Best DBZ ever!
After over a month of screenshots, video watching, reading, and lots of anticipation, I finally got my copy of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi. First of all, let me say that it was well worth the wait, AND the money. Second, I bought this game, not really knowing what to expect. I had read what others wrote about it, and it had been given mixed reviews. After playing the game, I can now say that every bad review for this game, was written by an idiot, a liar, OR somebody that played the game for 10 minutes and decided to review it. Before I get into the review, I must say that this is not a game that you can just pick up and play. This game has a learning curve of about 1 to 3 hours (maybe more depending on the gamer), and even then you won't have it mastered, or know how to do everything you can do. This game takes patience, and only once you've learned it well can you truly enjoy it.
Graphics 9.5/10
The graphics are beautiful. Out of all the Dragon Ball Z games out there, the characters on this game look the closest to the anime. They did an excellent job with the 'cel-shading'. The enironments look just how they're supposed to, and they look great. The special moves also look great in my opinion. Some would argue that they're too small or too fast but, for the type of game it is, I think they're perfect. The only reason that this didn't get a full 10, is because while the graphics are great, and they resemble the anime quite closely, they're not really breaking any records, as the PS2 is capable of much more than this. (they don't need to however, it's an anime based game!)
Sound 9/10
Everybody seems to complain about the American dubbed voices, and the American music. Personally, I love the music in this game. The voices sound fine to me also. (I believe they were done by the same people that did them for the show) Sound effects are what you'd expect in a 'fighting' game. Punches, yells, beams, etc.
Gameplay & Controls 9/10
Anybody who says that the controls and fighting system on this game isn't as complex as Budokai 3 is an idiot. The system on this game is VERY complex if you know how to use it correctly. People say "Oh, there's only one button for punching and kicking now. You can do combos with one button. Wah!!!" Wow, if you know how to combo properly, there are tons of things you can do to add moves into your combo, in addition to that one little button, for example, holding the button while pressing a D-Pad direction to slow down and power up your next hit. (the type of hit changes depending on what you press) Next, there are tons of things you can do now that you couldn't in Budokai 3. You can jump, fly around freely, use your ki to burst and fly even faster, teleport whenever, etc. The special moves are more complex now too, as some of them consist of pushing more than two buttons (unlike Budokai 3). Now as I said above, this game is pretty difficult to learn and master. It definately takes some practice before you're using all these moves freely.
Camera 8/10
The camera angle is NOT bad, but at times, your view may be blocked by a tree or something like that. This isn't a problem, just blast it away!!! Other times, your enemy may be directly above or beneath you, and you can't see them. After a while, you get used to the camera and it's fine.
Replay Value & Features 9/10
There is so much to do! You can play in the Z-gate mode (storyline) and there are 100's of battles to do. There are even 'What if?' storylines in which you play as the enemies instead of the heroes. There are also the tournament modes. There's even a mode in which your character starts at Rank 100 and you fight your way up to number 1. Not only are there all these great modes, but there are tons of characters to choose from! I don't think you could ever get bored, and if you do, there's always Dueling mode in which you can maul your friends with your skills.
Overall 9/10
Honestly, there's way too much cool stuff in this game for me to even mention in this review. It is definately the best Dragon Ball Z game there is.