Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai is a port of the incredibly popular Dragon Ball Z: Budokai line.Shin means new or better, so get ready for a new clean game.
Story
5/10
The story of Shin Budokai roughly follows Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fusion Reborn.A few plotholes here in there, kind of an unoriginal story A.K.A., Son Goku finds a new enemy, enemy gets followers, Son Goku and friends eventually kill the enemy.The Shin Budokai story is FULL of grammatical errors.It's kind on annoying, but it's also common in most portable Dragon Ball Z games.
Graphics
9/10
AMAZING graphics.The menus aren't too special, words, nice looking letters, colorful, yea.The battlefield is pretty darn amazing though.The stages are the same as the ones from Dragon Ball Z 3, with the exception of Hell of course.The 3D backgrounds are nicely done.The characters are nicely done, not just clothing, but like all of the little details from the anime are right there.The only flaw is a slight freeze in between frames and the lack of changing facial expressions (e.g. Broly is always grinning).
Gameplay
7/10
so if Shin means new, does the mean it is a new battle system?Pretty much.This battle system is supposed to be an amped version of the DBZ3 battle system.The gameplay flows perfectly.It is very fast paced.The brand new Aura Burst lets your character fly around freely and quickly.It is like taking the good parts of Dragon Ball Z 3 and Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! and throwing them into one battle system.Combos are still available, and can go on just as long as the PS2 combos.It sounds like I'm pretty happy with the gameplay, so why did I give it a 7?Well, after Dragon Road is complete, there is absolutly nothing to do.Afterwards, you only have your Survival, Free Battle, and Time Attack Modes.And the Profile Cards are REALLY boring.It's like customizing a school ID with Dragon Ball stickers.Also, the lack of multiple In-Game Transformations makes combos a lot harded to think up.And every character is pre-equipped with techniques, unlike in Dragon Ball Z 1, 2 , and 3 where you get to choose what techniques your character gets.Making every character the same.
Sound
6/10
I hate the new theme song.Also, the music is the same recycled music that we've been hearing sicne 2001.While many of the good tracks are still in Shin Budokai, I want some new music.I mean, Atari and Bandai have legends of American and Japanese music.They can totally do better than what they've been using for the past 5 years.What I love about the sound, Japanese voice actors.Plain and simple.The English voice actors are great too, but the original is just where it's at.
Overall
7.5/10
Dragon Ball Z: shin Budokai puts tons of new mechanics on the table, but doesn't give you too much new stuff that's good.The game gets REALLY boring after you beat Dragon Road and you may feel like you wasted your money after about a week.The game still delivers what a Dragon ball Z fan wants though, fast paced action.The game could do with better mini-games other than Dragon Pace and Profile Cards.Also, I feel kind of annoyed that Atari would advertise Wireless online Play when you can only play using Ad Hoc WiFi.
Rent or Buy?
A rent for sure, if you like games that last 3-5 hours after spending $40, then go ahead, buy it.
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Product Description:
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai is the first DBZ game to have wireless multiplayer action! The fast and furious combat rockets into a new dimension, with all the ounter-attacks, super high-speed bouts, flight and Ki (energy) management you've come to expect. Challenge some of the most evil characters in single-player mode, or select multiplayer and play as the bad guys themselves. The choice is yours -- either way, you'll fight hard to reach your goal: Becoming the most feared and powerful warrior in the universe!
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