Shin Budokai + Shin Budokai 2 (Review)

[TAS]

I don't mean to get off topic, but that fanmade cover is pretty damn good IMO.

You're not really getting off topic as the fan made cover still pertains to Shin Budokai, and yes, it is quite good, and better then a lot of the crappy fan-art looking covers that Atari puts out.

The only (console) game covers I've seen that Atari has done good for the DBZ fighter games are Budokai 2, and Super DBZ, and of course neither looks anything like the other covers Atari has done (that look like fan tracings colored poorly in photoshop) and it makes me wonder why those two covers are so much better then the others, or why they continue to use the same crappy design style.

I know Atari and others would/will aurgue that they do covers the way they do because they feel/think that they're more appealing and what US consumers/fans want, yet the artwork is incredibly crappy compared to the official TOEI stuff, and the covers aren't appealing, nor do they stand out at all on the shelves or anything like that. Capcom's MegaMan remakes on the PSP to me currently have to best packaging designs of any PSP game(s) because they really stand out and draw your eye (as they're mostly all white) to the point where you want to pick it/them up and look at them.

Another note about the packaging (and I don't remember if I mention this in the review or not but) the manual for Another Road is paper thin, doesn't show off any of the characters, doesn't tell you how to use/activate the new gameplay features, and the credits in the back (which is the biggest section of the manual btw) only credits Atari employees that had nothing to do with the game's production (it doesn't even list the entire English voice cast either, just a couple of actors)


EDIT:

I meant to say this earlier but keep forgeting, but I really wanted to do a video review of sorts for these games to show off all the new features both feature compared to that of Budokai 3, for those who are curious and all that kinda stuff, but I don't know how to rip video from my PSP.

[Sasuke_Chidori]

Not to get off topic, but when I got the Budokai 2 Strategy guide, it claimed that the Budokai 1 cover was a joint effort between Japanese and American studios. Perhaps some of the cover arts aren't all Atari's fault?

EDIT: I heard that the PSP2TV worked well for that kind of stuff, TAS. They ARE quite expensive though, so it probably wouldn't be worth it..

[TAS]

Not to get off topic, but when I got the Budokai 2 Strategy guide, it claimed that the Budokai 1 cover was a joint effort between Japanese and American studios. Perhaps some of the cover arts aren't all Atari's fault?

The localizatiobn of games are often handled by both the development team and the publisher, which is what they were probaly refering to. The actual cover image of B1 was a one man job, it didn't require multiple people.

Ultimately the Japanese studios do approve stuff like US covers, however to a degree they don't care about what the US publisher does because it's not their region, also that Atari makes all (or most) the money of the US/PAL versions while Bandai/Dimps/Spike making virtualy nothing off the US/PAL versions.

EDIT: I heard that the PSP2TV worked well for that kind of stuff, TAS. They ARE quite expensive though, so it probably wouldn't be worth it..

Yeah I've heard about it, when I asked a friend of mine if there was anyway to play PSP games on my TV, and he said yes, but the adaption is expensive.

It be nice to be able to play PSP games on a TV screen but of course it won't fix any of the control problems PSP games often have.

If I were to do a video review hopefully Mike could tag/link it to the podcast so that all of the listeners who'd be intrested in seeing it could or whatever.

[Kaboom]

Well, I got the game, and thought I'd give my short review in this thread instead of starting a new one.

Now, I haven't played any of the Budokai games save for the first (I played budokai2 for about five minutes, which consisted largely of my getting my ass kicked because I didn't know how to do anything, so that doesn't count), so I won't really be comparing SB2 to any others in the series. It's really just my opinions on the game itself.

• Graphics - Well, it's my first and only PSP game, so I don't really know how it stacks up, though I'm sure there's likely a couple other games out or almost out that look better than it. Maybe it's just that I've been playing a lot of GBA and PS1 games lately, but it looks gorgeous to me. The characters are crisp and well-animated (except in certain parts), the special effects are beautiful, and the backgrounds are very pleasant indeed.
  
  Sound - Quality is good. The music is dub techno-rock stuff, but it's a lot better than the dubs of the actual episodes and movies have been getting of late. There's a good amount of voice acting, in both Japanese and English, even in some of the non-animated "cutscenes." Sound effects are nice as well.
  
  Gameplay - You start out with a basic set of characters, and you earn more of them along with more transformations as you play through the story. It uses a slots-and-boosters type of system to upgrade your characters' stats, which can make you all but godly if you play your cards right (Pun most definitely intended). It uses a world-map system to set up and initiate most of the fights, which I'll get into with the story.
  
