Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Wii) Review

Here's the second classic review from my old reviewer days. It's not my proudest work by any means, but it sure is my earliest. We started the week earlier with a Dragon Ball review, so let's end it with a DBZ review. Here's a classic review of Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 for the Wii and PlayStation 2. This review focuses on the Wii version.

A kamehameha burst of fun.

Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is the fifth installment of the Budokai series and the second of the Tenkaichi series. Basically the words more, more, and more adequately describe this game. There's more characters, more arenas, more capsules, more sagas, and more battles to be had.

There's not too much of a difference between the Playstation 2 and Wii versions, however, save for an alternate control scheme, and even then the control scheme isn't mandatory to use. Regardless, you'll have the best Wii DBZ experience by using the Wii remote and nunchuk combo. The control stick moves your fighter, swinging the nunchuk makes your fighter dash, the B button unleashes an energy attack called a Ki Blast, pointing the Wii remote up and holding down on the control pad makes your fighter block, A is used for attacks fittingly, holding the C button and moving the nunchuk up enables your fighter to jump or rise into the air, the opposite is how you descend-- yeah, there's a lot to remember which may turn people off immediately, but when you get a hang of it it's quite rewarding. Alternately you can use either a classic controller or Gamecube controller to play. However, don't expect to look in the instruction manual for help on the button configuration-- there isn't any.

The bigger they are....

The meat of Budokai Tenkaichi 2 rests in the Dragon Adventure mode. It's basically a mode that has you go through all of the sagas of Dragonball Z and GT lore. You fly around an overworld map, go to the designated area, and pick a fight. There is a lot of fighting and a plethora of sagas to be had in this mode-- almost too much that it gets monotonous at parts. You'll begin in the Saiyan Saga and go all the way to GT's climatic confrontation against Omega Shenron. There's also Ultimate Battle Z where you fight a series of battles against various DBZ characters, Dragon Tournament-- a three round ring out or KO battle to earn zenny to buy items, Dueling-- a mode for you to face the CPU or a friend on your terms, Ultimate Training which will help the uninitiated get their bearings, Evolution Z which is a mode to equip skills to your fighters, the Item Shop where you buy and sell Z Items, and finally a Dragon Library where you can brush up on everything Dragonball Z. Whew. A lot modes, huh?

Her looks could kill... and did.

Not only are there a lot of modes, but there's a lot of characters. Taking a handful from Dragonball, a ton from Dragonball Z, and a nice collection from Dragonball GT, you'll discover a lot of fighters to face off with and against. Most are merely cosmetic as they really play the same as others. Such characters include mainstays like Goku, Piccolo, and Krillin to lesser talked about fighters such as Cooler, Lord Slug, and Janemba. Almost every Dragonball Z character is accounted for, and by combining Z-Items you can unlock new ones.

One hell of an air show.

To say Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is fun is an understatement. It's literally a blast to play, but the story mode-- filled with voice work from the show-- is just the same thing over and over again which gets somewhat boring. Additionally, some characters-- besides their appearances-- are far too alike. Nonetheless, even if you aren't a fan of Dragonball Z and think it's the most overrated anime on the planet (like me) you will still enjoy this fighter.

[SuperPhillip Says: 7.5/10]