Favorite Story Mode?

[Namek'jin Ryu]

Ever since Super DragonBall Z has come out, I've been wondering which Dragonball / Z / GT game do you think had the best Story Mode and why? The reason I'm asking is because I've been informed Super DragonBall Z doesn't have a Story Mode and that is the sole reason I usually get the games. Meaning this one won't be up near the top of my 'to get list'.

Seeing as I'm starting this thread I guess I'll be the first to go.

To me, the best Story Mode out there would be Budokai 1 due to the fact that the character designs, in my opinion, are phenomenal. Not only that, but also the fact of how closely the Storyline seemed to follow the actually Anime.

Next would come Budokai Tenkaichi. Much like Budokai 1, the Story Mode followed the Anime pretty darn closely. Sure it had some "what-if" battles within/between each episode/saga, but what can you expect when the story's been played out countless number of times.

Following Budokai Tenkaichi is Budokai 3. The reason this is here is for the fact, Atari went back to somewhat of the Story Mode as Budokai 1 brought to the table. Not enough though to raise it to the number two spot on my 'Story Mode list'.

Finally comes Budokai 2. This Budokai was by far the worst, at least to me, because of the unrealisticness (if that is even a word) of the characters whom were fighting. Also the Game Board background left a bit to be desired.

So, all in all, the way I would rank these games are as follows:

1. Budokai 1
2. Budokai Tenkaichi
3. Budokai 3
4. Budokai 2

Now, of course, it is your turn.

[Deus ex Machina]

Budokai 1 for sure. That game had its limitations and looks a little dated now, but I love how the creators tried to re-enact scenes straight out of the anime. It made it feel less like a game and more like an extension of the show. I wish they would take this route more often.

[Castor Troy]

Sparking and Budokai 1.

[Namek'jin Ryu]

One thing I've actually been longing for since Budokai 1's completion is a DragonBall Z game that continues the Story Mode from where Budokai 1 ended. Including everything that was in this game, plus added characters. Yes, even include the 3D look.

Like Deus ex Machina mentioned it felt as if you were more in the Anime yourself, with control over the world. The control being whether the Earth blew into smithereens because you couldn't save it, or actually saving the Earth, making yourself feel worthwhile for at least five minutes. If only a game would be made that continued on from after the Cell Saga, heck I wouldn't care if they even had to add some GT Saga's to it. However, with how long the Babidi/Buu Saga was, there might not be any need for GT. Ah, the possibilities. Too bad that's all they ever will be.

[jwimz]

I personally liked BT the best out of all of them only because you got to fight every possible battle from the beginning of the series until the end. A close second would be Budokai 1 just for the fact that it emulated the show.

What I've heard of BT2 is that they will have a story mode which will start at the beginning of DB and finish up at the end of GT. So I'll be getting that game. However I would like it to be presented in a form similar to B3 (My ultimate wish would be that it is B1 style but that would be too much work).

[SonGokuGT]

I like the story mode on "Supersonic Warriors" [a.k.a. "Bukuu Tougeki"] for Gameboy Advance. It initially follows the original story's events faithfully and then you also get all the "what-ifs" for each character. Just for the what-ifs, its always been my favorite. I also really enjoyed "Sparking!" and the first "Budokai". I still play "Budokai" from time to time.

[Sebastian (SB)]

I like the story mode on "Supersonic Warriors" [a.k.a. "Bukuu Tougeki"] for Gameboy Advance. It initially follows the original story's events faithfully and then you also get all the "what-ifs" for each character. Just for the what-ifs, its always been my favorite. I also really enjoyed "Sparking!" and the first "Budokai". I still play "Budokai" from time to time.

What he said, except for Sparking!. Though it had some interesting ideas, I find Budokai 2's what-ifs more interesting.

[Chaos Saiyajin]

Budokai 1 had the absolute best story mode, in my opinion. Awesome cutscenes, amazing what-if? scenarios, etc.

Sparking! had the next best one in my opinion, because it was a lot like Budokai's, except, well, maybe the cutscenes weren't as good.

