Good, but it could've been better
But, all that excitement seemed to plunge a bit once I brought the game home and started to play it...There was something incredibly missing from it; graphics aside, which are pleasing to look at, I couldn't help but feel a little dissapointed at the lack of variety when it came to each characters moves. I found the Super Saiyans to be particularly bland -- gone is SSJ2 Teen Gohan's ultra bad ass Father-Son Kamehameha ultimate, Brolli's Gigantic Meteor etc. Another thing I found a bit dissapointing was the overall move cinematics -- Goku's Genki Dama(Spirit Bomb) technique for example, isn't as exciting to see as it was in the previous title, neither is Vegeta's Big Bang and Final Flash, or Mystic(Ultimate)Gohan's Super Kamehameha, or SSJ3 Gotenks' Galactica Donuts...which brings me to my next complaint.
Nearly all Super Saiyans have a Super Kamehame for a finishing move or super finishing move, and it gets a little boring to look at after awhile. And nearly all the characters in the game have a high power/high speed rush and/or a full power energy blast volley. Both of these can be included in the lack of variety I found. What can also be included is the lack of different character costumes, with the exception of a costume being a different color for the COM or Player 2.
The camera can also ve very frusterating at times, having a tendancy to get pinned between one character's back and a giant rock, preventing any kind of glimpse of what the opponent is doing or going to do.
But yes, there are also some things I found enjoyable about this game. Z Battle and Ultimate Battle mode were particularly interesting, especially the nifty "what if" battle scenarios peppered throughout the entire series.
If there's one things that keeps this latest title in the Budokai series from being "just another fighting game" it has to be the fact that I can finally hear the Japanese voice cast -- listen to a Japanese-voiced Gogeta or Vegito and you'll know what I'm talking about. Pure magic.
Overall, while this is a good game, I don't think it's the best in the series. If it wants to be better than Budokai 3, it's going to have to turn it up a whole lot more.