 Budokai 2 follows the most
basic formula for a sequel. There are new characters and moves and
much-improved graphics, but the gameplay is exactly the same as it was
last year. In other words, the fighting still sucks but everything looks
prettier, and there is a lot more stuff to play with. For fans of the
show, however, that is really all you need and Budokai 2 is certainly
more fun to play than its predecessor thanks to the more complete roster
and fancy new moves you can use. If you played Budokai and didn’t like
it, Budokai 2 isn’t going to be any different. If you enjoyed the first
game you’ll love Budokai 2.
 The main single player mode
in the game is called Dragon World. The game plays out like a board game
where each character on the map has a limited number of moves each turn
and you move around and collect items and fight enemies when you are
both on the same spot on the map. Your job is to defeat the enemies as
well as collect the Dragon Balls so you can have a wish at the end of
the game. You’ll fight the same enemies in the same locations in the
same order as they happened on the series, but a few changes had to be
made in order to fit in with the board game theme. Overall, I think
everything works pretty well in Dragon World mode and it is fun enough
to play through multiple times. Which is good because you’ll have to
play through it a lot if you want to collect everything. Other single
player modes include World Tournament and practice, but Dragon World is
where you’ll spend most of your time.
 The key to victory is managing
the skill capsules you collect. You can buy capsules with money you find
in Dragon World or win in the World Tournament, but you will also find
capsules hidden on the maps as well as every time you defeat an enemy in
Dragon World. These capsules do things such as give you new moves or
change your defensive and offense power levels. When you first start the
game, the characters are pretty weak, but as you earn new capsules you
can edit the characters to make them much stronger.
 The fighting itself is still
far too simplistic and easy to really test your fighting game skittles,
but it manages to be fun nonetheless. The basic gameplay hasn’t changed
at all from the first Budokai. Moves are performed with simple button
commands and every character uses the exact same commands. You can still
go into burst mode and button mash to determine a winner and everything
else that was in the first game.
 There are a few new things you
can do in Budokai 2, but they don’t make the game any more complex. They
just make it look more like the show. Certain special moves can now be
powered up by pressing buttons or rotating the analog sticks when the
game tells you to. This is fun because it allows you to land a few extra
hits and score some more damage, but it is ridiculously easy to pull it
off every time. Another new addition to the gameplay is that you can use
the fusion technique in mid-fight to power up your character. Believe
me, it is seriously fun to turn into Gotenks and bust out Super Kamikaze
Ghost attacks.
 The roster in Budokai 2
features just about every character that you could want. It covers the
entire DBZ saga and you’ll be able to pick from good guys such as Goku,
Vegeta, Piccolo, and Supreme Kai as well as bad guys like Frieza, Cell,
Majin Buu, Super Buu, and Kid Buu. There are 29 characters in all along
with several characters that are created through the fusion technique,
so your favorites will definitely be in here. All of the moves you would
expect are included as well as lots of finishing moves. The fighting
engine is still sucky, but just like the first Budokai, this is a game
that DBZ fans will love no matter what. It is fun to play as the new
characters and pull off the new moves. It is fun to perform a fusion and
unleash super powerful moves on your enemies. For DBZ fans, Budokai 2 is
flat out fun and there is enough to do that you’ll be playing it for
ages to unlock everything and loving every minute of it.
 Graphically, Budokai 2 is
awesome thanks to the use of cel-shading. Now the game looks exactly
like the show. The characters look perfect and are extremely detailed.
The environments were ripped straight out of the series and feature a
lot more detail than the backgrounds in the first Budokai. You can still
knock your opponent through mountains, but doing so has an even bigger
impact on the environments. For example, you can trigger an avalanche
that completely destroys the building you were fighting in front of and
throws you and your opponent off of a cliff and you continue your fight
down at the bottom. The graphics are awesome and everything looks just
like it should. DBZ fans will be very pleased.
 The sound is equally as
impressive, but also sort of disappointing. Almost all of the sound
effects and music have been reused from the first Budokai, but it still
sounds pretty good and fits the action well. New sounds would have been
nice, though. All of the US voice actors once again lent their talents
to the game, so the characters sound just as good as they look. The game
sounds like an episode of the TV show, and it is hard to really fault it
for reusing a lot of audio since the first game sounded so good.
 If you are a fan of Dragon Ball
Z, you can buy Budokai 2 without hesitation because you will undoubtedly
be happy with it. All of the characters and moves you could want have
been included and the game looks and sounds exactly like the show. The
only drawback is that the fighting engine hasn’t changed at all from the
first game, so it is still incredibly simple and pretty crappy compared
to pretty much every other fighting game. That doesn’t really matter
though because being able to drop a Super Spirit Bomb on Buu’s head or
use the fusion technique is fun enough that it is easy to ignore the
simple combat. This show is all about the characters and the moves and
the drama and Budokai 2 captures it all perfectly. If you aren’t a DBZ
fan, you won’t like this game, and if you didn’t like the first Budokai,
the sequel won’t change your mind. However, if you are a fan and you
enjoyed Budokai, then Budokai 2 is a solid purchase that has a ton of
stuff to do and gives you lots of ways to do it so I think it is worth a
purchase.
Eric Qualls (01/01/2004) |