Next up in my line up is Budokai 2, who had an amazing twist on DBZ: A board game. I know many many people despise this one, but I've always liked it because of the random returning of Freeza and Cell, the fun of killing Kaioshin, etc.

I'm not going to even comment on how much I despise Budokai 3's Story Mode.

1. Budokai
2. Sparking!
3. Budokai 2
4. Budokai 3

[ngnikolaos]

I completely agree with Chaos Saiyajin. Budokai 3's story mode is lame in my opinion, because it lacks a solid story continuity, especially when playing with less popular characters like Yamcha. It's impossible to play "the complete" android saga, so to speak, while in B1 and Tenkaichi you could do so.

So I go with:

Tenkaichi 2 (it's going to be a dream, trust me)
Budokai 1
Tenkaichi
Budokai 3
Budokai 2 (what-if or no what-ifs, it sucked)

[The S]

Of the what I've played thus far:

Sparking!
Budokai 3
Budokai 2
Bukuu Tougeki
Budokai

I don't know why, but I enjoyed Budokai 2's. The first Budokai's was revolutionary at the time, but can't hold a candle to anything now.

[Big Momma]

Budokai 1, Sparking didn't really have cutscenes, they were just the characters standing there, talking, any movements they made could be done while fighting. Budokai 1 was great, I have always wanted to see DBZ done with CGI(Don't ask why.)*hehe, that rhymed!* Anywhoo, thats my two cents.

[Swift]

I like the story mode on "Supersonic Warriors" [a.k.a. "Bukuu Tougeki"] for Gameboy Advance. It initially follows the original story's events faithfully and then you also get all the "what-ifs" for each character. Just for the what-ifs, its always been my favorite. I also really enjoyed "Sparking!" and the first "Budokai". I still play "Budokai" from time to time.

I was originally gonna say that Budokai 3 had my favorite story mode, but I had completely forgot about the handheld games until I read this. I agree, Super Sonic Warriors 1's story mode was the best. I have played that game's story mode countless times over, far more than any other DBZ game. I really like the style of cutscenes, and most of the what-ifs are awesome (Piccolo's storyline, Cell's storyline, Vegeta's). It was great to see the DBZ storyline told in the old way, with the "saga" storylines, and in a totally new way, with the what-if scenarios. Oh, and the music during the cutscenes was great. *SSW's "something-bad-happened" music plays in head*

As for the rest, next up would be Budokai 3's. Flying around and going to different areas was quite fun, as well as searching for all the hidden items like the Dragonballs. It was good, solid, and fun, with lots of replayability thanks to multiple unlockables, leveling up, and the changes that occur when you play some characters' storylines more than once. It did have flaws though, like the world map feeling a bit unnecesary at times, like it didn't really need to be there as there was nothing to do but to go from point A to point B, and the cutscenes themselves were actually watered-down SSW cutscenes (yes, watered-down, as characters actually changed their facial expressions in SSW, unlike B3) and not in 3D like (at least some) cutscenes should've been. But overall, it was a very fun mode. The best out of the DBZ console games.

Next of course, is Budokai 1. To tell the truth, I don't remember B1's story mode that well, as it's been so very long since I've played it and I lost the disk for it. I do know that those 3D animated cutscenes it had rocked. They recreated anime sequences extremely well. It's probably the only DBZ game, other then SSW, that a nonDBZ fan can jump into, with know knowledge of the series, and still understand the story (no way would they understand B3's Dragon Universe).

Next is Sparking!. I hated Sparking!'s single player mode. The cutscenes were awful, and extremely boring, as the characters just stood there talking and never actually did anything. The actual battles weren't fun either, because of the horrible "missions" some of them required (survival battles...). The AI itself, even for standard battles, was very cheap one second, and then was standing there stupidly, waiting for you to attack, the next. It wasn't any fun to fight that AI. As for the what-ifs, they were severly lacking in comparison to SSW's what-ifs. I didn't like them very much at all. Don't get me wrong, Sparking! had a lot of potential, and it's multiplayer mode was really fun with other players, but the single player mode, in my opinion, was executed very badly.

