DBZ Flop. The fighting experience is awesome, but the camera angles suck, the AI is brutal and story mode is impossible.
To put it simply, this game is not for the short tempered. The normal difficulty of the Z-Gate mode is nearly impossible to beat without Super Sayian-like reflexes. After owning the game for only three days, I have broken four controllers, one PS2 system which was thrown through a 36” TV, one coffee table, put two fist holes in my wall, and have my right hand in a cast with three broken fingers after punching the floor in anger after losing fight after fight after fight after fight in the story mode. And I usually have thought myself to be a calm person.
But that all changed after playing this game. Back in Budokai 3, opponents started with the same level of ki you did, two Special Attacks would not kill you, and there were no “Survive until the timer runs out” fights…it was a much better fighting game.
What were the developers thinking including the “Survive until the timer runs out” in the game!?! That mode could make Gandhi beat the TV with a stick.
I have never been so frustrated with a game mode before in my life. The normal, beat your opponent, fights are great! You can really, for the first time, experience the rush and excitement of a real DBZ fight. But when the survival fight comes, you experience the anger and frustration that the DBZ fighters experience as well. People wanted to experience the DBZ world, but did we have to experience the DBZ anger levels as well?
The Z-Gate fight between Young Gohan and Third-Form Freiza come to my mind. It took me 37 tries to beat that stage. 37 BLEAPING TRIES!!! Why? Because he starts with a full ki bar, two Death Beams kill you, he fires one at the start of the fight, you have to survive 60 seconds, you can’t do squat to hurt him, … the list goes on and on.
Now, I consider myself a pretty good gamer, having 14 years experience, but never has a game angered me so. If I were a Sayain, I would have reached SSJ2 after losing so many fights. No game should EVER be that frustrating, and if it is, it should not be called a game, but a touchier device.
I have since vowed to never play this game again, tossing it in the back of my closet and going back to Budokai 2 and 3, much better DBZ fighting games.
All in all, the presentation is great, the fighting experience is awesome, but the camera angles suck, the AI is brutal to the point of rage, and the story mode is nearly impossible. Score: 2/10