Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Solid"

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is the fifth of the Dragon Ball Z Budokai series. Tenkaichi itself took a very daring change to the Budokai formula of play, sacrificing the old simplicities of the earlier Budokai games as well as the standard 1-on-1 formula of play found in such games like Tekken or Virtua Fighter.

This Wii version of Dragon Ball Z is a lot more intriguing than the previous PS2 edition. As well as taking use of the Wiimote and Nunchuck's famed motion controls, this version of Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 has other extras such as six extra unlockable characters.

Familiars with the Dragon Ball series will know it is about the adventures of a young man called Goku, as he and his friends tackle the threats of the world and search out the 7 Dragon Balls that grant them wishes. There is a lot of fighting in Dragon Ball Z and the set pieces in the fights make great potential for quality game material.

In the past, this potential has been wasted though with games such as Ultimate Battle 22 and Final Bout on the original Playstation being absolutely terrible. Both of these games suffered the problems of bad visuals, terrible controls and drastic gameplay. Thankfully though Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 on the Nintendo Wii will challenge gamers views on series' unfortunate games,

The Wii controls are pretty cool too, with moves being performed the way they're like on the show which is nicely done with enough skill. If that doesn't appeal to you though, there is still the Gamecube and Wii clas$ic controller options.

It certainly is like no normal fighting game after all. There is only one physical attack button and one button for using Ki attacks. The rest of the buttons are instead used to maneuver you throughout the stage you fight in.

Yet because of this, it helps in that you can move throughout the stage and prepare your assault using dash attacks and fly combos that are possible only with enough skill. Also unlike other fighters, the camera's focus is completely on you during the game and you essentially have full control of the arena you fight in because of this.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi is good for some of the more strategic players because of this. It gives those type of gamers the ability to have a more tactical approach to the game and is especially important as there are many strong foes you will face during the game.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is decent in that it praises the skillful with a list of commands you can learn and combine in the game and is generally a lot more rewarding and satisfying because of this. There are over 100 characters you can play as in Tenkaichi 2, each with their own set of unique moves and special attacks – so a lot of practice and patience makes the difference in this game.

And yet there is still a lot more to Tenkaichi 2. From the minute you start the game, you'll find yourself with a list of options. There are such features like encyclopedias, which come especially useful if you're not accustomed to the series. There are also tournament modes, Ultimate Battle Z (which is like a survival mode), Dragon Adventure (essentially story mode), Item shops and Evolution Z.

Evolution Z is an especially interesting mode in Tenkaichi 2. It is a more RPG style mode where you can use items you've bought or won in fights to equip on characters. These items can do a variety of things like improve attack, life, defense, speed and other aspects to your character during fights.

Whats better is these items can improve and gradually calculate your characters level. So as you get stronger, your level grows higher. The Evolution Z mode also has a fusion feature that is intuitive as it has to be used to unlock certain characters in the game.

Furthermore, the Dragon Adventure mode in Tenkaichi 2 is a lot more developed than in other fighting games out on the market, thanks in part to the game's anime roots. Almost the entire Dragon Ball Z saga is adapted into game format in Budokai Tenkaichi 2 with narration and character voices from the Funimation dubbed episodes making appearances. This mode features an entire world to fly in and drop in certain areas and events in the manga's time line which is quite cool.

Sadly these moments aren't as cinematic as they were in earlier Budokai games but they do the job at least. On that note too, the visuals and sound in Tenkaichi 2 are pleasant to say the least. Neither parts of the game are special by any means but they're not bad by any means either. The cel-shading does the job as does the voice acting provided.

When it comes down to the issues though there are more than a few problems in Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 that are worth considering before you think about buying the game.

Primarily, there are a lot of load times in this game and for nearly every menu in the game there will be a load time. The load times can be quite annoying at times especially when you're repeating certain fights during the game – which is another issue with Tenkiachi 2.

The AI in Tenkaichi 2 can be very cheap, sometimes unfair, and more than a few of the scenarios included in the Dragon Adventure mode can go from pointlessly easy to unrealistically hard. The game has no simple difficulty or learning curve either which may make it more difficult to absorb yourself into if you're a fan of the earlier Budokai games such as Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3.

Also, whats with the missing fight reset option? It would've been good to simply restart fights that you've previously fought in and lost. Yet instead you're shoved back to the world map in Dragon Adventure before you can go back to the spot you're expected to fight in, all while going through the annoying loading screens in the game once again.

While the camera in the game is helpful for the most part in Tenkaichi 2 it also has the tendency to do things that the player wouldn't want to do. It also isn't easy to lock-off the player you're fighting against because it automatically decides when or when not to lock-on or lock-off.

There are some minor balancing problems too as far as Ki attacks go as some attacks can be exploited far too easily for the amount of damage they cause. Yet few characters play like this fortunately.

Also the Wii motion controls ultimately aren't very good, despite being quite cool on first impressions. Some of the moves are too complex to perform and require far too much enthusiastic effort to really get the best of. It is the same case with the Gamecube controller.

Thankfully though the Wii Clas$ic controller is comfortable to control and plays a lot more to how you expect it with each button placement being how you would expect it, much unlike with the other controllers.

And on that note, where is the Wi-Fi play? The Wii version could have been much better than the PS2 edition if Spike remembered to add it. It is a shame too, because they had more than enough time to develop Wi-Fi play too.

Granted still that you're not buying the Nintendo Wii version for the motion controls then check out Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2. It is a shame that the Wii motion controls are made as complicated as they are, but still, the game is very fun to play otherwise.