  Controls - Pretty well-put-together. You've got your light and heavy physical attacks, ki blasts, etc... and none are all too hard to pull off. The fact that ki charging has its own button (L) was a good move, and the Ki burst/charged attack things using (R) are useful. The manual isn't very helpful in terms of some of the more advanced stuff (I played through a good chunk of the game without knowing how to do that midair juggling thingy before I finally found out how after scouring GameFAQs), but it's got more than enough to get you off to a good start.
  
  Story (+Story Mode) - The story is "GT level," like I'm pretty sure someone else already said. Good idea (i.e. Buu in Trunks' time), meh execution. They seem to have worked the story around the concept of "make sure we use ALL the characters," and got folks like Janemba and Freeza and Cell and such that really didn't need to be there. But at least we get a few good new characters out of it (Two versions of Trunks, Bardock, Gotenks, etc...). Also, I haven't earned SSj4 Goku yet, but I'm looking forward to it...
  
  The story mode is interesting. You get plunked onto a field area with two chosen and customizable teammates, and your usual goal is to engage and defeat any number of enemies who are usually trying to destroy cities. In addition to beating them, you have to watch the status of the cities and your teammates. Cities will be repaired (along with yourself) as you hover over them, and you're given a few senzu beans (essentially "extra lives") which you can share with your teammates for if or when you lose battles.
  
  • The story mode itself could've been better, and is my only real complaint about the game. Not only does the over world thing visually look kinda crappy, but the way it plays is very rough and oftentimes frustrating. Your teammates, even when customized and at high levels, often aren't much help, and will usually barely manage to take out one, two if you're lucky, enemies before getting K.O.'d and leaving the remaining five or six all to you. It then gets very hard to keep cities and yourself from getting totally annihilated as you're chased down, cornered, and attacked by all those enemies from various sides. Times when you're merely pitted against one or two bosses in a row without having to traverse the map thing are a welcome change whenever you have them.

One thing about this game, however, has come to irritate me immensely. However, it isn't the fault of the game developers. Rather, it's a mistake that is traced back to the fault of the creative minds at Toei animation. The problem is with Bardock.

• He shouldn't have been named "Bardock." A more appropriate name would be "Owny McAwesomePants," or something to such effect.

There you have it.

[param]

I never got to play Shin Budokai 1 (since I was too busy with Budokai's and Tenkaichi's on the Ps2), but I bought Shin Budokai 2 Another Road and I'm loving this game.


DBZ Another Road is better than Budokai 3, imo. The gameplay is fluid with excellent framerate, and pretty much works like Budokai 3, very fast paced fights.
What makes this game better than Budokai 3 is the story mode. I love the story mode, its fun, like the way Budokai 2 was, and even better. The best Storyline mode that exists in DBZ games is in this one and Tenkaichi 2.
Worth getting, definitely.

And talking about the cover, Piccolo being in there make more sense than SSJ4 Goku being in there. Since Piccolo is a part of the Another Road storyline, and SSJ4 Goku isn't (or at least so I've heard, I've only got the game today and reached Chapter 4).

The best DBZ cover, IMO, is European/Japanese version of Tenkaichi 2.

[Dizzyegg05]

This game delivers for newbies to the PSP scene but offers little else for owners of the first game.Same lazy art work as before. It`s a shame.

I really hope for the sake of the name Dragonball that Densetsu on the DS does well (which i`m sure it will) because i`m not sure how much longer fans will stay hooked to the same old moves and fighters?

Please prove me wrong but with Naruto doing so well right now as well as a flurry of Bleach games , and not to mention One piece. Could the end of Dragonball be near?

I don`t mean to open a question within a question which i`m sorry for.

[Kaboom]

This game delivers for newbies to the PSP scene...

<---- Exactomundo.

[param]

Please prove me wrong but with Naruto doing so well right now as well as a flurry of Bleach games , and not to mention One piece. Could the end of Dragonball be near?

Like you said, if the game appeals to newbies to PSP, its all that's needed, because there have been plenty coming to PSP lately.

As for the end, I'm putting my bets up, once the MMORPG releases, the DB-Hype will shoot up so bad, Toei will be able to smell money.


Its a sarcasm, but you get what I mean. IMO, the craze coming back to DB shouldn't be any less than when it touched its peak during the 90's. They just need to make sure the MMORPG is at least in the same league as World Of Warcraft, and with Toriyama having a great deal of authority in it, I'm sure it'll be there.

And if it matters, there will be DBZ On PS3. In fact, its already confirmed to be in the works.



OFF-Topic ends here.



I just finished the Another Road mode, and even though it has its share of plotholes and stupidity, the overall script wasn't bad at all, I enjoyed it.

[TAS]

Game Trailers Shin Budokai Another Road Video Review

http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php? ... mv&pl=game