Fun game, but has problems
I think this game's a lot of fun. The control scheme is relatively simple, and there are a wide variety of characters. This gives you the ability to pick and choose what kind of fighter, what kind of specials, and what kind of finishers you like. Then you can further add fun wtih Z-items.
While this makes for a wonderful multiplayer experience, one that will keep your friends in your apartment for days, but problems arise when it comes to unlocking said characters and items: History Battle mode.
History battle is, in several ways, buggy and strange. When you are supposed to finish Buu, for example, you must perform a spirit bomb attack on him. However, once you perform it... it does very little damage, but leads you to press R3 for a cutscene (The game does this a lot)... the cutscene is Goku talking, and performing the spirit bomb... then you see the animation all over again. I performed the spirit bomb 3 times in this match, because the first time bugged out and didn't lead to the cutscene... This kind of thing happens quite a lot, forcing you to do inexplicable things over and over. However, none of these minor issues match the horrible, horrible problem I'm about to cover:
*WHEN BEAMS AND MELEE ATTACKS MEET*
The other *near game breaking issue* that I've had, and several other people have had: When two beams hit each other, you are put into a tug-of-war style scenario where you must roll the analog buttons in clockwise circles as fast as you can. There are MANY problems with this:
1) It is a VERY awkward action. Not fun!
2) The computer, even on easy, sets an unreachable speed.
3) This is very hard on the controller!
4) On some versions of the game, mine included, this is actually *broken*. Entirely. If you want to finish the Cell fight in the second history mode, NEVER EVER hit R3 at the end, as it will lead to this situation, where you will take 99,999 damage and insta-lose.
If you have my copy of the game, and you choose to hit R3 whenever it comes up, you cannot beat this game! You will insta-lose many matches!
I have tried this in two player, setting up situations where both players set up a beam and/or melee instance of this. *IT DOES NOT WORK* At all. It's lucky that the the Cell history battle will let you just slug it out with him, otherwise this would completely break the game. As it stands, it's enough to drop this game from a 9.0 to a 7.5 in my review.
Near game-breaking bugs such as this, no matter the situation, are simply inexcusable in this day and age. Not only did they put in a poorly planned idea as this, but never got it to work AND made it a crucial part of the single player gaming experience. What were they thinking???
So close to being a great classic. Personally, I intend to get through history mode as a chore, so that my multiplayer experience will be richer.
That should simply not be.