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What if Weatherby was Locked in the Time Chamber with Budokai 2 and Betrayed? Full Review (4:23:38)
I think Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 gets a bad rap. Sure, in the pantheon of Dragon Ball Z fighting games, it shouldn't be your first, fifth, or even tenth choice, but at the time this was a notable improvement over the first Budokai, which you'll note I gave a 2/5 which means it's BAD! Since I am the foremost authority on Dragon Ball (I've spent over a thousand dollars on SH Figuarts and I have held my VizBig collected editions more than I have a woman), you'll just have to trust my assessment here. I've been in the lab mixing brightly colored chemical compounds in beakers and flasks to prove scientifically that Budokai 2 is an underrated gem, and I'm finally prepared to share with you the fruits of my research: deadly mustard gas!
oh FUCK oh NO!!
Budokai 2 is really just more of the first game with a few extra flourishes to improve the experience. The most effective way to win any match is still throwing out the ol' P-P-P-P-E combo, or initiating a series of kicks such that the enemy will always collide with your heel the second they get up. Budokai is not the thinkin' man's fighting game series, it never was, though the inclusion of rock/paper/scissors guessing games and Mario Party analog twirling on certain attacks do attempt to make fighting more engaging, albeit on a superficial level.
Speaking of Mario Party, I've got to talk about "Dragon World." The choice to move away from a linear story mode to something fashioned after a party game is definitely an interesting one, and I think it mostly pays off here, even if it's a tad underbaked. This might sound crazy coming from someone who is so often repelled by the Mario Party series, but it's not like Frieza can get the "Most Happenin'" Dragon Ball because he stole all of your Senzu beans. This isn't a luck-based system, it's a game of skill!
Again, this is not a particularly robust mode. You mostly move Goku and a couple other character tokens around on a board picking fights with Saiba Men and more powerful characters with registered trademarks next to their name, occasionally veering off to grab power-ups. The story pushes away from the same tired, truncated retelling of Dragon Ball Z's narrative, remixing elements in order to accommodate Dragon World's unique style of play. Majin Frieza and Majin Cell are not canon, but they are present here to offer a bit more variety, and I appreciate that. I do think Dragon World would've been better served by having some mini-games on the board, perhaps some point-control elements, or anything else to shake things up, but it does work as a good proof-of-concept for a Dragon Ball party game we never got. All I'm saying is, if it were up to me I'd have it so Garlic Jr. occasionally drops in to syphon a portion of everyone's Ki and then redistribute it based on the results of an entirely rigged mini game, but hey, these things often aren't perfect the first time around.
While I may not agree with the assessment that this is "the worst one," it's also not a game that I'd recommend unless you're as much of a Dragon Ball mark as I am. In which case, it's also only really worth checking out for the novelty of Dragon World. Budokai 3 is the best entry in the series by far, and when it really comes down to which Budokai you play, it's a no brainer. Still, despite its shortcomings I find it hard to have a bad time with Budokai 2.
I think Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 gets a bad rap. Sure, in the pantheon of Dragon Ball Z fighting games, it shouldn't be your first, fifth, or even tenth choice, but at the time this was a notable improvement over the first Budokai, which you'll note I gave a 2/5 which means it's BAD! Since I am the foremost authority on Dragon Ball (I've spent over a thousand dollars on SH Figuarts and I have held my VizBig collected editions more than I have a woman), you'll just have to trust my assessment here. I've been in the lab mixing brightly colored chemical compounds in beakers and flasks to prove scientifically that Budokai 2 is an underrated gem, and I'm finally prepared to share with you the fruits of my research: deadly mustard gas!
oh FUCK oh NO!!
Budokai 2 is really just more of the first game with a few extra flourishes to improve the experience. The most effective way to win any match is still throwing out the ol' P-P-P-P-E combo, or initiating a series of kicks such that the enemy will always collide with your heel the second they get up. Budokai is not the thinkin' man's fighting game series, it never was, though the inclusion of rock/paper/scissors guessing games and Mario Party analog twirling on certain attacks do attempt to make fighting more engaging, albeit on a superficial level.
Speaking of Mario Party, I've got to talk about "Dragon World." The choice to move away from a linear story mode to something fashioned after a party game is definitely an interesting one, and I think it mostly pays off here, even if it's a tad underbaked. This might sound crazy coming from someone who is so often repelled by the Mario Party series, but it's not like Frieza can get the "Most Happenin'" Dragon Ball because he stole all of your Senzu beans. This isn't a luck-based system, it's a game of skill!
Again, this is not a particularly robust mode. You mostly move Goku and a couple other character tokens around on a board picking fights with Saiba Men and more powerful characters with registered trademarks next to their name, occasionally veering off to grab power-ups. The story pushes away from the same tired, truncated retelling of Dragon Ball Z's narrative, remixing elements in order to accommodate Dragon World's unique style of play. Majin Frieza and Majin Cell are not canon, but they are present here to offer a bit more variety, and I appreciate that. I do think Dragon World would've been better served by having some mini-games on the board, perhaps some point-control elements, or anything else to shake things up, but it does work as a good proof-of-concept for a Dragon Ball party game we never got. All I'm saying is, if it were up to me I'd have it so Garlic Jr. occasionally drops in to syphon a portion of everyone's Ki and then redistribute it based on the results of an entirely rigged mini game, but hey, these things often aren't perfect the first time around.
While I may not agree with the assessment that this is "the worst one," it's also not a game that I'd recommend unless you're as much of a Dragon Ball mark as I am. In which case, it's also only really worth checking out for the novelty of Dragon World. Budokai 3 is the best entry in the series by far, and when it really comes down to which Budokai you play, it's a no brainer. Still, despite its shortcomings I find it hard to have a bad time with Budokai 2.