DBZ Budokai HD Collection: Official On-Going Thread

[Hitiro]

. They have a great series that has a lot of potential yet to be realised missing a third and final installment.

So they're incapable of producing quality DBZ games.

Well its their quote, not mine. It was said in the Q&A of the Ultimate Tenkaichi with Treevax/Nostal that they chose to go in a different direction(Ultimate Tenkaichi) because they feel they have pushed the Raging Blast games as far as they can in terms of depth. Or something along those lines. Which is quite funny as I can see a lot of different things they can add to the Raging Blast series that would strengthen the games. I don't know why they would say such a thing when the game is just in its gameplay mechanics are really in their infancy compared to other games.

[Cold Skin]

European version too has the censorship?

Yes, but it always had this censorship on PS2 European version, so we really don't lose anything except for the Broly stuff, which actually seems natural enough for me to have not noticed any kind of censorship when I used it in Dragon Universe to get the Memory capsule. It may be due to the fact that with Burst Limit, we were quite used to see just a black screen with an explosion all the time, likely not because of censorship but because they hadn't planned the animations between the different models.

So I really didn't notice that white screen and took it as part of the original animation, since what happens remains pretty clear and takes nothing from the dynamism (and from Broly's brutality).

Luckily, that HD version surpasses the original PS2 in most aspects, the positive clearly outweighting the negative as one of my previous "+ and -" post showed: only two negative changes, one change that might be taken as positive or negative depending on your tastes, and six positive features compared to the original PS2 versions, some of them being priceless (being able to play those great games with the series soundtrack if you want, I guess that's the kind of experience that makes you shiver on your seat and outweights any censorship on its own, so if you add the five other positive aspects, the question is: "what are you waiting for? Or do you plan to use Broly's censored attack a hundred times or to watch the few seconds of censored cutscene while ignoring the few hours of uncensored more-beautiful-than-ever-before-with-lights-and-shadows cutscenes..." ).

[sangofe]

and six positive features compared to the original PS2 versions, some of them being priceless (being able to play those great games with the series soundtrack if you want.

1) How do you play the game with the anime's soundtrack on a PS3? By buying the OST's and loading the seperately?
2) Which are the other 5 positive changes?

[Cold Skin]

and six positive features compared to the original PS2 versions, some of them being priceless (being able to play those great games with the series soundtrack if you want.

1) How do you play the game with the anime's soundtrack on a PS3? By buying the OST's and loading the seperately?
2) Which are the other 5 positive changes?

1) Yes, you can set it to any music you want, which includes the anime OSTs if you have some of them.
- Put the tracks you want on a USB device and edit their tags so that they all have the same "album name" (that way your PS3 will put them all in their own folder and it won't get out of that folder when searching for the next track).
- Transfer them into your PS3 and make sure they appear in their own folder (you can ask the PS3 to create folders depending on same album names, same genre, etc...).
- While playing the game, just access the XMB and select one of the tracks in that folder. From then on, your PS3 will play all tracks one after the other, or play them randomly if you have left the "Shuffle" option on (which I like since you never know which track will come up next and what kind of vibe it will give to your current situation).

2) Those are the changes I noted, by my own observation and other people's, with 6 positive points, 1 positive or negative point and 2 negative points compared to the original PS2 version.

+ More impressive graphics, with effects added (glow, light and shadows) beyond a simple HD upscaling.
+ Collector Edition extra costumes.
+ Choice between Japanese and English voices for Budokai 3.
+ Additionnal story mode renders for Budokai 3 (don't know if it came with the Collector or was specifically made for this collection).
+ Easy but compelling achievements/trophies, mainly based on collecting characters and completing story modes.
+ You can now play the music that you want.

= Default music from other Dragon Ball games.

- No Budokai 2 videos in the bonus.
- Censorship for Broly's ultimate attack on Budokai 3 and various "blasts hole through the body" cutscenes in Budokai 1 (the latter already being the case for the original game's PAL versions back then).

