Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 user review

The first DBZ Game on Wii.

Review written by
Jason Pilcher

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is the newest DBZ game out and the Wii's first. Is it a success or failure?

GamePlay

You already know this is a sequel, because it has 2 in it. The game plays just like the first one, but on different controllers. One cool thing about this game is that you can use the WiiMote/Numchuk Combo, the Wii Classic Controller, and the GameCube Controller. You can go to the options menu any time to change the controller you want to use. Weren't they nice, they let you use a cheap controller for you lazy freaks that won't get off the couch. Thanks Atari.

Now that's out the way, let's get to the good stuff. They made the game simple, and yet challenging with the controllers. It's basically placing your cursor on and off the screen for different combos. For the WiiMote, To Punch/Kick you press the A button, the B button is used to shoot ki blasts. Down on the directional pad is used to guard, but you can also just raise the cursor off the top of the screen to do the same thing. The 1 button will change your radar to Ki Radar and Motion Radar. Kii tells you how many Ki squares you got left, while the Motion Radar shows the enemy in motion and any Dragon Ballz that might be hidden on the the stage. The Nunchuk's analog stick is used to move, while the Z button will let you gather energy. Lastly the see button being held down with a slight move with the nunchuk will let you fly.

The Special attacks are the cool part in the game. Let's take the Kamehameha for example. To do that you have to hold down the Z and B buttons, while you pull your controllers to your side then thrust them forward, just like in the show.

The lands are huge but destroyable, meaning you can run but can't hide.

Lifespan

The Game is HUGE is things to do. There are over 120 playable characters, and 20 completely destroyable landscapes. The Dragon Adventure takes you through every storyline in Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and all the movies. If you don't understand how big that is, it's over 100 hours of story mode.

The Battle Z mode lets you take your favorite character and level them up in special battles. At the end you gain experience and get ranked for your skill.

The World Tournament Mode is also back, with 3 different tournament modes, each with 4 difficulty levels, and their own rules and announcers. They each also pay different.

Everything else in the game will be for you to find out, but you won't be disappointed. I'll give you a little hint though. You can play your friends character when you're at different houses and not online. Yes, online is not an option in this game.

Graphics

The graphics haven't changed much at all. It's still Cell Shaded and looks just like the cartoon. The cutscene graphics look the same as in game graphics, I'll let you take that how you want though.

Sound

The sound track in this game has over 30 specially made full version songs made for the game. The sound effects though, have all just been taken from the previous games, so nothing new there. On the flip side, every voice actor from the show plays their character in the game, so it sounds the same from that perspective.

Final verdict

Any DBZ fan will love this game, and even people who don't like DBZ. This is the Ultimate Fighting Game (Besides Super Smash Brothers!) and should be treated like one. Pick it up, play it, love it, live it.