I've never played Budokai 2 or Super DBZ (though I don't think the latter has much of a story mode), so I can't say anything about those. I did forget SSW2's mode... That was pretty "meh" I think, compared to the original games. I guess it'd be somewhere between B1 and Sparking!.

[Rocketman]

Budokai 1's story mode was very nice, more like the manga than the anime.

B2's wasn't that bad, actually. The problem was to unlock everything, you had to play it over and over and over and over....or play through the whole thing to do something vs Super Gohan Buu that would give you a character. Quite annoying, that.

B3's was bunk, BT's wasn't much better.

SSW was fairly good, esp. the what-ifs.

So:

B1
SSW
B2
BT
B3

Of course, the best is the Legacy of Goku series.

[DB_Fan]

Budokai 3
Budokai 1
Budokai Tenkaichi
Budokai 2

[Chaos Saiyajin]

I totally forgot about the handlehelds!

Wow, that changes my line up quite a bit...

1. Bukuu Togeki
2. Budokai
3. Sparking!
4. Budokai 2
5. Bukuu Ressen
6. Budokai 3

I'll never give B3's story mode a chance.

[wannywan]

1. Supersonic Warriors
2. Budokai
3. Budokai 3
4. Budokai 2
5. Supersonic Warriors 2
6. Sparking!
7. Sagas

[Namek'jin Ryu]

I was going to post my handheld selections up with my first post, but, to tell everyone the truth; I haven't played a handheld DragonBall / Z / GT game forever. I think the last one I played, or at least remember playing, is the stupid Card Game for GameBoy Color. Don't get me wrong, I have all the other games from Legacy of Goku to the newly released DragonBall Advanced Adventure. However, due to me not having a lot of time these days, those games kind of got the bad end of the deal.

Another reason I don't like playing handhelds very much anymore is due to the fact I hate having to look down at the little screen you get to play them on. Not only for my neck gets stiff quite easily, but also for the lighting in those consoles (GameBoy Color/Advanced) aren't that well. Now, I have a GameBoy Advanced SP sitting around somewhere, and that one I have no problem playing with, although, the key word is 'somewhere'.

[Drunken Master]

I don't need the whole story. I know what happens...I've watched the anime and read the manga a hundred times over. I just want the fight scenes with short dialogue of the fighters talking to each before and after the fight. That's why BT wins.

I'm not watching the anime, I'm playing a game, and I'd like to get to the action ASAP.

[Conan the SSJ]

Well, here goes. For the record, my choices are just in regard to the Ps2 games pre Super DBZ and Budokai Tenkaichi 2. Note: I will be disregarding the original Budokai 3 release, as I have the superior version to speak of.

My absolute favorite story mode would have to be from Budokai 3, but not the original Budokai 3. Budokai 3 Greatest Hits, which basically offers the original's world flying, character interacting, fun Dragonball hunting, and leveling-up elements; along with the many battles of each specific character and this version also upgrades the cut-scenes somewhat, as they now change expressions in an appropriate manner similar to SSW (more stylish flashback moments and location backgrounds as well). Also, there're the fun side quests and interesting what-if routes (Yamcha's revenge on Vegeta for stealing Bulma, Broly concurring the world and fulfilling the Legendary SSJ destiny, Goku's new discovery of SSJ4, etc.), all in a very stylish Fighting/RPG-elements mixture. The designs and graphics of the DBZ Earth and Namek are also very slickly designed, in my opinion, making up for the sub-par cut-scenes. Not to mention the insanely fun aspect of performing flight Matrix style. With the addition of the Japanese VAs, I definitely love going back and going at each character's mode more than a couple times, especially when doing battle with Yamcha against Vegeta. *ding ding ding!* And oh yeah, the fighting game-play owns over any other DBZ Ps2 game.