[CaBrPi]

Kinda disappointed with the music, though it's no big deal, but I'll be damned if Budokai 3 doesn't look good. Like, really good. I played through the first game's story mode first yesterday, and didn't see much of a difference, so I was kinda shocked at how much better the third game looked.

[dbboxkaifan]

1) How do you play the game with the anime's soundtrack on a PS3? By buying the OST's and loading the seperately?

If you want I can link you the unreleased Synthesised Kikuchi tracks from the DBZ games. IMO, it sounds better than the originals for the modern-ish in it.

[Taku128]

I went to PlayAsia the other day to look at the price of importing the European version of Budokai HD, since I figured if I'm ever gonna pick this up I should grab the European release so I can play Budokai 1 in Japanese, and came across these listings for Asian releases of the game.

http://www.play-asia.com/Dragon_Ball_Z_ ... -5fnx.html

http://www.play-asia.com/Dragon_Ball_Z_ ... -5fnv.html

Both use the European boxart, but Googling the product codes on both listings brought me to Chinese sites that were also selling them, with pictures of the boxart that clearly wasn't just the PAL box again.



Anyone know anything about this Asian release? I've never bought anything from PlayAsia but I've never heard anything about them dealing in bootlegs or anything, so I assume they're legit. The 360 release says it's compatible with American consoles, and both versions are cheaper than their European counterparts so it would be the better version to import.

[dbboxkaifan]

Clearly it's not the European version, the EU edition uses PEGI rating, and that.. That's something else.

An Asian release? Interesting.

[Cold Skin]

1) How do you play the game with the anime's soundtrack on a PS3? By buying the OST's and loading the seperately?

If you want I can link you the unreleased Synthesised Kikuchi tracks from the DBZ games. IMO, it sounds better than the originals for the modern-ish in it.

There's both good and bad with those, but they're interesting to hear regardless.
They have that "synthesised" feel as opposed to the more organic feel of the original score, that can make it feel like MIDI track sometimes.
But they also have a certain, surprising dynamism that the original score lacks a lot.
Plus, a certain number of tracks from the original score were not even recorded in stereo, which really impacts negatively the listening experience, whereas all synthesed tracks are in stereo.

Finally, Ultimate Tenkaichi also incorporated Kai songs as exclusive instrumental versions - as well as the GT opening - done in a similar way to the instrumental versions on the Dragon Ball Z soundtrack (meaning with an instrument, such as a guitar or a violin, playing the notes that are supposed to be performed by a singer).
For those who haven't listened to it yet, I would advice listening those synth versions because they're interesting (and that's coming from someone who dislikes the old Kikuchi score).

[VeggieXD]

Hey guys I've got the opening and ending directly ripped from Budokai HD thanks to my friend RageVX! They're both .SFD files, you can open them with VLC media player or rename them to .MP4 and open them that way if you wish. Sadly there isn't any sound with these.

Raw files: http://www.mediafire.com/?uca3m7pnx7nca8z

Edit: I've got a converted version with the audio encoded but Mediafire keeps giving me an error when I upload it, will upload it asap.

[bkev]

If you want I can link you the unreleased Synthesised Kikuchi tracks from the DBZ games. IMO, it sounds better than the originals for the modern-ish in it.

Color me interested. I don't have it yet but that might be the dealbreaker as to if I want to upgrade. Is this one of those situations where the music just plays over the game, or does it do track-by-track replacement?

[Cold Skin]

If you want I can link you the unreleased Synthesised Kikuchi tracks from the DBZ games. IMO, it sounds better than the originals for the modern-ish in it.

Color me interested. I don't have it yet but that might be the dealbreaker as to if I want to upgrade. Is this one of those situations where the music just plays over the game, or does it do track-by-track replacement?

In the original Japanese version of games that include the synth Kikuchi score, it is a track-by-track placement of course... but not with your personnal custom soundtrack!

