14 - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIDEO GAME
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2003
New fighters give game punch
REVIEW
Chris Moore
cmoore@kansan.com
The fighters of Dragonball Z have returned to the gaming stage. It's been a few years since I've seen an actual Dragonball Z fighting game. Still, Dragonball Z: Budokai had to contend with some of its predecessors such as the 3-D fighting game Dragonball GT: Final Bout and Dragonball Z: Legends, one of the only games where you could pick three fighters to fight simultaneously (Sorry, but Marvel vs. Capcom doesn't come close to that). Budokai is a good old 3-D fighting game with the cast of one of the greatest fighting-style anime programs there is.
Contributed art
The game takes place at the end of the last World's Martial Arts Tournament, where Goku won his first tournament against the Namekian Piccolo. After that, Goku has a son,
Gohan, who gets captured by Raditz, Goku's brother. And then starts the Dragonball Z saga. Players must now fight their way through some of the most intense Dragonball Z fights up to the end of the Cell Saga.
The game also features the World Martial Arts Tournament. Players can compete in the Tournament to win prize money for themselves.The money is useful later in the game.
However, there aren't just fights that you must win. Players must complete special missions to progress. For instance, Goku must hold his brother as Piccolo launches the Special Beam Cannon at him; players must position Raditz in the right position at the right time for it to hit him. Also, some of the fights have stipulations to them. One example is when Goku becomes infected with a heart virus fighting Android 19. Players' life bar steadily decreases, and it's
up to them to defeat the Android before their life is depleted.
The fights aren't always won easily. Players can find themselves eliminated in the first round if they're not careful. The rules are just the same as the World Martial Arts Tournament; players either win by knocking out their opponent or they can knock them out of the ring. This is fun to do, but players will want to watch out for their opponents. They sometimes tend to turn around and knock the player out the ring. Players earn money for winning or coming in second place.
One of the greatest features in this game is the integration of the fighters and the Capsule Corporation's capsules. Players have the option of choosing a fighter and customizing them with their choice of attacks and support abilities. Players can get the capsules by winning battles in story mode and by buying them from Mr. Popo's shop. Players use the prize money they win
DRAGONBALL2:BUDOKAI .. A
Now available for Playstation 2
Rated T for Teen
Sells for an average retail price of $50
from the tournament to buy the capsules. The capsules let the player build the perfect character for them to fight with.
Also with the story mode, players have the option of rewriting Dragonball Z history. Players can take on each saga from the bad guy's point of view. Players can have Vegeta become a Super Saiyan at the end of the Saiyan Saga and have Frieza become immortal in the Frieza Saga. These were interesting twists for the game to have.
Budokai is a great game. The fighting is a rather fast-paced for a 3-D game, the graphics have the Dragonball Z anime style to it and the English-speaking Dragonball Z cast lend their voices to the characters. This game is a must-have for fighting gamers.
Moore is a Tulsa, Okla., freshman in journalism