DBZ: Budokai Review

Dragon Ball Z is an (in)famous anime series. It's a love it or hate it scenario, where it is loved and practically has a cult following in America, however die hard anime fanatics tend to not show so much love towards the series. Recently, it appears as if the Dragon Ball franchise on the video game has been exploding, expanding into the form of many new DBZ games, one of the most interesting being the new Dragon Ball Z: Budokai fighting game.

In concept, a Dragon Ball Z fighting game could simply be amazing. A countless number of moves, characters that move and fight super fast, established, popular characters in a very entertaining cartoon series. A good premise that simply didn't develop as well as it should have. All will be explained, young one.

Gameplay

If you think about it, the Gameplay should be a highlight of a Dragon Ball Z fighting game. That's all the series is really, a bunch of random, supposedly important and world-saving fights. And what does a good fighting game need? A plethora of moves and abilities, exactly what the DBZ series has to offer. Sadly, although the game features many attacks and abilities, including many special moves such as the Kamehameha, the way they are implemented and how they flow with the game is just all off.

The downfall of the gameplay can be summed up in its feel. The pace of it is just way too slow, especially considering how fast the characters move and attack in the television series. The game just moves extremely slow and ends up making it so that any positives, such as a good amount of different attacks, are rendered pointless because the game just isn't any fun to play.

Graphics

Not overly good, not overly bad. There you go, an easy summary of what the graphics are like. They capture *somewhat* the anime look of the series, which is the good side, however the environments aren't drawn overly well and characters aren't detailed nearly as much as they could be. The graphics just look too bland, leaving much room for improvement in a sequel (which is coming, surprise!).

Sound