A new entry in the extensive DragonBall Z saga of video games, Budokai Tenkaichi does almost everything right.
The graphics are easily the best thing about this game. The cel-shading technique looks fantastic, and is really sharp and close to the anime. The environments are beautiful and expansive. I honestly couldn't find any problems with the graphics.
The gameplay, while fun, is where most of the problems lie. Each fight is a viscerally satisfying, adrenaline-packed brawl, faster than any other fighting game to date. The big difference in this game from traditional fighters is the "behind-the-back" view, which allows for free flight and very large environments, two things fans have been asking for since the release of DBZ: Budokai. Everything in the stage is destructible. Buildings, trees, mountains, all will fall. Even the tournament ring can be decimated.
Square is used for melee attacks, which can be alterred with directional button-presses, with triangle now used for small ki blasts. Circle is now block, which can also be alterred with directional buttons. The X button is used for dashing to or away from the opponent, or in close range, side- and back-stepping. The right shoulder buttons are used to ascend and descend, with L1 being lock-on, and L2 being power-up. You can hold L2 along with another button to pull off moves such as Dragon Dashing, or special moves like Kamehameha. All these buttons are somewhat difficult to get used to at first, and the game will definitely test your knowledge of the control scheme if you jump right into story mode, titled "Z Battle Gate" mode.
There are several modes in this game. First and most importantly, the Z battle Gate mode, is this game's "story" mode, which lets you play through every major or minor (and even some made-up) battle from the story in succession, displaying a brief cutscene before and after the battle. The second is Ultimate Battle mode, which lets you battle through a list of 100 characters. Third is World Tournament, which lets you take on a host of enemies, competing for a prize. Next is Dueling mode, which lets you go head to head against a friend or a COM in an all-out battle. Next, Training mode. Training mode has two parts: Practice and Training. Practice mode lets you go head to head against an enemy, both of you with regenerating health and ki, and you can make the enemy stand still or fight back. Training mode is a tutorial that teaches you the basics of the game. Though a minor complaint I have about this is that the tutorial basically only shows you what you can do and doesn't let you do it during the tutorial, which is perhaps not a wise decision since the controls are very complex. The Next mode is Evolution Z mode. This is a mode that lets you customize your character with Z Items that you unlock through playing Z Battle Gate mode. Next is Character Illustrations, which gives you some images and a brief description of each character's backgrounds.
There are over 60 characters to choose from and quite a few stages, but many of these characters play similar to each other, but they are still fun to try out.
Despite some difficulties with camera angles and a sometimes annoying AI, the gameplay is excellent.
The sound in this game is decent. The dubs are pretty good, and the dual track with the Japanese voices is excellent, but one major beef I have with the sound in Budokai Tenkaichi is the music. Basically, the worst music from Budokai 3 was recycled and put into this for the North American release, which means more crazy guitar riffs. What irks me is that they decided to add the Japanese voice track, but neglected to include the Background music track as well. I guess I will just have to mute the in-game music in favor of some Children Of Bodom instead.
Overall, Budokai Tenkaichi is an excellent game, although there are some bothersome aspects. It is definitely the best replica of the anime yet, and any DBZ fan will no doubt enjoy it. So if you are a fan, pick it up immediately, and if you aren't, then perhaps rent it.