"Not your regular beat'em'up game" "A diferent approach to the series" "Faithful to the anime vs Gameplay"
With the changing of developers from Dimps to Spike, came the change of gameplay style. Forget the classic 3D-2D from the previous Budokai (or most of the fighting games by the way). In Tenkaichi you have an 'over the shoulder' view, with a total freedom of movement, resembling that of a 3D action game.
The combat itself is based on a 'dash' 'hit' 'ki-blast' variation system, so forget about the long hand-to-hand standoffs, and teleport heavy battles, because this game is a lot faster (and confusing). The pros of this battle system, contrary to what it might seem considering that there is only one 'hit' button, is that it can be quite more impredictable if played correctly due to the freedom of movement that the game confers. There was also the inclusion of a new type of moves, called favourites, and the connection of special moves (called finishing moves) is now much easier. The COM AI is a confusing topic. It goes from extremely strong to utterly dumb. You can win some battles just pulling a few couple of finishing moves.
Where this game really hits the spot is in the depth of the scenarios. You can actually destroy them at will, hide behind buildings or hills, dive into the water, and fly around searching for a dragonball without even caring about your opponent. It gets quite rewarding on two player battles, as the split-screen battles can be quite funny and anime-like. The sound does its job, not very diferent from the previous Budokai with the bonus of japanese voice-overs. The capsule system is there (renamed Potara and not as complete), and replaces the character leveling up process from Budokai 3.
The game has quite a few modes to test your skills. The battle gate mode, has tons of sagas to choose from, taken from the anime series and the extra anime movies. In this mode you have to complete a series of challenges, like surviving for some time, assure victory in a short period of time, defeat an opponent with a specific move, etc. The ranking mode gets you fighting your way to the top on a 100 fighters ranking. World Tournament mode lets you participate in the popular tournaments, Duelling lets you fight single battles, and Practice helps you to learn the mechanics of the game in a fine tutorial, as well as in some pratice battles.
Overall, this is a fun game, built to add a new perspective on Dragonball games but not to please the fighting game junkies. If you are a fan of the series you should buy it. If not, you should probably rent it first.
Pros:
- New type of gameplay.
- Great content from the series.
- Playing as master Roshi or Chaotzu.
Cons:
- Gameplay will not please everyone.
- No transformations during battle.
- Able to defeat AI using only finishing moves.
- Not enough character uniqueness.