A great DBZ game with few flaws. The postives far outstip the negatives.
What started as a comic in a Japan has truly exploded into a phenomenon, specifically in the US. It all started with a PS2 fighter known as Dragon Ball Z Budokai. It was the game that started the renaissance for DBZ games. Prior to its existence, most DBZ games haven't exactly been well recieved or considered "good". With the exception of god awful games like DBZ Sagas, most of the newer DBZ games have truly been great. They continue to improve both in graphics and in gameplay. Spike has come through with Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi (or Sparking! as it was known in Japan) Budokai Tenkaichi is a great new DBZ game that changes the way we've played DBZ fighting games. What was once a 2D plain has now turned in to true 360°, 3D fighter.
Graphically, the game is gorgeous. The characters all look great and look just like they did in the cartoon almost. The characters now can look "battle-damaged" (bloodied-up and torn clothes) after taking a few good blasts and beatings. The environments also look great and , again, look almost like what the cartoon had. From a ruined cityscape to the Cell arena, everything is incredibly accurate.
Now let's talk sound. I have only played the Japanese version of the game, but from what I've heard, the music is great. The music was all redone from the original cartoon's soundtrack and sounds very good. The Japanese voice actors are kind of... boring and seem uninterested, but that's not really the important thing, is it? On a side note, I believe the US and PAL releases of the game will have the same soundtrack heard in previous Budokais, with the exception of the new opening song used in the intro (as opposed to the "We Gotta Power" intro heard in the Japanese version).
Now gameplay is obviously the most important part of any video game, so how does it stack up? Pretty well actually. The controls may seem "clunky" and annoying in the beginning, but after some practice and battles, you start to get used to it. Attacks such as Goku's Kamehameha or Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon are no longer performed based on specific combo presses. Instead, you'll use the L2 shoulder button comboed with the D-Pad and Triangle button. It's much better and you no longer need to worry about being off by one button. Like I've said, it takes a while to get used to the new controls and getting used to flying around in the air, but when you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun, but don't expect to pick up on it so quickly. The only thing I'm not really happy about is the lack of variety in the gameplay. All the characters seem similar and the ultimates are not quite as exciting as they originally were in Budokai 3. Bardock no longer thinks of his friends and rushes forth with the intent to kill his opponent, but rather shoots a big energy blast.
Overall, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi is a fun game with positives that outstrip the negatives (which are very few) and just screams replay value. Over 50 characters (plus transformations and other incarnations). Possibly the greatest part is that the fusion characters (such as Gogeta and Gotenks) are their own characters, so that means you don't have to worry about running out of time on the fusion while fighting. Save for the steep learning-curve, there's almost no reason why you shouldn't pick this up, especially if you're a DBZ fan.