Dragon Ball Z: Budokai

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series

Cover art for the first Budokai game for the PlayStation 2
Developer(s) Dimps
Publisher(s)
Series Dragon Balls
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Fighting
Mode(s) Single-player
Multiplayer
Rating(s)
Media/distribution DVD-ROM, UMD, GameCube Optical Disc

The Dragon Ball Z: Budokai games are a series of fighting games based on the Dragon Ball media franchise.

Contents

Gameplay

The Budokai series plays like a typical 3-D fighting game. As well as including the regular punch and kick buttons, there is the ability to shoot Ki blasts. which can also be used in specific special moves. The special moves are mainly taken from the fie ability to teleport, fly freely, and have "Beam Struggles" between two character's beam attacks. Although these mechanics have stuck with the series, other ideas such as the "Hyper Mode" were later replaced in favour of other techniques. The games ranking is a 5 star.

History

Budokai

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, released as Dragon Ball Z (ドラゴンボールZ Doragon Bōru Zetto?) in Japan, is a fighting game released for the PlayStation 2 on November 2, 2002 in Europe and on December 3, 2002 in North America, and for the Nintendo GameCube on October 28, 2003 in North America and on November 14, 2003 in Europe. It was the first Dragon Ball Z game to be released in all Europe and aside from specific releases in France, Spain and Portugal like it was with the earlier games. The game was released in Japan by Bandai on the PlayStation 2 on February 13, 2003, and on the Nintendo GameCube on November 28, 2003. It was developed by Dimps and published by Atari.

The game follows the Dragon Ball Z timeline starting with Goku and Piccolo's fight with Raditz up to Gohan's final battle with Cell with a total of 23 playable characters. Features included in the game were a story mode, a versus mode, a tournament stage, a practice mode, and an items shop which allowed the player to purchase various customization abilities using money that was gained through the various challenges in the story mode and tournament victories to customize and make the most powerful warriors. The story mode also included a few "what if" episodes to play, retelling iconic events in the Dragon Ball history with a few twists. A cel-shading effect was added to the graphics in the GameCube version.

The North American versions feature English voice acting from the North American Funimation dub, while the European versions feature the original Japanese voice acting and several European languages text translations.[1]

Budokai 2

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, released as Dragon Ball Z 2 (ドラゴンボールZ2 Doragon Bōru Zetto Tsū?) in Japan, is a fighting game based upon the popular anime series, Dragon Ball Z. Budokai 2 is a sequel to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and was developed by Dimps and published by Atari for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in North America on December 4, 2003, and on the Nintendo GameCube on December 15, 2004. The game was published in Japan by Bandai, and released for the PlayStation 2 on February 5, 2004.

The game's features include a tournament stage, versus mode, and an item shop. The story mode in the game is known as Dragon Adventure, and plays like a board game as the player assembles a team of Z-fighters to challenge the various enemies in the series starting from the Saiyan Saga up to the final Kid Buu Saga. The game has a total of 31 playable characters including fusions of different fighters, and Majin Buu's various forms. The Japanese version of the game added several new costumes, as well as a new stage in the game's story mode. Some of the added costumes were added to the North American release of the GameCube version.

Once again, the North American versions feature English voice acting from the North American Funimation dub. The European PlayStation 2 version also features it, while the later European GameCube version switched back to the original Japanese voice acting because of negative feedback from most European Dragon Ball fans which were used to the Japanese dub since the 16-bit era.[2]

Budokai 3

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, released as Dragon Ball Z 3 (ドラゴンボールZ3 Doragon Bōru Zetto Surī?) in Japan, is a video game based on the popular anime series Dragon Ball Z and was developed by Dimps and published by Atari for the PlayStation 2. It was released on November 16, 2004 in North America in both a standard and Limited Edition release, the latter of which included a DVD featuring a behind the scenes looks at the game's development. In Europe, it was released on November 19, 2004.

The game's story mode yet again plays through the events of the Dragon Ball Z timeline, and the game includes several characters and events from Dragon Ball Z movies (like Cooler, Broly and Bardock), Dragon Ball GT (like Super Saiyan 4 and Omega Shenron), and the original Dragon Ball series itself (Kid Goku). Other features the game includes are a versus mode, an items shop, a tournament, and a battle ranking stage where the player has to challenge the AI in a hundred fighter challenge. Moving a spot above after beating who ever is next in the ranking. The fighting mechanics have also been enhanced from the preceding 2 games making the game closer to its anime counterpart in terms of combat (which was well received by fans of the series and gamers alike). Budokai 3 has a roster of 42 playable characters.

The game released in Japan by Bandai on February 10, 2005. Like Budokai 2 before it, the Japanese version of Budokai 3 added several costumes not present in the North American and European versions. The North American Greatest Hits version of Budokai 3 adds these costumes, as well as the option to switch the audio to Japanese for the first time in North America. This version was also released in Europe as a re-release of the game under the title Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 - Director's Cut. From this release onwards, all Dragon Ball Z games in North America and Europe were released with dual voice language options in English and Japanese in order to please all fans.[3]

Shin Budokai

Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (ドラゴンボールZ 真武道会 Doragon Bōru Zetto Shin Budôkai?, Dragon Ball Z: True Tournament) is a fighting video game part of the Dragon Ball Z franchise, developed by Dimps and released in North America on March 7, 2006 and in Europe on May 25, 2006. The game's story mode is based on the events of the movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn. The choices the player makes in the story determine how the story evolves.

