It’s over Nine Thousaaaandd!
After a period of delay, it seems the latest and greatest Dragon Ball game ever has finally beached itself on Australian shores. Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi 2 has the numbers and the name, boasting over 100 playable characters from the original Dragon Ball to GT sagas, but does it have the substance to entertain anyone but hardcore fans of the series? Well yes; yes it does.
Do a Kamehameha!
As far as fighting games go, DBZ is fairly simple. Melee attacks are mapped the A
button and ki energy attacks to B with all other manoeuvres mapped to various motions of the Wii remote and nunchuck. These motions are surprisingly easy to use such as dashing, grabbing and ascension into flight controlled by the nunchuck. Best of all are the energy based signature moves the Dragon Ball series is most well known for. For many of the moves you can mimic the action of the character to perform a kamehameha wave or fire a few destructo disks at your opponent. The moves all have different requirements such as moving the in-game cursor out and back in onto a certain part of the screen or holding cursor steady while pulling back and thrusting forward.
In a new addition to keep this version of the game fresh, vanishing attacks have been added, allowing you to instantly appear behind an opponent to continue your assault after you’ve sent them flying across stage. The action is always fast paced, and you normally won’t find yourself slacking off in a battle. Compared to other fighters, this game may seem a little bit simple on the surface, but to truly master the game and higher difficulty levels a player has to learn to how to use and time a variety of attack and defence techniques that can sometimes make the difference between death and victory. In this way DBZ isn’t simplified for the sake of simplicity and still retains depth without relying on a short-lived wow factor of the motion controls. However, the motion controls do make the game incredibly more satisfying, and pulling off a special attack in a tight spot is ten times more satisfying with the Wii remote than some random combination of buttons.
Game modes are aplenty, with the developers cramming seemingly as much as they could into the one disc. The basic story and tournament returns along with multiplayer dueling and a ranking challenge in the form of Korin’s tower, with all modes containing a large number of destructible 3D arenas for you to wreck havoc upon. Also, a new system called evolution Z has been added which allows you to customize any character you have unlocked with specific stats and powers using items either bought from the shop or found in story mode. As the character equipping them wins battles, experience gained goes toward leveling up the items. An attack +1 becomes an attack +2 and so on and so forth. The system becomes a necessary part of the game, basically required to defeat stronger enemies in the story mode. The RPG style customization in this manner gives the game just that little bit more replay value in general as you try to create the ultimate character.
Cel-shaded is A-Ok
Perhaps it’s just a certain infatuation I had with the Wind Waker on the Gamecube, but I’ve always found cel-shading to be a very effective graphics style in many games. This game is no exception. It doesn’t matter that the Wii can’t push the same raw power as perhaps the Xbox 360 or PS3, because the game still looks absolutely gorgeous. Character models are pretty well detailed and the style of the arenas makes the game akin to the anime in almost every possible way. In truth there’s not really much left to want
Explosions abound
First things first, I guess I’ll answer the question that will be on the minds of the Dragon Ball Z fans. Yes you can switch to Japanese voices if you’re one of those people who really hate the English dub. Whichever way you go, all the voices from the series are in here, from intimidating battle one liners to dialogue in the story mode. Music can at times be quite average and some of the battle themes feel very out of place amongst the high speed action. As far as sound effects go though, the game’s a winner just to hear things go boom just like they did in the anime.
Surprisingly one of the best Wii titles so far
For fans of the anime or manga, Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi 2 is most definitely a must buy. If not, it’s still quite an enjoyable fighter that is likely to keep you entertained for a long time with some RPG elements. One thing that does disappoint is that while the game follows the story right through from the Saiyan saga, there seem to be a nonsensical amount of battles early on in the story but in later stages such as the GT saga, it seems to skip over the fact that Goku gets turned back to his child form. The story of course suffers the same way as the anime and manga with there being a time of peace before bad guy X appears with insane power level only to be miraculously defeated by the Z fighters. Considering the length of the story this becomes awfully repetitive as does killing one bad guy after the next with little variation in your objective except to win the battle. Excusing that the game is incredibly solid and does quite an excellent job of incorporating motion controls into a fighting game without being a gimmick. Anyone looking for some good beat-em-up action on the Wii should not hesitate at all to check this one out. Hell we even get a few more characters than the Americans for waiting.
Graphics 9
Gameplay 9
Sound 8
Value 10
Tilt 8
Overall Score:
8.8
After a period of delay, it seems the latest and greatest Dragon Ball game ever has finally beached itself on Australian shores. Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi 2 has the numbers and the name, boasting over 100 playable characters from the original Dragon Ball to GT sagas, but does it have the substance to entertain anyone but hardcore fans of the series? Well yes; yes it does.
Do a Kamehameha!
