Dragonball Z: Budokai
Review By: DBsummit
First of all, it’s a DBZ game. If you love DBZ or fighting games, you will probably like
this. This game is probably one of the best DBZ games by far. If you are only half
interested in DBZ, to be honest, you might not like this game. This may be one of the best
Dragonball Z games ever but it isn’t one of the best fighting games. With that said, on
with the rest of the review!
Gameplay-8/10
This isn’t really an average fighter if that is what you are expecting. If you are used to
the quick button mash combos from games like Marvel VS Capcom, you will need to get used to
Budokai. Also, finally you can transform while in battle instead of selecting an already
transformed character. To do special death moves and stuff is way different than most
fighting games where you use mostly the D-pad. In this one, you use punch, kick, and energy
combos if you want to do the bigger attacks. Only in a few do you use the D-pad; like I
said, you might have to get used to it.
The world tournament awards you with money to buy capsules that range from
attacks to ones that boost your power. This is probably the best feature in the game. It
adds more strategy to the game and you can test out different capsule setups to make the
ultimate character.
Story-9/10
If your a fan of the series, you'll be happy to know that the story remains strong in the
game and starts at the Saiyan Saga and ends at the Cell Saga. Newcomers will have a
difficult time keeping up with the story. Also expect a LOT of cut scenes in story mode.
There were a few parts that looked completely stupid on here and humiliated the series. A
cool feature here was the “what if?” stories. They are unlocked after beating the story
mode once. They are things that never really happened in the series but it shows how it
would be like if they did happen.
Graphics-8/10
The characters and stages are very nicely detailed. When you transform into SSJ, it looks
very nicely done. There are a few flaws here and there but it’s okay. At first it seems
weird to see everyone in 3D, but you get used to it after a while. You might be spoiled by
Tekken 4 graphics though…
Sound-9/10
Expect extremely good sound from this game. There are some music tracks that are pretty
cool like the final battle with Cell. The voices for each character are almost perfect.
They are the original voice actors and no cheap imitations. The only flaw it has is when
you transform with a few of the characters like Cell, the voice should change but it stays
the same. This makes it a bit awkward.
Play Time/Replayabillity-7/10
You’ll beat this game in a few hours pretty easily. You can play a lot more if you have
friends to play with. You can still keep trying to build a good character with your
capsules. To get all of the capsules might take a while but you could get bored of it for a
little while before playing again.
Overall- 8/10
This is one of those games where if you’re not a fan, you will hate it. DBZ fans will
either love it or think it’s okay. It deserves an 8/10. Maybe the sequel will blow this one
away.