MINI-REVIEW: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 [Wii]

[bapenguin]

In an effort to provide more In-House content I've put up our first Mini-Review (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=619219#post619219). What is a mini-review? It's a review based on a short amount of time with a game (3+ hours), which gives general impressions as well as a recommendation.

Let us know what you think, and if this is something you'd like to see continue. By doing this we can bring you more In-House content faster.

First up to the plate is Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=619219#post619219) for the Wii.

[Draconis]

I find myself disagreeing your thoughts on the Controls. I picked this game up two days ago and with the 5 hours I spent with it, I had absolultey no problem with the controls at all. *Shrugs* The motions worked and were smooth and solid.

But then again, I went through the entirety of the training to get a good solid grip of the games controls and spent my time with it to learn it.

The 'Well you should be able to pick it up and just play it' argument, doesn't hold water with me either, as some might say such on THIS game, but then quickly lambast someone else for not being able to just pick up and play, oh, Say, any EA sports game that isn't for the Wii, or things like gears of war etc just for random examples thrown out there.

Flailing around in this game isn't nessecary, it is very easy to just simply play it calmly and collectivley, without looking like a rabid badger on crack.

Edit: As for Mini-Reviews, it's a good idea, but if I may make a suggestion, get a two person opinion on it like some mags do. That way you have a better consensus instead of possibly coming off as biased, which, no matter how unbiased one tries to be, someone will always accuse a person of.

Draconis

[bapenguin]

I find myself disagreeing your thoughts on the Controls. I picked this game up two days ago and with the 5 hours I spent with it, I had absolultey no problem with the controls at all. *Shrugs* The motions worked and were smooth and solid.

But then again, I went through the entirety of the training to get a good solid grip of the games controls and spent my time with it to learn it.

The 'Well you should be able to pick it up and just play it' argument, doesn't hold water with me either, as some might say such on THIS game, but then quickly lambast someone else for not being able to just pick up and play, oh, Say, any EA sports game that isn't for the Wii, or things like gears of war etc just for random examples thrown out there.

Flailing around in this game isn't nessecary, it is very easy to just simply play it calmly and collectivley, without looking like a rabid badger on crack.

Edit: As for Mini-Reviews, it's a good idea, but if I may make a suggestion, get a two person opinion on it like some mags do. That way you have a better consensus instead of possibly coming off as biased, which, no matter how unbiased one tries to be, someone will always accuse a person of.

Draconis

I went through the training as well and about the only move I can consistnatly do with most characters is a fireball move (back and forward). Other than that, there's a claim of over 100 moves per character. While I've seen quite a few of them, I have NO idea how I did it. I even systematically tried to go through motions to discover the moves and it was just too flaky.

[Draconis]

Some of the few moves I went through, I'll agree with you on. Like Goku's Kaio Ken versus the Kamehameha Wave. But also, realize this. Each move, or power move, requires a certain level of power attributed with it.

That may also be affecting what moves you can and cannot do. Like I noticed unless I had just powered up and was at full power, at level 3, I could not otherwise pull off very specific power attacks. Other attacks required different power levels. Now whilst I am not sure as to whether or not you did that, as I was not there, it is a reasonable explanation of why you may not have noticed things working as one might think they should. It may also be a matter of timing just after powering up. I noticed after I had powered up, if I could do the motion, the attack went off without a hitch. However, if the enemy came in on me again and hit me around a few times, doing the move required me to power up again it seemed. Again, just a thought.

Overall however, I kept my movements more reserved instead of Exaggerated. That I think, helped out in the longrun. It's like any game of Mortal Kombat really is how I view it. Doing special moves takes practice. Hell, Street Fighters moves still give me problems for some of the attacks. *Shrugs*

Draconis

[Draconis]

An Addendum: I think a Mini-Review, in combination with a full Review, is a good idea. You would have the short and the long term run of it. It would give a good idea of the level of scale along the lines of " Can I just pick it up and Play it? " or. " This is a game I need to work on to understand and play. "

[Kamalot]

I learned this game in one evening and have been unstoppable ever since. I'm not big into fighting games other than Soul Calibur, and I'm not a fan of the DBZ show, but this game is the shit!