As far as fighting games go, DBZ is fairly simple. Melee attacks are mapped the A
button and ki energy attacks to B with all other manoeuvres mapped to various motions of the Wii remote and nunchuck. These motions are surprisingly easy to use such as dashing, grabbing and ascension into flight controlled by the nunchuck. Best of all are the energy based signature moves the Dragon Ball series is most well known for. For many of the moves you can mimic the action of the character to perform a kamehameha wave or fire a few destructo disks at your opponent. The moves all have different requirements such as moving the in-game cursor out and back in onto a certain part of the screen or holding cursor steady while pulling back and thrusting forward.
In a new addition to keep this version of the game fresh, vanishing attacks have been added, allowing you to instantly appear behind an opponent to continue your assault after you’ve sent them flying across stage. The action is always fast paced, and you normally won’t find yourself slacking off in a battle. Compared to other fighters, this game may seem a little bit simple on the surface, but to truly master the game and higher difficulty levels a player has to learn to how to use and time a variety of attack and defence techniques that can sometimes make the difference between death and victory. In this way DBZ isn’t simplified for the sake of simplicity and still retains depth without relying on a short-lived wow factor of the motion controls. However, the motion controls do make the game incredibly more satisfying, and pulling off a special attack in a tight spot is ten times more satisfying with the Wii remote than some random combination of buttons.
Game modes are aplenty, with the developers cramming seemingly as much as they could into the one disc. The basic story and tournament returns along with multiplayer dueling and a ranking challenge in the form of Korin’s tower, with all modes containing a large number of destructible 3D arenas for you to wreck havoc upon. Also, a new system called evolution Z has been added which allows you to customize any character you have unlocked with specific stats and powers using items either bought from the shop or found in story mode. As the character equipping them wins battles, experience gained goes toward leveling up the items. An attack +1 becomes an attack +2 and so on and so forth. The system becomes a necessary part of the game, basically required to defeat stronger enemies in the story mode. The RPG style customization in this manner gives the game just that little bit more replay value in general as you try to create the ultimate character.
Cel-shaded is A-Ok
Perhaps it’s just a certain infatuation I had with the Wind Waker on the Gamecube, but I’ve always found cel-shading to be a very effective graphics style in many games. This game is no exception. It doesn’t matter that the Wii can’t push the same raw power as perhaps the Xbox 360 or PS3, because the game still looks absolutely gorgeous. Character models are pretty well detailed and the style of the arenas makes the game akin to the anime in almost every possible way. In truth there’s not really much left to want
Explosions abound
First things first, I guess I’ll answer the question that will be on the minds of the Dragon Ball Z fans. Yes you can switch to Japanese voices if you’re one of those people who really hate the English dub. Whichever way you go, all the voices from the series are in here, from intimidating battle one liners to dialogue in the story mode. Music can at times be quite average and some of the battle themes feel very out of place amongst the high speed action. As far as sound effects go though, the game’s a winner just to hear things go boom just like they did in the anime.
Surprisingly one of the best Wii titles so far
For fans of the anime or manga, Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi 2 is most definitely a must buy. If not, it’s still quite an enjoyable fighter that is likely to keep you entertained for a long time with some RPG elements. One thing that does disappoint is that while the game follows the story right through from the Saiyan saga, there seem to be a nonsensical amount of battles early on in the story but in later stages such as the GT saga, it seems to skip over the fact that Goku gets turned back to his child form. The story of course suffers the same way as the anime and manga with there being a time of peace before bad guy X appears with insane power level only to be miraculously defeated by the Z fighters. Considering the length of the story this becomes awfully repetitive as does killing one bad guy after the next with little variation in your objective except to win the battle. Excusing that the game is incredibly solid and does quite an excellent job of incorporating motion controls into a fighting game without being a gimmick. Anyone looking for some good beat-em-up action on the Wii should not hesitate at all to check this one out. Hell we even get a few more characters than the Americans for waiting.
Graphics 9
Gameplay 9
Sound 8
Value 10
Tilt 8
Overall Score:
8.8
생각보다 높네
나름 재밌어 보이네효.
게임플레이가 괜찮은거 보니 위모콘으로 하는 게 괜찮은가 보네요.
이거 이상하게 여기서는 평이 좋네요.. 일본에서도 PS2에비해서 정말 도리도리라고 말들이 있는걸로 알고있었는데.. 그게아니면 드래곤볼은 하나쯤 소장도 좋은데..
vooks 라는 사이트는 닌텐도 게임기 전문 사이트로군요. 뭐, 닌텐도 게임만 취급하는 사이트의 리뷰라고 덜 신뢰할 이유는 없지만... 다른 사이트들에 비해서 상당히 점수가 높긴 하군요 ;;;
드래곤볼팬으로서 하나 구입하고싶네여
오늘 온라인으로 저거 구입했는데 표지가 달라요 ㅡㅡ;; 이름은 같은데 어떻게 된걸까요? 아~ 불안불안
오우 높다
고구마옹//북미판이랑 일판이랑 베이스는 같지만.. 일판은 추가 캐릭이나 요소가 더 있습니다.^^ 고로 일판사시는게 유리~