| DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi review |
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One of the major cornerstones of Japanese anime – Dragon Ball Z – has recently enjoyed rejuvenated popularity following its introduction on British satellite TV. The franchise has been integral to Japanese gaming for over a decade, appearing on platforms such as the Super Famicom, Game Boy, Dreamcast, and numerous arcade permutations, but as with so many other anime creations, none were actually released officially on western shores. Then in 2002, it all changed with the introduction of DBZ Budokai. Developed with western gamers firmly in mind, the series achieved immediate accolade for successfully bringing together existing and new ideas, pushing the series onwards and upwards. Followed by a string of warmly received sequels, DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi (with development honours being transferred from Dimps to Spike) is the latest instalment and promises to deliver even more for the growing and ever-enthusiastic DBZ fan base.
As with all its DBZ predecessors, Tenkaichi’s main story mode adheres to a structure defined by classic battles within the anime. As before, a linear, chronological voyage through the show’s most memorable moments takes precedence. Although the opportunity for a more strategic, organic gaming experience is certainly on the cards, it is disappointing that as with the prequels, everything in Tenkaichi is, quite literally, spoon-fed to the player. The approach is a dubious one, especially in view of the fact that anyone playing Tenkaichi is likely to possess an in-depth knowledge of the story anyway, so the hard-wired arrangement will leave seasoned DBZ fans with more than a hint of head scratching. To make things worse, the individual chapters haven’t even been woven together with any sense of fluidity, with explanations and expansions to the plot being particularly weak during pre- and post-battles – a far cry from the elaborate dialogue which DBZ fans are likely to expect and demand. Exacerbating this are the loading times, which quickly become annoying since every fight and cutscene (of which there are plenty) take up just enough time to hinder smooth progress. The fights themselves are typically short mission-based affairs which simply jump from one to the next with limited flair and reward. All this leads to an experience which feels at best, largely predictable, and at worst, a meandering collection of weak cutscenes and loading interruption.
However, leaving the story aside, if there’s one thing that can turn things around for Tenkaichi, the fighting experience would be it. The strength of any title carrying the DBZ name is the licence to offer an endless supply of physics-defying moves, highly destructible arenas, massive air and ground battlefields, and of course, the ability to call upon fireballs the size of small planets. Well, almost. Instead of retaining separate buttons for punching and kicking, we now get a single button for the two, thus giving predetermined patterns of attack depending on how many times the button is pressed – punch-punch-kick combos from 2D scrolling beat-'em-ups from the early 1990s provide plenty of examples. Calling upon special moves and unfeasibly large fireballs requires a bit more pressing, but once you master the limited move list on offer, the game has essentially been half-mastered since all the key moves and combos are executed in the same way for every character – even if there are over 80 to choose from. Disappointing also are the arenas, which are not as large as might be expected, and the boundaries set up to restrict the playing field often end up hampering your view of the action instead (a problem caused largely by the unusual and jittery behind-the-back camera angle). Despite some impressive destructible scenery such as tower blocks, cars, and the imperative large boulder, the battle perimeter is too small to be truly faithful to the scale depicted in the anime. On the plus side, a new manual ‘fly’ button enables free ground-to-air-to-underwater roaming which broadens the possibility for sustained attacks as well as getting out of trouble, but on the whole, combat feels overly pernickety and contrived.
Areas where Tenkaichi excels are in audio and visual. The introduction screen seems to come straight from the annals of Toriyama; signature moves (particularly fireballs) capture a strong visual resemblance to their intentions of mass destruction; there is even the choice between Japanese and English voices. Although the background music can be a tad too rock-and-roll for DBZ’s origin, little fault can be found in these departments. Side offerings include customary battle, tournament, and duel modes for added longevity; an ‘Evolution-Z’ mode is also extant for characters to be upgraded using unlocks obtained in the story mode.
Overall, Tenkaichi is not the sequel gamers would probably expect from the Budokai series. Significant diversions have been made in numerous key areas such as the play mechanics and camera angles. Unfortunately, there is often scant reward for such drastic change if execution is anything but perfect – a problem which certainly seems to be the case here. Although Tenkaichi does offer genuine enjoyment, if only briefly, it comes as small consolation for the relative merits of recent prequels, and while eager young gamers will be enthused, those looking for a more brain-busting and evolutionary experience shouldn’t expect too much.
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System: Sony PlayStation 2
Genre: Fighter
Developer: Spike
Publisher: Atari
Players: 1-2
Version: European
Reviewed: Feb 2006
Writer: Barry Ip
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Pros:
- Impressive visuals, particularly opening sequence
- Extensive story mode
- Massive character selection
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Cons:
- Loading interruptions too frequent and lengthy
- Linear, spoon-fed structure
- Clumsy camera angles
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DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi Video: 5.9MB
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