DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is a 2006 fighting video game developed by Spike, published by Atari and Bandai Namco, and released for Wii and PlayStation 2.  Set as the second installment in the Tenkaichi series, players take control of the heroes and villains of the anime series, fighting it out in familiar locations.

The main campaign is called Dragon Adventure where players use a character to travel around Earth and Namek looking for Dragon Balls, skill capsules and opponents.  The story covers the mythology of Dragon Ball, DragonBall Z, DragonBall GT, and many of the animated movies.  The campaign is anything but linear.  Players are able to deviate from the main story to pursue side stories and exploration.

The game features an impressive roster of over 120 playable characters.  Some of the characters feel unnecessary; such as Cell Jr., Guldo, Saibaman, Yajirobe, and Cui.  Despite this, the characters add a special later of depth to the story as well as combat. Honestly, for fans of the series it’s pretty hard to keep playing the same story in each and every game. But, this game’s “open world” does alleviate this by creating a more flexible story, exploration, and inclusion of many fan favorites without feeling overwhelming.  Players are given the opportunity to reenact some of the most memorable moments of DragonBall lore. (3 out of 5)

The gameplay is solid with a more refined battle system from its predecessor.  Battles can now involve up to ten characters (five-on-five) fighting one at a time on the battle-field, with one teammate coming in after the other has been knocked out or when the player wishes to switch to another fighter. Characters can transform, in addition to being able to chosen in a transformed state from the start.

The combat mechanics are handled really well being more fine tuned from the previous game.  The fighting is pretty fast paced with blows that feel powerful.  The free flying system allows players to fly, ascend and descend at will.  Thumbs up for the sound design which is definitely on point sounding just like the anime. Players are given the option to customize their character’s strengths and stats with the use of Z items which can unlocked through game progression. (4 out of 5)

Visually the game looks good with it retaining the look and feel of the anime. The character models look sound exactly against their anime counterparts. The level designs look really good, which is aided by the detailed backdrops and destructible environments. It would’ve been better to have more interactive environments to help flesh out the levels (perhaps have battles going on in the background similar to Injustice 2, Mortal Kombat, or Killer Instinct. (4 out of 5)

Like many DragonBall Z games, the soundtrack is nothing memorable.  None of the awesome themes from the anime are in the game.  Where’s my fast paced epic action score from the series?  Hell, the music during the intro cinematic is actually really good and though the game does feature similar themes they just don’t feel exciting nor make the fights more intense.

Thumbs up to the sound design, which is done really well. The movement, impact, and energy blast have their unique sounds.  The voice performances are done well, many of the voice performers from the series return and they do a great job. There are some that are a little lackluster. Overall the sound is decent but definitely could’ve been better. (2 out of 5)

The game features several gameplay modes outside of the Dragon Adventure campaign that add a ton of replayability.  There is the Ultimate Battle Z, a themed pillar-style progression mode where players can acquire Z items for beating certain challenges. These items in turn can be leveled up to increase fighter’s abilities even further. Dragon Tournament is the tournament mode featured by most DragonBall Z games. By process of elimination, players take part in a tournament against the series’ strongest fighter and making it to the top yields a special treat for the winner.

The Dragon Library features character bios, character models, info on the series, and music from the game.  It’s pretty standard but I wish their could’ve been a bit more. As a fan of the series I would like each entry to bring something new information about the characters.  For those who aren’t die hard fans like myself, it has a lot of great information.i

Of course, my personal favorite, the versus mode where players can get competitive against each other or the cpu. Love cranking the difficulty to its hardest and going toe-to-toe with the computer.  But the icing on the cake comes with the tag battle, free battle, and single battle and how diverse the battles become. Sometimes I pick specific teams such as the Ginyu Force or play with specific species (for example humans versus saiyans or namekians versus androids).  It would’ve been nice to have stat boosts for having certain team ups (the Z Fighters, Ginyu Force, androids, namekians, humans, saiyans, etc.). There is a lot of hidden content for players to unlock. Unlockable Z items for certain characters or stat boosts to attack, defense, ki blast, or special attacks. (4 out of 5)

In the end, DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is one of the best entries in the series.  Really there isn’t much negative to say about the game aside from the overabundance of characters and how useless some feel as well as the lame ass soundtrack.  However, the game does feature a large roster of characters, fantastic gameplay, a ton of replayability, good graphics, good voice performances, and fun multiplayer.  DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 gets 4 out of 5.