For your own custom music for this HD collection (or any other game), they'll play one after the other regardless of what happens in the game, you'll have to let the console play them in order or let it decide randomly which track should be the next (which can be funny sometimes - like sadistically putting a happy track when you're getting your butt kicked -, but also sometimes a bit scary as it seems it's got a mind of its own for having chosen the perfect track for the situation, even sometimes the very track that was used for the very scene! ).

You can also choose to limitate your choice of tracks if you don't want any inappropriate track to show up: this is a battle game, so you can put only serious battle tracks.
But I find it more refreshing to have all kind of moods from various OSTs of the franchise when you play the game - hopeful, desperate, furious, sad, fun times, etc... cause it happens that most of them can be interpreted in one way or another, depending on "how your character feels the fight is going" and if "something good or bad might happen in the next seconds since that track showed up". It really helps you getting in various mood in the middle of fights!

[CaBrPi]

Okay, so I have a question.

On Budokai 3, how do you get the Senzu Bean capsule?

[Cold Skin]

I really wonder if ALL tracks are from previous games.
That music when Piccolo dies in Budokai 1 (BGM 117), I haven't found it anywhere as a complete version... And BGM 089, where can it be from? And some tracks really sound like an intent to partly reproduce the Yamamoto tracks that have been replaced... But then again, it's been years since I played some of the games like the Budokai Tenkaichi... Are we sure that ALL tracks apart from the new Budokai 3 opening come from previous games or were several of them specifically made for this collection?

Okay, so I have a question.

On Budokai 3, how do you get the Senzu Bean capsule?

As far as I'm concerned, I got it from the shop.
Just go back and forth on it with some good music playing and be patient.
Be sure to have a good load of money cause it has to be quite expensive given the awesome effect it has for only 4 slots taken (I'd say it's about 30,000 but you'd better have 50,000 just to be sure).

[CaBrPi]

Okay, so I have a question.

On Budokai 3, how do you get the Senzu Bean capsule?

As far as I'm concerned, I got it from the shop.
Just go back and forth on it with some good music playing and be patient.
Be sure to have a good load of money cause it has to be quite expensive given the awesome effect it has for only 4 slots taken (I'd say it's about 30,000 but you'd better have 50,000 just to be sure).

Huh. The walkthrough I'm following says that you can get it from Karin in the second Goku DU, but I got the usual "Oops... dropped it!" message.

Another one that eluded me is Cooler's Spaceship.

[Eddie]

There's one thing I want to throw out there. The idea that being able to play the series soundtrack while you're playing the game is a "pro" is ridiculous. You can do that with the PS2 version just as easily with a little invention called "any freaking stereo/cd player/mp3 player/etc. with a headphone jack". I'm not seeing how this helps the game at all. When you play music on the PS3 while your playing a game at the same time, it just pumps audio in, even at inappropriate times (over dialogue and moments of silence, for example). That "feature" is not a selling point. You could essentially do the same thing in 2002 when you played the game for the first time.

[Cold Skin]

Okay, so I have a question.

On Budokai 3, how do you get the Senzu Bean capsule?

As far as I'm concerned, I got it from the shop.
Just go back and forth on it with some good music playing and be patient.
Be sure to have a good load of money cause it has to be quite expensive given the awesome effect it has for only 4 slots taken (I'd say it's about 30,000 but you'd better have 50,000 just to be sure).

Huh. The walkthrough I'm following says that you can get it from Karin in the second Goku DU, but I got the usual "Oops... dropped it!" message.

Another one that eluded me is Cooler's Spaceship.

Possible, but I also got Cooler's Spaceship from the shop.

It just has everything, the only thing that you should search for yourself are the Dragon Arena capsules.
Otherwise, it'll go faster to just load up a pack of money (use Yi Shenron and equip the best "Sparking" capsule you have, aim for the highest ring-out Tenkaichi Budokai and just ring-out all opponents by teleporting, you'll have your reward in 5-10 minutes, having almost 1 million zenies in no time) and go to the shop buy everything new, you'll have the Senzu bean coming up soon enough.