Budokai 1 is definitely my next favorite. The what-if battles are a blast (I'll never get tired of seeing Saiyan saga Vegeta go SSJ, or do battle with Kuriza), as are the phenomenally awesome cut-scenes. The dub acting in this was very good as well, definitely on par with original DB's dub work. I've sometimes found myself playing through the mode again months after not playing it just to enjoy those awesome reenactment moments all over again. I would still like to someday get a hold of the PAL version just to play it out with the Japanese VAs, though I do hear that the subtitles are pretty crappy and the CHA-LA opening segment is cut entirely. Maybe above all else, I have a very nostalgic feel for Budokai 1, and also given the fact Dimps had a good couple years to work on the game, not a rushed 10 months like the rest of the games seem to be; helped matters as well.

Budokai 2's "Dragon World" is next on my list. I actually got back into this game's story a short while ago (playing with no memory card), and honestly found myself having a blast more so than I did a few years ago first playing it. I looked at it from a point of view that it takes some fun original elements rather than trying to be a strictly accurate story mode. I had such a blast with it, reminded me of Shin Budokai somewhat in that I was playing out the entire series in a new light, an adaptation that doesn't take itself too seriously and is pretty damn fun. I did fairly enjoy the board game element, and wasn't as disappointed in the graphics as I used to be. Now instead of a "WTF?" look, I look at the Majin Vegeta monopoly piece's Final Explosion attack and laugh like hell at it in amusement. Oh and fighting Freeza and the Ginyu squad at Muscle Tower before Namek, it just had me kicking the floor in laughs that this was the same place where Goku fought the Red Ribbon Army; now I was battling the "most terrible tyrant in the universe" on the same grounds.

Next up would be...believe it or not, I'm the first one to bring this up; Sagas. I really did enjoy some of the elements established in this action/adventure story mode, and while the story itself was obviously overdone when looking back at Budokai and Budokai 3, I still had some fun with it. The idea of taking scenes from the anime and meshing them together was a pretty decent attempt, and considering the game may have been made on a more rushed deadline than the Budokai sequels, not too bad an idea. The newly animated opening chapter was pretty nice, and getting to have new original characters to battle was very fun. Rather it be the Teenage Mutant Saibamen, the Prototype Androids (which were actually taken from a vision Trunks has in the anime), or the all new Yardratean man himself; Soba, it was all in good fun (albeit very glitchy here and there, though sometimes comically). Not only those original elements, finally getting to play the History of Trunks story in this genre form may have been the biggest blast I had playing through. But then again, playing as Vegeta in the Namek arc wasn't too bad either.

And last...yep, Budokai Tenkaichi. There are many of reasons why this is my least favorite story mode. Plain and simple, I don't like it at all, but then I don't hate it; I just dislike it with a soft sigh. I mean sure there're the Japanese VAs to play with, but it doesn't really enhance much more the experience than Budokai 3 Greatest Hits does. The story mode, for me, just takes WAY too long to entirely beat and once beaten; there is NO desire from me to go back and play it again. The cut-scenes are obviously awful, I mean, standing around waiting to take a piss or some very awkward slow-motion punching of AT fields seemed to be the majority. Hell, only 20 of the 149 battles had real cut-scenes, all of which (EXCEPT for Chaozu Vs. Guldo) sucked! Not only that, the Dragonball collecting system was atrocious in comparison to Budokai 2 and Budokai 3. I mean, doing the Tien vs. Chaozu match 49 times just to get all 7 wishes isn't exactly a picnic (and that retarded looking Shen Long sequence doesn't help matters). But hey, mainly it comes down to this game being unable to do what all the other Ps2 games have done; tempt me to go back and play it again after already beating it (though I did once go back to play it again just to tape myself playing with the Japanese VAs >_>).

Alrighty then, here it is:
Budokai 3 Greatest Hits
Budokai
Budokai 2
Sagas
Budokai Tenkaichi

[NECPS]

I would like a mix between budokai 3 and budokai 1.

Sparking is not getting it right.