Pretty good.Could have been perfect with a few more things.
Graphics: 9/10 The cartoon-ish looking character models look very nice as that feeling of "life" was given to them.Oh,and they are 3D-more 3d looking than the Budokai series' cell-shading models- The stages also look good,but -of course- some detail is lacking in the areas the characters fight,but that's because those parts of the stages are destructible,so no big deal.The stages are 3D as well.The beams and blasts all look nice and they actually feel destructive this time!! For the first time thus for as long as I can recall,the normal supers feel destructive and that's achieved through the multiple hits when a super(and some times ultimate) connects.The ultimates also look nice.The rush supers too (these are included in the super attacks and they are cutscenes that show your character hitting the opponent...if the attack connects that is).What doesn't look nice is the ki blasts.They're like identical for each character.
Soundtrack: 9.5/10 The soundtrack in this game is surprisingly good.Most of the tracks are great and there are some that really stand out!
Gameplay: 8.5/ 10 Ah,this is so much better than the first installment.You now have way more combo options and combinations to do.Plus,punching/kicking your opponents through buildings is still awesome!Combine that with the free roaming element of the BT series and you get some good butt-kicking.However,the fighting system lacks a little depth.There could have been a few more combo options and moves,as well as a little faster gameplay to make this game even (a lot) better. Perhaps a way to chain supers to physical combos more effectively would have been a nice addition...but let's go back to describing the fighting mechanics. You can do physical combos,during which you can execute different moves,including heavy finishers with their follow-ups from the first game,flying kicks,sliding kicks and quite a few more.Learning how to use combos and follow them up with other combos may take you a while.You can also use Blast 1s(techniques that help you somehow),blast 2s(supers) and ultimates.You can fly around the stage while fighting,hide if your opponent hasn't seen you yet,and use your ki to mοve faster.To use ultimate moves,you have to go max power mode.In max power mode you also get a few more bonuses.You can use more dragon homing attacks,you can use a few more combos and you are less stunned when an opponent hits you,or you stun your opponent with more ease when you hit them.All in all,good combat,but many people,even DBZ fans,might get bored of it quickly,and the controls are kinda confusing at first.
Replayability: 8/10 You might come back to this game at times,when you feel the need to play something "older" but fun or play through a good story mode...otherwise,you will probably want to go back to another DBZ(or other) game.Also,might prefer this game's customization to other DBZ game ones'.
Content: Let's see: Story mode:Nice and long.
Tournament: 3 different types of Tournaments with 4 difficulty levels
Z Battle: 15 different roads(columns?) with opponents to face under different conditions.Pretty fun,until you beat it.
Training:What do I need to explain?The usual stuff: Training:2 types:Free training and practice(learn the game)
Those are the modes that focus on fighting.
There's also an encyclopedia in which you can learn a couple of things about the chars in the game,and listen to to music...the GAME's music,not radio music...
Oh yeah,and evolution Z which includes the shop,the customization,and itam fusion(the way you unlock characters and new items)
Needless to meantion "Options"
DBZ game review parts:
Story: 9.5/10 One of the best story modes in DBZ game history.The story goes from the start of DBZ up to the end of GT and is told well.Lacks only a few things,but every important fight is there and most(if not all) not-so-important ones aren't missing. There are a few fighting cutscenes here and there,but most of the story is told with cutscenes of dialogue and texts before and after each fight.After each fight,you'll be given an item.These items help you unlock characters throught Z Item Fusion.This game tells the Story very well.Just a very few imperfections really.There are also some What If sagas you can unlock by beating some special battles.
Characters:10/10 A lot of characters.The amount will blow you away.Only a small number of characters of no significant importance is missing,but most people won't even care.Each character differs from others in a few ways,so son't bother saying every character plays the same.
Moves:9.5 Oh yeah,just some moves missing like Goku's Super Spirit Bomb,but every important and memorable move for every character is there.The huge number of characters makes these few absences forgivable.But it's worth mentioning that people who aren't interested or haven't seen the anime,won't care about this.If it weren't for the char roster,I'd probably have given this category an 9/10 but because of the chars,we get to see a lot of attacks.
Customization: 8.5/10 Not bad at all...but not perfect.It's great to see that you have a lot of choices of what to equip to have each character play differently,but in the end,it's all the same: Each char will have 20/20 all stats when they are at the maximum level possible...but then you have special items that make this interesting by giving characters a wide veriety of effects.Nice customization mode
Overall: As just-a-game: 8.0/10 Some non fans of Dragonball may actually like this...but some others ( and probably the most) may not even care.But it's good and if you are interested in getting to know DBZ,this game's a good way to start.
As a DBZ game:-9/10 Maybe something between 8.5 and 9. The fighting mechanics are good,but the game's fighting is something you get bored of quickly,mainly because there are DBZ games such as BT3 with even better fighting and that's a downside you should take into consideration.But the game has a few stuff you might like a lot,like the story mode and the variety of characters.So,very good game!