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This game deserves some respect because of how much it pioneered the fighting game genre, and propelled the Dragon Ball Z franchise forward; but when you really look at any mechanic or feature, they’re all executed in the worst possible ways. I’m not the biggest fan of fighting games, I’d even go as far as to say I fucking hate them—mostly because I completely suck at every single one I try… but I still wanted to give this trilogy a shot because I remember all three so fondly.
The story is a mixed bag. Its simplicity can be commended, as it streamlines the story of the anime in an approachable and understandable way; but it can also be criticized for skipping a ton of epic fights and moments, in favor of implementing multiple—repetitive mainline battles. Gohan fights Perfect Cell four times… and each one is largely the same except now, you have two health bars instead of three! It’s boring. So many story moments are completely ruined, with a few hits immediately resulting in you losing your transformation which ruins the spectacle of the fight. It’s also worth noting that the music is terrible, and nowhere near the quality of the show—or even some of the other games. It barely resembles the anime, and sounds like a poor imitation that is unbelievably generic. When all of these issues are weighing down the experience, it’s hard for me to care or feel invested in this version of the story—although I will say that the locations are instantly recognizable so it deserves some points for that. Oh, and the bonus chapters are cool! Vegeta turning into a Super Saiyan before Goku will always be dope.
But obviously, the main draw of the Budokai franchise is the fighting. And… uhm, it’s crap. Like I said before, I’m not the biggest fan of this genre, so I’m not going to pretend like I know what I’m talking about when it comes to the abundance of mechanics in these games; but there’s not all that many here? And it’s very strange how if you’re playing on anything but easy, the AI will be the most aggressive, annoying piece of shits you’ve ever played against. I can’t get an attack in because they won’t stop spamming, so it leaves no room for me to do anything; and yeah, I know, I know… I should just “git gud”, and that’s fair. But it’s still annoying nonetheless. The choreography isn’t fluid either, with attacks looking the slowest they’ve ever looked in a fighting game, it’s almost like it’s in slow-mo. Most of these things can be summed up as the game being outdated, you can see this with the art style—as it's missing that iconic cel shaded look. I still like the simplicity of it though. But something I won’t forgive is some of the special moves looking completely wrong, why is the kamehameha yellow? How can you possibly get that wrong? There must be a reason, I don’t know though. In conclusion, bad game. Hopefully the sequels improve.
Playtime: 3.4 hours
Every Game I've Ever Played - Ranked (By Score)
Dragon Ball Z - Ranked
2002 - Ranked
This game deserves some respect because of how much it pioneered the fighting game genre, and propelled the Dragon Ball Z franchise forward; but when you really look at any mechanic or feature, they’re all executed in the worst possible ways. I’m not the biggest fan of fighting games, I’d even go as far as to say I fucking hate them—mostly because I completely suck at every single one I try… but I still wanted to give this trilogy a shot because I remember all three so fondly.
The story is a mixed bag. Its simplicity can be commended, as it streamlines the story of the anime in an approachable and understandable way; but it can also be criticized for skipping a ton of epic fights and moments, in favor of implementing multiple—repetitive mainline battles. Gohan fights Perfect Cell four times… and each one is largely the same except now, you have two health bars instead of three! It’s boring. So many story moments are completely ruined, with a few hits immediately resulting in you losing your transformation which ruins the spectacle of the fight. It’s also worth noting that the music is terrible, and nowhere near the quality of the show—or even some of the other games. It barely resembles the anime, and sounds like a poor imitation that is unbelievably generic. When all of these issues are weighing down the experience, it’s hard for me to care or feel invested in this version of the story—although I will say that the locations are instantly recognizable so it deserves some points for that. Oh, and the bonus chapters are cool! Vegeta turning into a Super Saiyan before Goku will always be dope.
But obviously, the main draw of the Budokai franchise is the fighting. And… uhm, it’s crap. Like I said before, I’m not the biggest fan of this genre, so I’m not going to pretend like I know what I’m talking about when it comes to the abundance of mechanics in these games; but there’s not all that many here? And it’s very strange how if you’re playing on anything but easy, the AI will be the most aggressive, annoying piece of shits you’ve ever played against. I can’t get an attack in because they won’t stop spamming, so it leaves no room for me to do anything; and yeah, I know, I know… I should just “git gud”, and that’s fair. But it’s still annoying nonetheless. The choreography isn’t fluid either, with attacks looking the slowest they’ve ever looked in a fighting game, it’s almost like it’s in slow-mo. Most of these things can be summed up as the game being outdated, you can see this with the art style—as it's missing that iconic cel shaded look. I still like the simplicity of it though. But something I won’t forgive is some of the special moves looking completely wrong, why is the kamehameha yellow? How can you possibly get that wrong? There must be a reason, I don’t know though. In conclusion, bad game. Hopefully the sequels improve.
Playtime: 3.4 hours
Every Game I've Ever Played - Ranked (By Score)
Dragon Ball Z - Ranked
2002 - Ranked
2 Comments
@Antoniabaka That's literally me lol. I always look forward to playing these but all it takes is an hour for it become the most tedious and boring thing ever. It's like, I need a hook you know? The fighting itself doesn't do it for me, so I need a good/entertaining narrative at least, but I never get that either.
Antoniabaka
4 months ago