Ahhh the joys of Dragon Ball Z! The maniac gameplay makes this game just a fun fighting feel.
Budokai games have gameplay that I found to be just plain out fun but by the third one it started to wear down. I was actually skeptical about getting shin budokai at first but when I started playing I was amazed at the intense action in the game. Now in dragonball z there have always been action to the maximum but it seems that shin pushed it into overdrive. With a few new moves they overall are great.
I can tell that shin budokai was made for the psp. Usually in the PS2 budokai's or tenkaichi when using a super move you usually have to sit down with a bowl of popcorn and watch the movie of you or your opponent launching a devastating attack, now while thats all dandy in shin budokai it goes a litle bit faster and a little less dramatic. Sometimes the supermoves can feel like it stops the gameplay but in shin its totally the opposite in fact super moves are done pretty quickly but a little more emphasis could've been placed.
The games are known for it's extensive number of characters, for example in budokai 3 there were over 40 characters while in shin there are only 18 which is not the worst thing wver but not a good thing either. If you have a favorite it is most likely one of those characters but for those who like the unimportant cahracters you might have to find a new favorite. With the addition of Janemba and Pikkon as playable characters you may find that you can be good with either or both, so for those who might be tired of certain characters there are new ones.
In addition to them there are the fusion forms which don't need to be fused instead they are fused from the start. This is where a mixed reaction can come in, you see if you want do the fusion technique it's gone so that can be out of place but if you don't like having to go through the process in the first place then you will be happy.
The gameplay is easily the best thing about shin budokai and the runner up would be its graphics. Cel shaded graphics are my favorite so i lean towards them and on top of it auras look beautiful even though there not great to use.
Sound in this game is toned down from previous ones as now the characters don't speak in the story parts or in certain arcade levels but it is fine yet thats when you might want to hear the voices the most. On top of that characters mouths don't move whatsoever which takes away the illusion that they are speaking at all. There are though a good variety of tunes.
If you're new to the game the difficulty can be too much. As well as there is no tutorial so that makes it forced for you to find out all of the moves by yourself. However the farther that you progress the more masterful you become.
Many too many things though have been taken out of the game such as destructible areas for instance and transformations to a certain extent have been boiled down to only one that you can use per fight. The profile card is easily though the worst thing in shin budokai. Although it can seem fun at first there is no big reason to even make one seeing as to how they are boring to spend time customizing them.
Overall Shin delivers a great amount of gameplay, beautiful graphics, and sketchy sound. The manic fighting although can really take all those diffrences an put them aside. One my most recommended games for psp users enjoy because I have when I first got it and I still am having fun playing it now.