Another game that doesn't deserve the license of Dragon Ball Z. Sadly, it is the sequel to the only one that did.
User Rating: 6 | Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 PS2
If you have read my review of the first one, then you know that I am a huge DBZ fan and I loved the first game. In my opinion, DBZ Budokai 1 captured the essence of Dragon Ball Z in a way that no other DBZ game before it could. Even though Budokai 1 was only a simple fighting game, it was still great for DBZ fans. Now let's move along to December 4, 2003. That's the day when Budokai 2 was released and the essence of Dragon Ball Z was rid from the Budokai series. Gameplay- Budokai was a very simple fighting game. Budokai 2 doesn't do much to improve it. A few minor adjustments were made, but if you masterd Budokai 1, you will have no trouble beating anyone in Budokai 2. And if you missed Budokai 1, Budokai 2 is so easy that you will have masterd that within the first few levels. However, that is not why I am giving Budokai 2 a 6/10. I don't mind how simple the fighting is, as long as it tells the DBZ story. However, Budokai 2 does not. I know critics say that Budokai 2 tells a better story because it is easier to follow. That's because people weren't expected to see that DBZ has a somewhat complicated story. Budokai 2 simplifies things so that others think they understand. But they really don't. The story is not even close to the real Dragon Ball Z story. For instance Babidi resurects Cell and Frieza from the dead twice. Then they get revenge on Goku even if you didn't kill either of them with Goku. The story strays so far from DBZ that my DBZ loving friend kept falling on the floor laughing at the stupidity. However, the storytelling is not the only bad thing about the 1P mode. The set up is like a board game. A board game for younger kids that is and not one of good quality either. You will always be restarting the 1P mode (called Dragon World) to go back and unlock characters to the point where the board game is more of a chore than a game. Graphics- The best part of Budokai 2 and the biggest improvement over the original is the character models. This a great example of good cell-shading. Although it doesn't rival Dark Cloud 2 or Wind Waker, Budokai 2 still looks amazing. The budget presentation is a bummer, but the looks great nonetheless. Sound- Once again, the English voice cast does a great job, but there just aren't enough sounds in the game. You will find yourself reading more than listening and the budget style backround sounds in Dragon World are just pathetic. The new taunts the characters are less creative than the first one, so hearing them again and again will obviously get repetetive fairly quickly. As I said, I love the English voice actors and they continue to do great stuff in the Budokai games, but we just need more of them and less reading. Value- Somewhere around 30 characters you play as. That's definately a good value. However, unlocking them gets really annoying. You can finally play multiplayer World Tournament (8 players with 2 controllers), but you can't earn zenny and unless you have two wireless controllers, you will have some very tangled wires when you finish. The player on the left uses the first controller and the player on the right uses the second controller. It is actually quite fun, but it needs to improve. I spend the most time in training mode playing around with fusions then anything else, but other than that and the world tournament, there just isn't a lot to enjoy in Budokai 2. Tilt- This is a mediocre fighting game, and a mediocre DBZ game. Therefore, it gets the mediocre tilt of 5/10. Die DBZ cash in games! If you like Dragon Ball Z, then I can't completely discourage you from Budokai 2, but I would strongly urge to check out 1 first and then just skip to Budokai 3. There just isn't enough to Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2 to recommend it. In the end, Budokai 2 is just another DBZ cash in game, unworthy of carrying the Dragon Ball Z license. What happened DIMPS?
