The Tenkaichi series Blast's to the Current Generation in Spike's new DBZ Game.
First of all, I am rating this game as a DBZ fan and I would like to point out that only a DBZ fan can enjoy this game to the full. However, this game can still be enjoyed to those unaware of the events which took place in Dragon Ball Z (The anime & manga this game is based on). It spans from the Saiyan saga all the way through the Majin Buu saga, it also includes the Father of Goku movie special and the Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan movie. There are also What-if stories for those who have grown a little tired of DBZ's main plot or simply want to find out what could've happened if certain circumstances took place.
From the get go, you can tell that the graphics are stunning. The character models look like they have been ripped straight from the show. The enviroments are a little lacking in detail, but it's forgivable due to the massive size of your surrounding enviroments. The characters hair flows naturally, sweat drips from the characters face when they are struggling or in pain and the facial expressions just bring the characters to life.
The voice acting is pretty good, although lip syncing issues are present every now and again in both the English and Japanese dubbings, the music is also pretty catchy, but you would have to hear it for your self to see if it suits you.
The Story mode, (which is known as Dragon Ball Collection within the game) is presented with mini cut scenes before and after battles with the odd couple during the fight its self, there is also a Story recap for those who want to fill in those missing gaps in the story. these recaps and cutscenes will keep the story moving forward for those who have seen the series, but for those unfamiliar with the story of DBZ, they will find them selves scratching their heads through out this mode. For example, during one fight you could be fighting Cell's first form and then a couple of fights later, he will be in his second form with little explanation on how this metamorphosis took place. My advise is to watch the TV series or read the manga if you want to understand whats going on, because you will not learn the story here.
During the Story based fights, the characters will talk to each other, they will comment on each others performance via boasts, taunts, light chatter, a few insults here and there and if you happen to be losing, your character will make a couple of worried statements, however for some reason, your character will always refer to him/her self in the 3rd person, but it's likely that this is a message to the player rather than the character him/her self.
Story mode does have it's replay-ability. After completing a battle, a new option will appear after selecting a fight. It is called Mission. These missions are merely tasks set, so you can accomplish Stars (I will explain what these are for later on).
Most missions are pretty simple, such as beating a fight on Hard mode, however some can be tedious and require your opponent to do something during the fight which might not even happen, such as a mission which requires you to block a throw, not only is waiting for your opponent to attempt a throw tireing, but it can be frustrating if you miss your chance due to something awkward, such as not being in the right position to block properly.
Now for those Stars I mentioned earlier. these Stars are used to buy extra content from the Star shop. (more Story mode fights, new costumes and BGM, etc..)
Now for the Gameplay. this game has the deepest combat system in a Tenkaichi game so far, even though it isn't anywhere near the standard of complexity you've come to expect from series like Tekken or Street fighter, it is still deep enough for an adept player to dispatch of novices easily. AS you would expect, this game has the classic Tenkaichi over the shoulder view and Destructible 3D World, which enables you to fly around freely.
The basic controls consist of pressing the square button for melee and pushing the traiangle button at a set ammount of button presses for a different kind of melee attack. You also have your basic Ki blast and throw. You can dash around the massive enviroments and fly upwards rapidly using super rising. each character also has his/her own unique signature attack such as Yamcha's Wolf fang fist.
You can also smack your opponent around in a pin ball fashion by pursuing your opponent through the air after smashing them in any direction. You can also continue the punishment by teleporting right behind them in the classic DBZ Style. Oh and I can't forget the Super and Ultimate attacks. These are only the flashy, over the top energy based attacks that the series is famous for, such as Goku's Kamehameha and Vegeta's Final Flash. These attacks are used by using the in game energy system, known as Ki, you gain Ki by punishing your opponent with a series of punches and kicks or charging it manually, however, charging your Ki leaves you completely vulnerable, so use it wisely.
The complexity of this games combat lies within a system which the game calls stiffness. If you happen to repeat a certain chain of attacks or simply do a combo wrong, a red flash will shoot across the screen. This indicates you have done the wrong action and will temporarily leave you defenceless for a short time, however if you cancel into a correct combination, a yellow flash will shoot across the screen, this indicates that you can continue your current combo without consequence.
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Now, the D-Points. These are important, because you need these to buy items which you use to customize a fighter. These points are gained throughout every mode in the game, even the loading screen!! Even though, it isThrough a little mini game.
Items give your fighter stat increases, such as stronger melee, faster Ki charging, stronger Super attacks and there are even items which allow you to change your fighters aura, but of course theres a limit to how many items you can use. The customization is set in to motion with a Tetrus style set up. Depending on the effectiveness of the item you are using, it will take up more squares and be in a more awkward shape for fitting in to your remaing space.
The customization also allows you to change your fighters Super attacks, this really helps the player to create his/her very own unique fighter.
This game also has a good ammount of modes. You have your training mode, duel mode, team battle and the Super battle trials. Such as Extreme battle, Punching machine, Score attack, etc...
Now finally, the Online mode. This mode is actually pretty good when it comes to battles with almost no lag, most of the time you'll have pretty smooth matches, although button lag will show it's ugly face many times during long distance matches. This makes precise button presses fruitless
It is fairly easy to find a match, the modes available include, Ranking, Player match (Ranks not affected here) and Tournament mode (Ranks not affected here either) You can also check your battle record and the records of other players with Win's, losses and disconnections displayed.
The main problem here is the Ranking mode. It is plagued with Disconnectors who will disconnect just before you have secured your victory. This is due to their being no penalty for disconnecting. It happens too often. If someone quits, their win/loss ratio and rank will remain secure. This is a problem yet to be fixed here, for this reason, I barely play Ranked mode. Out of the 6 matches I've played, I have won 5, but I only recieved points for 2 of those wins due to sore losers who quit the match just before I managed to take out their last bit of health.
(To the Disconnectors)
You know who you are, just because the loss doesn't appear on your record, the fact remains that you lost due to your skill being inferior to your opponents, whether your willing to admit it or not. If it's your rank your worried about losing, you simply don't deserve it and it is truly sad that you have to disconnect to maintain mental stability. It doesn't matter if you've disconnected once or 100 times. for any reason at all, your all the same.
Well, this is my review of Dragon Ball: Raging Blast. I have given it a 7.5 because I do believe it can still be improved and I look forward to see how the developers take on this task in the sequel.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review, take care.