the World Tournament and getting the capsule you want added with the randomness of the Skill Shop can get very tedious, very fast. On a positive note, you can trade skills with other player to bypass the efforts for getting a lot of the capsules via memory card. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The last game mode is unlockable from purchasing it in the Skill Shop. It is called Legend of Hercule and you play as the World Champion Hercule where you have to face all the present fighters Cell Games right from Yamcha to Cell. Some have you fight under a certain condition but for most part you have simply have to beat an opponent under a time limit and you earn score points depending on how well you do in each battle. The mode is pretty limited so it serves as little more than a time killer.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Graphics</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Another point in the game comes up a bit short... though that isn't to say the graphics are horrible but they haven't aged gracefully either. In fact, even from the time period when the game first came out the graphics on the game weren't very impressive to begin with. Though they do a great job at resembling the look and feel of the anime series, the models are seriously sparse in detail to the point where they could be passed off as clay action figures. The GameCube version of the game does have a more cel-shaded look with better shading and the shadows being actual shadows instead of simple dots but it's not nearly as up to par with later games. It also doesn't even change how the dull the environments are... the color schemes are bland and there's nothing interesting going on within them. Even unique stages like Hyperbolic Time Chamber amounts to being little more than being a stretched out area.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">On the positive note it does sport high production values with the particle effects, beams, and auras all being well done though they're not extreme or stylistic like in the show and the animation on the characters are quite sharp with consistently smooth 60 fps though in-game it's clear they share a lot of the same basic fighting animation between each other. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Sound</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">One of the game's stronger points... the FUNimation dubbing cast have reprise their roles for the game and they all do pretty good job here though the glazed ham found in the dub for the anime series can sometimes be shown in full display. The soundtrack in the game isn't anything too fancy but it's good for what it is and there's a lot of memorable tracks (my personal favorite being the one that plays on the </span><a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1bxsFff3Dw" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(93, 143, 189); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #5d8fbd; direction: ltr; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed;" target="_blank">Cell Games stage</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">) right from the calm, yet unsettling in a way, at the same time tune for the vacant yet mysterious Hyperbolic Time Chamber stage to the hard-hitting electric guitar/drums and synthesizers score that plays during the intense battle between Goku and Frieza, and to the triumphant orchestra during the final showdown between Gohan and Cell. The sound effects are also very close to what is found in the anime series and run at a great clip.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Aesthetics</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">This is probably the game's greatest strength. The game's Story Mode has like the greatest representation of the DBZ story in any DBZ game to date. It faithfully recreates key moments from the anime through in-game cutscenes before and after battles adding with the fact it gives each Story Mode scenario a recap to the last scenario </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">and the next episode previews</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"> with narration </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">courtesy of the narrator from the show Kyle Hebert which makes you really feel like you're thrown into an episode of DBZ... there's even some what-if scenarios such as "what if Frieza achieved Immortality" or "what if Cell absorbed Krillin instead of #18". Though bar in the mind the storytelling in this game's Story Mode is very condensed so a lot of plot details and character developemt is left out but for the fans of the series, this abridged storytelling is a real treat as it does away with the filler bullshit.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Aside from that the menus within the game have several visual cues to the Dragon Ball series such as character being chibi style similar to the tankōbon volumes of the manga with Goku riding on his nimbus cloud in the main menus and Puar turning himself into a menu for the options in Duel. Even the combat for Budokai has many DBZ fighting quintessentials. The mechanic Burst Zone has fast fighting similar to what's found within the show, you can also send opponents flying into environmental hazards, many of the characters' have their signature moves from the series, and ultimate moves are quite a sight to behold as you devastate your opponent. Even stuff like big explosions, destructive environments, and power auras are here for the course.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">The loading screen even has something interesting going on with the radar showing the DBZ logo which you can toggle around though load times themselves are rather long taking up to 30 seconds even for well-working copies of the game.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Overall</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">Dragon Ball Z: Budokai is not the greatest fighting game out there... in fact, quite far from it even compared to many of the contemporary fighting games but as a game based on the insanely popular anime series it was great for the time. The combat, though limited, is fast-paced and fairly close to the action shown in the show, the art direction just screams "DRAGON BALL", it's easy to get into, and there's a whole lot to do. This game started what I'd like to call the "Golden Age of DBZ Gaming".</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande", "trebuchet ms", verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida grande" , "trebuchet ms" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">I give this game a 6.7 out of 10.</span></div>
D. HoChoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02185406834882614468noreply@blogger.com0