For the past few years Atari has consistently had new Dragon Ball Z games for the gaming audience. The best thing about this is that each new game is better then the last game, which includes better fighting engines and character selection. This year a new developer has been given the task of making a new Dragon Ball Z: Budokai game, and player will be able to tell the difference the minute they boot up the game. There has been a lot of changes to this game - read on to find out if they are all for the better or the worse.

There are plenty of different games modes that will keep players entertained for hours on end. In Duel players can select any of their favorite Dragon Ball character and go head to head against another human. World Tournament is a “king of the hill” type battle, in which there can be a three-, four-, or five-round battle. In order to become the best fighter in the universe players will have to practice all of their moves, and the Practice mode is just the place to do this. Players will be able to set up different conditions to help them get prepared for new battles that lie before them. Another mode you can play in is the Ultimate Battle which is when you challenge 100 fighters in this mode. This mode will try your patience in this game, but it is worth it if you can get to the end and win it.

The real meat of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi is the story mode called Z Battle Gate, which allows players to partake in every single fighting even that happened in Dragon Ball Z, the movies, and even some “what if” moments that could have happened in the series. This mode is really fun as you can re-enact the battles to see, if you were the characters in the show, how you could pull out the last-second win. In this mode players will be able to unlock a lot of different options for the rest of the game, which include many of the additional characters to be used in different modes.

One thing that players will notice on the box is that they will see that this game has over 57 unique characters, each with powerful different forms that bring the total character count to over 87. Unlike the previous games you will see more than one of a specific character, just in their transformed state. This might seem confusing at first but it really works out, and you can play out some really nice battles to see who is stronger: regular Goku or Super Saiyan Goku. Players will be able to choose almost any character that they have seen in any of the Dragon Ball series, which includes DBZ, DBGT, and all of the movies. The only catch is that you must unlock them first. If was nice to fight against some of the movie villains for once instead of just the regular TV series villains. Players will surely find a character that they will want to fight with, due to this huge roster of super-powered fighting machines.

Unlike the previous games in the Budokai series, this game is in full 3D with characters being able to do everything that the anime characters could do. If you want to fly around all you have to do is jump up and then fly up or down at your own free will. If there is water in the level you will be able to submerge yourself and battle underwater as well. This one thing makes this game feel a lot like the anime series. Players also have full control of the camera, which is good for looking around for the enemy as well as the Dragon Balls that are scattered around the levels. Players can now rush towards the enemies as well as perform the Dragon Dash moves, which inflicts more damage on the enemies. The fighting is also rebalanced as well; players will not take as much damage from hand-to-hand moves. If you want to win you will want to do over-the-top powerful energy attacks, which also stays true to the series as well. Overall I really liked the new direction the developers took with this game as it makes it more fun to play.

Players will notice immediately that the AI in this game is something to be reckoned with. I was playing with the default settings and was having the hardest time just getting past the first few levels, as the AI is as merciless as the characters they are portraying in the series. When you switch to easy mode the game gets more tolerable and if you have guts you can see how long you can last on with the hardest difficulty setting.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi mimics the anime series with the cel-shading technology and its does a really good job with it. Everything in the game really looks like the anime series and that makes it more fun to play. All of the special attacks, from the classic Kamehameha to the other combatant’s signature moves, looks fantastic and will give the whole “flashing lights” effect that the television series is known for. The environments that players will fight in are taken directly from the show and it feels great having the chance to duke it out in them, especially in the “Z Battle Gate” story mode.

One thing that fans of the series will really enjoy is the voice acting as it is really top notice. The developers got the voice actors from the English as well as the Japanese version of the show so you can get your groove on to whatever voice actors you want. This is a really good thing for dedicated fans of the show since they like the Japanese voiceovers better anyways. Just as in the anime series many of the characters will say some of the usual dialogue right before a fight, such as Goku telling the enemy that he doesn’t want to fight them and many other lines similar to this.

The game still carries the signature sound effects and musical themes which fans of the series have grown accustomed to hearing. The music in the game will remind players of many memories of things that they have seen while watching the TV show. The sound effects also provide all of the explosions, war cries, and various other things that are tied in with this series.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi is rated Teen for cartoon violence. It requires 71kb on your memory card.

Gameplay: 7.9
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi truly captures the feel of the TV show. All of the battles are fast paced and it makes you feel like you are really in the show. The fighting mechanics have been changed up and really make this game feel that much closer to how everything is done in the TV show. Even though this game lacks the depth of many others fighting games, it will take up plenty of time.

Graphics: 8.3
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi mimics the show's look and feel, and it does a great job of it. As you play though each level you will see many familiar places from the TV show that looks just like it. The cel-shading technique used really looks great.

Sound: 8.0
The sound for this game is really good and stays faithful to both the English and Japanese shows since it features the voices from both series. The music and sound effects are also really good.

Difficulty: Medium
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi will provide a nice challenge to gamers out there. The AI is adjustable but you will find yourself wanting to throw the controller at your TV in some of the battles. Certain battles feel cheap, but on the whole the game provides a nice challenge.

Concept: 8.6
I really liked how the game is played this year. Unlike all of the past Dragon Ball Z: Budokai games this one is a full 3D game with 3D movement anywhere you want to go. You can do many classic moves and evade the enemies with just a touch of the button. Also getting to play all the saga’s in the series is a really nice treat for gamers.

Multiplayer: 8.3
When a friend and I first popped this game into the PlayStation 2 to try out the multiplayer we didn’t know what to expect. It takes a while to get used to looking at your half of the screen for fights, but after while it becomes second nature and a real blast to play. Plus it is always better to play against a human character instead of a computer.

Overall: 8.3
I really liked how the developers of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi went “outside the box” when creating this game and didn’t stick to the formula that the other Budokai set up. The new gameplay is a refreshing change of pace and really fun once you get the hang of it. If you are a fan of the series then I highly suggest that you pick this game up.