Another mode is the Arcade mode, a single player mode that lets you brawl against the CPU in order to fight and gain the Dragon Balls. Next is the Z trial mode, which consists of two different types of play: survival, where you fight against CPU-controlled opponents for as long as you can, and time attack, where you see how fast you can make it through a predetermined set of opponents.

Finally, there’s the Profile Card mode in which the players will have their in-game character profile cards that lists their name and power level. The player can design their own card and customize them with the items from the game's item store.

Shin Budokai - Another Road

Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road (known simply as Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2 (ドラゴンボールZ 真武道会2 Doragon Bōru Zetto Shin Budôkai Tzū?, Dragon Ball Z: True Tournament 2) in Japan and Europe) is the sequel to Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai. The game features a brand new story that tells the tale of Majin Buu being released in Future Trunks' timeline. As Majin Buu is too strong for Trunks to handle alone, he uses his time machine to recruit the original Z warriors for assistance, eventually succeeding in the destruction of Majin Buu.

Infinite World

Main article: Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World

Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World is the fourth installment to the Budokai PS2 series. The game was released on December 4, 2008 in Japan, November 4, 2008 in North America and December 5, 2008 in Europe.

Playable characters

Character Budokai Budokai 2 Budokai 3 Shin Budokai Shin Budokai: Another Road Infinite World
Goku Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Kid Gohan Y N Y N N Y Y
Teen Gohan Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Great Saiyaman Y Y Y N N Y ?
Vegeta Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Future Trunks Teen Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Piccolo Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Krillin Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Tien Y Y Y N N Y ?
Yamcha Y Y Y N N Y ?
Android 16 Y Y Y N N Y ?
Android 17 Y Y Y N N Y Y
Android 18 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Android 19 Y N N N N N N
Frieza Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Dodoria Y N N N N N N
Zarbon Y N N N N N N
Captain Ginyu Y Y Y N N Y ?
Recoome Y Y Y N N Y ?
Cell Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Hercule Y Y Y N N Y N
Nappa Y Y Y N N Y N
Raditz Y Y Y N N Y N
Goten N Y Y N N Y Y
Gohan N Y Y Y Y Y Y
Kid Trunks N Y Y N N Y Y
Videl N Y Y N N Y N
Supreme Kai N Y Y N N N N
Dr. Gero (AKA Android#20) N Y Y N N Y N
Dabura N Y Y N Y Y Y
Majin Buu N Y Y N Y Y Y
Super Buu N Y Y N Y Y Y
Kid Buu N Y Y Y Y Y Y
Saibamen N N Y N N Y N
Cell Jr. N N Y N N N N
Bardock N N Y N Y Y Y
Cooler N N Y Y Y Y ?
Broly N N Y Y Y Y Y
Omega Shenron (or) Syn Shenron N N Y N N Y Y
Uub N N Y N N N N
Kid Goku N N Y N N N N
Janemba N N N Y Y Y Y
Pikkon N N N Y Y Y Y
Future Gohan N N N N Y N Y
Gotenks N Y Y Y Y Y Y
Gogeta N N Y Y Y Y Y
Vegito N Y Y Y Y Y Y
Future Trunks Adult N N N N Y N Y
Pan N N N N N Y ?
Baby Vegeta N N N N N Y Y
Super 17 N N N N N Y Y
Goku (GT) N N N N N Y Y
Vegeta (GT) N N N N N Y Y

Reception

Critics gave the first Budokai mixed or average reviews. The PS2 version received an average score of 68% based on 41 reviews on the review aggregator Game Rankings, and an average score of 67 out of 100 based on 28 reviews on Metacritic.

The GameCube version received an average score of 66% based on 30 reviews on the review aggregator Game Rankings, and an average score of 65 out of 100 based on 16 reviews on Metacritic. Many critics complained about its simple interface and the fact that combos weren't worth the payoff. However, more complex combos were possible due to an oversight in the move canceling feature but were rarely known at the time. These oversights were turned into an important part of the system in the later games and were what high level play tended to revolve around

The PlayStation 2 version of Budokai 2 version has an aggregate score of 69% on Game Rankings while the GameCube version has an aggregate score of 66%. GameSpot, who gave the game a 6.7/10 commented that "The improved visuals are nice, and some of the additions made to the fighting system are fun, but Budokai 2 still comes out as an underwhelming sequel."[4]

Budokai 3 was given much higher reviews than its predecessors Budokai and Budokai 2. This was often due to how critics felt that the game did more to improve its gameplay rather than just its graphics and presentation. It was given an 8.0/10 by IGN. GameTrailers gave it a 9.1/10. Its fighting and graphics have also been praised, with IGN stating that Budokai 3 was "One of the few instances of cel-shading done right, Budokai 3 also offers a healthy amount of special effects and pyrotechnics and they all look great."[5].

References

  1. ^ http://guides.ign.com/guides/482267/
  2. ^ http://guides.ign.com/guides/552483/
  3. ^ http://guides.ign.com/guides/679951/
  4. ^ "PlayStation 2 review at GameSpot". http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/dbzbud2/review.html. 
  5. ^ IGN: Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 Review