Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (PlayStation 2)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.7 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Ryan Davis
• Reviewed on: 12/04/2003
• Released on: 12/04/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (PlayStation 2) Review

After over a decade of poorly realized Dragon Ball Z fighting games, Atari and little-known developer DIMPS surprised many people in 2002 when they released Dragon Ball Z: Budokai for the PlayStation 2. Amazingly, it wasn't half bad. The action wasn't complex--as it valued accessibility over depth--but the visuals had a sharp, clean look to them. Surprisingly, the game made excellent use of the license, with the crowning achievement being a story mode that reenacted many of Dragon Ball Z's most memorable moments. Now, about a year after Budokai hit shelves, DIMPS has churned out a better-looking sequel, but this time around it lacks the compelling story mode that distracts you from the rather basic gameplay.

In place of Budokai's story mode, Budokai 2 features the new Dragon World mode, which is essentially a board game where you control a team of Dragon Ball Z heroes as they move around on a series of maps while fighting bad guys and collecting dragon balls. The story for the Dragon World mode takes some liberties with the Dragon Ball Z continuity by fashioning a tale that has many of the series' different villains teaming up to collect the dragon balls. Unfortunately, after a few levels, the overlying story just sort of derails. The fundamental problem with the Dragon World mode is that there's really no point to it. With your sole objective, on most maps, being to just find the bad guys and fight them, the board game format doesn't bring a lot of strategy to the table. Also, you have to fight the same enemy several times before he is permanently vanquished, in most cases, and that just isn't any fun.

Unfortunately, if you want to get the most out of Budokai 2's multiplayer game, you really need to play through the Dragon World mode, as it's the only way to unlock many of the game's characters and stages. Beyond the Dragon World mode, Budokai 2 offers a duel mode (where you can fight against the CPU or another player in a one-off match), a single-player, ladder-style World Tournament mode, and a training mode. Whether you're already familiar with Budokai or not, the training mode is worth going through, as it explains the mechanics that are new to Budokai 2 and explains those that make the series different from other 3D fighters.

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