What's the Story?
Firstly the rather stellar Story Mode from the previous outing has been replaced with the Dragon Mode. Whilst being quite a shame, the Story Mode was really well done despite being a bit restrictive, Dragon Mode is quite entertaining as well. It is more akin to a strategy board game than anything else - see the top screenshot. You control Goku , and select allies, moving from location to the location on the board, picking up powerups, capsules, dragonballs and zenie and taking on various opponents scattered strategically. Each 'team' has a turn to move and attacking is accomplished by simply moving into the space that your opponent is sitting. Each character has a small life meter which decreases each time they are defeated in battle and removes them completely when empty, or after losing 2 battles in the same turn. These battles are loosely based on events in the show (from Raditz through to Buu), which seems rather poorly done, but there is some good dialogue at times and some interesting fights.
For those of you who haven't played the first, abilties come in the form of capsules. Their are three types: Red, Blue and Green. The Red Capsules are Ability Moves such as transformations or energy attacks, the Blue Capsules are Physical Attacks including combos and throws, and the Green Capsules are Support. The Support Capsules usually enhance your fighting ability by either raising defense or attack, reducing damage and so forth. There are seven slots to be played with, thus some interesting combos can be made. There are also Normal default setups for when you just want a mate to jump into multiplayer. There are also special breakthrough capsules that unlock every single move for a given character.
Kaaa..meeee.....haaaa......meeeee....HAAA
The fighting is rather similar to the previous game, that is to say as shallow as the filler Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) episodes. There is no ducking or variation in attack height and as well a movement system which is best described as hopping. Now to be fair these flaws do seem to suit a DBZ game, as in the show characters either block or get hit, go really fast or sit there charging up. Special moves are performed by doing a series of button presses followed by the Energy Button (circle). Thankfully there is now a way to perform a few select moves without doing so. There is Right + Energy and Left + Energy. Of course the 2 variations are different for every character, and the corresponding moves must be equipped. However it is a nice way of pulling out moves that don't require combos.
This also ties in with the new special move system. When performing a move, eg a Kamehameha, there is a slight delay where you can hold the button and charge it (when using the shortcut and not the combo). Whilst you are doing so, the enemy has an opportunity to either dodge out of the way, or use their shortcut to pull off a blast. Depending on the timing involved the shots can either cancel themselves out, or one of the two can overpower the other. To add to this, many of the other types of special moves also have additional input required, and have extra effect should perform them perfectly. As a nice touch, some of the huge blasts have a meter where you and the enemy must rotate the analog sticks in a power struggle.
Time to bust up some mountains
The DBZ world is amazingly recreated both in the fighting arenas and the characters. There are about 30 different characters to play as covering the entire DBZ series from Raditz to Maijin Buu. These include all of Buu's forms, a few new ones and even some fusions. Also in true DBZ style the arenas have areas that you can smash your opponent through. These include the ever popular smashed over water move, (see screenshots attached), through mountains and through buildings to name a few. The characters are brought to life in superb fashion. The cel-shaded style works so well that it is almost like playing the show. The presentation is just top notch, and everything is as exactly as it should be. It is probably worth buying on the graphics alone, or at least renting.
The game also features the entire Funimation English cast. Whilst the debate over where Japanese or English voices are better will ever rage on, it is good that the proper English voices have been used. There is even the announcer from the world tournament doing his part. The sound effects are great and suit the action perfectly. The music is a mix of rock-type stuff that doesn't seem to be from the show, but works nonetheless.
No more coffee breaks
One major problem that has been addressed were the loading times from the previous game. Loading Practise mode or Vs mode took at least 1-2 minutes. It was absolutely ridiculous. Now there is no delay loading the character selection and minimal waiting full stop. The longest loading time would be in Dragon Mode - that is when the game loads up a little voice acted pre-fight conversation. This seems a bit long, but it is not a major problem and is nothing like the huge waits of old.
With 3 main fighting modes (plus one secret), a whole host of characters and moves to unlock, and a very functional Vs mode there is quite a lot of re-playability in the title and it is highly recommended for fans of the show. However the depth in the fighting is still lacking despite the nice additions, so you would need to be a DBZ fan over a fighting game fan.
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