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> Results: Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
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This is a heavily stylized anime fighting game. It's based off the American version of the TV series, which is edited down to a TV Y7 rating for showing here in the US. The game includes over 100 playable characters in 15 environments from the show. For a fan of the story this is pay dirt. They go through most of the storyline through both series, plus you get the free-fighting and tournament modes so you can fight the battles you want to.
The things that drive older gamers nuts make this just about perfect for the target audience. The repetitive game play makes it easy for them to master. The controls are simple, but there's room to develop the characters and make it more complex for older players. Since everyone uses pretty much the same controls, you don't have to re-learn the game every time you pick a new character to play with. The way they stick to the story causes problems, though. They set up the various fights within the context of the show, but they don't always match the outcome you should be fighting for with the results in the show. So you can beat the other guy, but in the story he beat you up. The game then continues on as if he was the one who won. The way the story is cut up is kind of weird, too. It's not based on episodes, but around little playable chapters. It's somewhat confusing. It's a solid entry in the series aimed straight at the fans of the television series. And it hits pretty well. If your kid is a fan of the series, he will love the destructable environments and the great big flashy powers and having all three series worth of story in one place.  
As far as fighting games go, this is about as tame as it gets. You beat on each other, but no one ever gets anything worse than a split lip, some scratches and dirt, and messy hair. It looks more like they got in a marker fight than a fist fight. No swearing, very little blood, and no skin.
Girls are pretty much missing from the story. You have a couple character's mom/wife/girlfriend and that's about it. This is very much a boy's world. It's aimed right at the age-group who think girls are icky. There are a few things that won't phase your kids but might make you uncomfortable. One of the main characters is a little boy named Gohan. Sometimes you'll see one of the other grown up characters fighting a little kid. And at some story points, he looses and gets beat up. He is stronger than just about everyone in the game and gives as good as he gets the next time around. Also, people die in it. It's all bloodless, and they don't stay gone. They do martial arts training and wait to be brought back to life. While they're "dead" the only difference is they have a halo, and are usually hanging around with a green guy who looks like a catfish lamenting the fact that they can't be in the action directly. It reminds me of playing soldier when you were kids. You go bang, the other guy falls down, and then after a suitably dramatic death scene he lays there and waits while you all finish the fight and then he gets back up and you go charge the hill again. This one is a great game to have in the house for older kids or parents to play with younger kids. It handles different levels of skill very well and former fans of the series who have supposedly outgrown all this will be able to see all their old favorites and meet all the newest ones their sibling is driving you nuts over. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 |
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