Bandai and Atari have always done plenty to ensure that each Budokai title is greatly improved over its predecessor, but bringing Spike on board to develop Budokai Tenkaichi was a great move. Spike has made a whole bunch of alterations to the play style of Budokai, changing the perspective from side on to behind the shoulder, allowing for a more realistic interpretation of free flight, which goes a long way to making this game feel like the truest interpretation of Dragon Ball Z to date. Despite the perspective change and the new emphasis on flight, Spike has managed to stay true to the series, retaining a lot of mechanics from the last two titles. As a result, this game feels like the truest representation of the anime in any videogame to date.
Free flight helps make Budokai Tenkaichi capture that Dragon Ball Z feeling
The perspective change and free flight mode make Budokai Tenkaichi feel like a cross between the second Budokai game and Zone of the Enders. Many have felt that Kojima’s mecha series made a good case for how a Dragon Ball Z game should be done, and it looks as if Spike took this to heart. Simply put, free flight lets you ascend and descend at your will, rather than having to be launched or dropped as in the previous game. The new perspective also allows for greater movement, and the size of the levels has been made to accommodate this. Free movement has also allowed Spike to implement important parts of the anime’s fights that hadn’t appeared in previous Budokai games. Players can use the environment to hide and launch stealth attacks – detection becomes a factor in choosing your fighter, with three types of detection available (the “sense” charaters, the characters with scouter technology, and “other”). Using the environment to hide isn’t exactly the safest option, as it is now fully destructible. Keep this in mind when fighting an Oozaru/Great Ape opponent. Ring outs are also a big factor in the tournament battles – though flight characters can be saved from losing by that particular ability.
Fans of Budokai 3’s flashier techniques such as Hyper mode may be a little disappointed, as Spike has chosen to eliminate some of the gloss that the third game added, returning to more directly player controlled fights. Players can execute a basic 5 hit combo with this button, but can place a charged attack with either the attack button or ki button into the sequence, which will launch the opponent, or knock him/her back. The kick and punch buttons have been consolidated into one single attack button. The dash button has been added in place of the second attack button, and is arguably the single most important function in Budokai Tenkaichi, given the enhanced size of the arenas and the free movement mechanics. Dash obviously lets you run towards or away from your opponent at increased speed (which can be further enhanced with other techniques), but also allows for quick dodging and access to a variety of smash attacks, as well as the powerful Dragon Smash attack.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Dragon Ball Z without the ki attacks, and Budokai Tenkaichi has them in spades. There are a few ki attacks available, and the mechanics are largely the same for each character. The triangle button on its own will unleash a regular energy blast – you can hold the button down for a charged attack, or hit it five times for a barrage of energy balls. Holding L2 will charge ki, but when triangle is pressed while this button is held down, the player will execute his or her finishing ki attack, which will take out a large amount of their opponent’s health. Players also have Favourite Moves, which essentially equate to being able to go into Kaioken mode and other powered up modes. Unfortunately, it doesn't let you go directly into Super Saiyan mode - each character has an independent Super Saiyan version for each level, which is disappointing after Budokai 3 let you change on the fly. This will make the player temporarily stronger, they will not be charged for regular ki techniques and they can access their fighter’s Super Finishing Move; usually their most powerful attack from the anime. Executing finishing attacks simultaneously will result in a struggle of sorts, where players must wiggle the analogue sticks as fast as they can, with the fastest winning the exchange. The ki charge button can be used in this instance to try and tip the balance in your favour, but using all of your ki will cause you to not only lose the exchange, but be stunned afterward.
Dashing will save your hide, but can also be used offensively
Defence is just as offence in Budokai Tenkaichi. Most defensive moves are controlled by the circle button, which handles blocking and countering. Counters are great for interrupting basic combos and deflecting ki attacks, but players should be wary that there is a variety of guard breaking attacks available. Evasive manoeuvres are available as well, including the series’ staple teleport counter, which lets you dodge in any direction you wish, even allowing you to dodge behind your opponent and launch a smash attack of your own. Overall, while the fighting mechanics aren’t as deep as a Virtua Fighter or Tekken title, they’re accessible for all players, but there’s just enough depth for a couple of veteran players to have impressive, flashy battles.
A wide variety of modes has been included in Budokai Tenkaichi. The Z Battle Gate makes up the main single player part of the game. The player meets up with Mr. Popo, who explains that Shenron has memories of all of the Z Warriors adventures, and the player must help him remember them. After Mr. Popo tells you how happy he is, you’ll be able to select from a number of adventures – every saga from Dragon Ball Z is selectable, as well as a stack of bonus adventures. Players are going to be surprised to find that the AI’s ability in the single player modes has been jacked up – even a Budokai veteran like me had trouble in the earlier matches. The CPU opponents will use every move in their disposal, but rarely come off as cheap, unless you’re stuck in a corner. Ultimate Battle lets you choose a character and fight your way up a rankings ladder with 100 other fighters. World tournament lets a player and up to 7 friends (or CPU opponents) fight in the World Tournament, in the special arena – meaning that ring outs equate to a loss. The Duel mode lets you fight with a friend or AI opponent on any arena with any character, though the split screen multiplayer is a bit of a pain in this age of LAN and online play. Piccolo guides you through the Training mode, which teaches you the basics of the game – it’s not hands-on like it was in Budokai 3, but informative nonetheless. Evolution Z replaces the old item shop, and lets you increase the power of your characters, mix cards up and unlock new characters. With all these features and multiplayer, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi should last fans quite some time.
All of the flashy effects you've come to expect from the anime are also in the game
Budokai Tenkaichi’s presentation is phenomenal. The opening cinematic is a fan boy’s dream come true, featuring a highly detailed, cel shaded CG fight between many of the series characters. In game, the graphics are great – the characters are cel shaded once again, but look crisper than they did in Budokai 3. The environments are huge and fully destructible, though the texture jumping seen on the ground can be a little annoying. The energy effects seen with fireballs and other ki attacks are awesome. The game runs at a steady framerate throughout, though there are no 60 Hz or widescreen options. The series voice actors, both English and Japanese reprise their roles and players can choose between them, which should shut some of those anime geeks up. Music is solid for the most part, but does break into generic guitar rock from time to time. Sound effects are solid, especially for the exchanges of blows and ki attacks; though no surround sound support is a disappointment.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi is testament to the fact that Bandai and Atari are serious about making quality games based on the Dragon Ball license. There’s not too much more that they can do to the game to make it better – a little tightening of the battle mechanics, fix the texture stuttering, maybe speed the game up, add the characters from the final movie and include online support. As it stands, Budokai Tenkaichi is the best Dragon Ball Z game to date – all fans should rush out and get it next week, or put it on their Christmas list.
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