Friends constantly ask for it by name when they come over. The battles are intense and crazy. It is more fun, with a deeper combat system, than I would have imagined. I rented it (Gamefly) and decided to keep it for the paltry sum of $35.

[MajSheppard]

I think the fighting system is amongst the best ever.

I mean if you put the time in, you will uncover 70 hit combos that you can end with a massive ultimate blast KO with realitive ease. I recall playing games like Killer Instinct and having to memorize long complicated button patterns to pull off the same thing. This ease of use also doesn't make the game boring, because it becomes simple to stop this with simular ease. The bottom line is that with a few exceptions the game is so well balanced that the incredble ease of control makes the game as smooth as the speed of the game itself.

The learning curve is tough, but I suspect that it is just because of the radical different nature of the game.

BTW all the blast moves are really simple, and after you learn the four possible ways of pulling them off (which all somewhat emulate the charecters actual from show movements) you can use those powerful moves with any charecter. Provided you have the time to get them off of course. Though these ultimately will do you in if you try to use only them.

Take it from someone who has played the game through and spent as much time with it as Zelda. This game has depth that makes nearly every other fighting game blush.
It changed my mind about more conventional games being on the Wii, and now I simply wonder why Super Smash Bros isn't going to use the Wiimote, as I already prefer it.

[MajSheppard]

I actually have been putting off doing the full review of this game, like I did with Zelda. If there is any interest I might get around to it this weekend.

I didn't want to get the game until I heard some good things. It came out of nowhere to dominate the Post-Zelda Wii time. In short I would rank it second out of the Wii games I own, which is most all of them. (yeah and now im broke)

[MajSheppard]

An Addendum: I think a Mini-Review, in combination with a full Review, is a good idea. You would have the short and the long term run of it. It would give a good idea of the level of scale along the lines of " Can I just pick it up and Play it? " or. " This is a game I need to work on to understand and play. "


Yeah you can pick it up and just play it. The fighting comes down to two buttons, with alot of motion based variation and a really simple two button power move combo. Unfortunately because of the really novel way it is delivered you most likely will not do more then the two buttons until you go through the tutorial and put practice in, which can be several hours to get used to.

[Draconis]

Yeah you can pick it up and just play it. The fighting comes down to two buttons, with alot of motion based variation and a really simple two button power move combo. Unfortunately because of the really novel way it is delivered you most likely will not do more then the two buttons until you go through the tutorial and put practice in, which can be several hours to get used to.


Aye, I was going through the tutorial for a while myself, the more I went through it, the more I was amazed at how easy the game was to actually play. And please do submit a review MajSheppard. I wouldn't mind reading it.

[Kamalot]

One of the funniest things about this game is the completely hyper intro. When you put the disc in the Wii, it SHOUTS AT YOU!

DragonBallZeeBooDuhKaiTenKahEeeCheeToooo!

[bapenguin]

I'm really suprised so many people are enjoying this game. I had a buddy over who is a DBZ fan and he really just didn't like it. He's a member here so I'm sure he'll post his two cents, but I just found everything to be so...meh.

[MajSheppard]

Aye, I was going through the tutorial for a while myself, the more I went through it, the more I was amazed at how easy the game was to actually play. And please do submit a review MajSheppard. I wouldn't mind reading it.

Alright, if I find the time this weekend I'll write one up.

[MajSheppard]

I'm really suprised so many people are enjoying this game. I had a buddy over who is a DBZ fan and he really just didn't like it. He's a member here so I'm sure he'll post his two cents, but I just found everything to be so...meh.

I would say that the story mode is a little weak. Sometimes where you want the story to be flushed out some more they speed right through it. The game still is very long, and the RPG elements make the game a bit more enjoyable. Yet the high quality of the gameplay makes up for it imo.

[Kamalot]

For those of you who don't want to traverse the story mode and want to use the title for Multiplayer-Only, don't forget that you can download a save game with all characters unlocked.
Dragon Ball Z on Wii saves (http://wiisave.com/?cid=54)