For the past couple years, many Dragon Ball Z games have been made for the Playstation 2. The Budokai series, DBZ Sagas, and the newer Tenkaichi series, all of which have change the gameplay in one way or another. Now we have Super Dragon Ball Z, which has gameplay much different than the other games, but is this necessarly a good thing? You'll find out in this review. I'd like to start off by saying that the graphics are actually pretty impressive. They used cel-shading like you see in other Dragon Ball Z games, but changed the style to make it look more like the manga Akira Toriyama made, and to great effect. Everything looks like it could be straight out of the manga, from the great character designs, to the wonderful environments, and even the special attacks you can use. If I could say one thing, it's that, for some reason, when you finish a battle, the characters mouth doesn't always move when he/she talks. This is a very small error, but I'd like to see it taken care of if they make a second game. Next, the sound is, like usual, is mostly a bunch of recycled music. You won't be telling anyone about how wonderful it is, I assure you of that. Also, the American voice actors from the show are back, but, like usual, they just don't sound very enthusiastic about it anymore. Some did well enough, while others just sounded pretty bad. Maybe if they didn't make so many Dragon Ball Z games a year, they might be a little happier, but that doesn't seem likely. Now, onto the gameplay. Super Dragon Ball Z was ported from the arcades to the Playstation 2 by the creator of Street Fighters 2, which was where much of the hype came in, and for good reason. The combat system, although simplistic, works rather well. Everything controls as it should, which is definitely a good thing, but there are some flaws. First off, the game was supposed to be for the more hardcore DBZ gamers, but it just isn't that tough. Second, although there are eighteen fighters, some of them play extremely similar to each other. Also, there is something called battle points, which determines how powerful your character is Still, there isn't anything severely wrong with the gameplay. It just isn't much better than any other fighting game. Super Dragon Ball Z has several gameplay modes, including arcade mode where you go through the battle mode until you meet Cell. Then you have Z Survival mode, which is nine fights where you test how long you can keep up with your opponents. In this mode, at the end of every battle, you spin a wheel, and it determines what you will get for your reward (extra attack, defense, regain health, Dragon Balls, and other things). There is also a training mode, which is self-explanatory. There is also a mode where you summon Shenron, the Eternal Dragon, where you can unlock characters, get alternate costumes, or things that will make your character better. There is also a customization mode, where you make your customized character. As they gain experience, you can learn new skills, or learn techniques that will make your character much better. There is also a versus mode, which, yet again, you can figure out what you do there. Overall, this is yet another Dragon Ball Z game that had the potential to become something great, but in the end became another average title. It can be a lot of fun in multiplayer, but other than that, it just isn't too great. The replay value is pretty good if you want to create some great customized characters, but other than that, there isn't too much that will make you want to play this game. If you love Dragon Ball Z, then by all means go and buy this game. You will definitely enjoy it. But everyone else should just rent it or stay away from it entirely. You won't be missing anything.
Dragon Ball Z games have come and gone, and with the current Budokai series, forgotten are the days of the past, with great DBZ fighting games that took after the 2d fighting style of street fighter, such as the Super Bu... Read Full Review
First thing I did was goto Training Mode to excercise with the controls, The Learning Curve is very fast, in a few minutes you'll be poundin your opponenet, However, even though its a 'pick up and play' doesnt mean its a... Read Full Review