There's one thing I want to throw out there. The idea that being able to play the series soundtrack while you're playing the game is a "pro" is ridiculous. You can do that with the PS2 version just as easily with a little invention called "any freaking stereo/cd player/mp3 player/etc. with a headphone jack". I'm not seeing how this helps the game at all. When you play music on the PS3 while your playing a game at the same time, it just pumps audio in, even at inappropriate times (over dialogue and moments of silence, for example). That "feature" is not a selling point. You could essentially do the same thing in 2002 when you played the game for the first time.

It's just not the same when you got the thing coming out of your TV along with the sounds and dialogs.
It just feels like the show itself.
And the show isn't a stereo with a music on one side and the sounds and dialogs in the TV on the other.
It's also much more pratical to just ask the console to play the music rather than bringing in the player and all.

If you go that way, you could also say "what's the selling point of having the Japanese voices available, if I wanted them back then, all I had to do was put the DVD on another TV with the scenes exactly at the right moment".
As long as we don't have the Japanese score by default in the game, this feature will remain highly demanded by fans for every Dragon Ball game, I think it's what you could call a "pro".

[mysticboy]

There's one thing I want to throw out there. The idea that being able to play the series soundtrack while you're playing the game is a "pro" is ridiculous. You can do that with the PS2 version just as easily with a little invention called "any freaking stereo/cd player/mp3 player/etc. with a headphone jack". I'm not seeing how this helps the game at all. When you play music on the PS3 while your playing a game at the same time, it just pumps audio in, even at inappropriate times (over dialogue and moments of silence, for example). That "feature" is not a selling point. You could essentially do the same thing in 2002 when you played the game for the first time.

It's good news for those who were wondering if the game supported custom soundtracks. If anything they can play their music in Duel or Tournament modes. Not a selling point, but good to know nonetheless.

[Super Sayian Prime]

I went to PlayAsia the other day to look at the price of importing the European version of Budokai HD, since I figured if I'm ever gonna pick this up I should grab the European release so I can play Budokai 1 in Japanese, and came across these listings for Asian releases of the game.

http://www.play-asia.com/Dragon_Ball_Z_ ... -5fnx.html

http://www.play-asia.com/Dragon_Ball_Z_ ... -5fnv.html

Both use the European boxart, but Googling the product codes on both listings brought me to Chinese sites that were also selling them, with pictures of the boxart that clearly wasn't just the PAL box again.



Anyone know anything about this Asian release? I've never bought anything from PlayAsia but I've never heard anything about them dealing in bootlegs or anything, so I assume they're legit. The 360 release says it's compatible with American consoles, and both versions are cheaper than their European counterparts so it would be the better version to import.

Yeah, they're legit. Asian copies are usually manufactured for Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, and other non-Japanese Asian markets with a sizable English speaking audience. Sometimes they're translated into local languages, but most of the time they're either in Japanese or English. I can't speak for what version (EU vs. NA for the Collection's code) the Asian release uses, but PlayAsia's listings are pretty much always correct.

[Eddie]

It's just not the same when you got the thing coming out of your TV along with the sounds and dialogs.
It just feels like the show itself.
And the show isn't a stereo with a music on one side and the sounds and dialogs in the TV on the other.
It's also much more pratical to just ask the console to play the music rather than bringing in the player and all.

If you go that way, you could also say "what's the selling point of having the Japanese voices available, if I wanted them back then, all I had to do was put the DVD on another TV with the scenes exactly at the right moment".

That's not really a fair comparison. I've played games while using the PS3 music player. It just pumps in music. At that point, you might as well play the music on another device. You essentially get the same effect. I know I mentioned using headphones, but you can just use a stereo if you want. Use whatever device you have handy. It's the same effect. You get music playing while you're playing a game, dialogue and silence be damned. It's the same thing I do when I play pretty much anything handheld or browser based. Playing a DVD on another television, on the other hand, is not the same as getting original japanese audio included in our western releases of the games. For one thing, the performances are different. For another, there are many lines in the games that aren't even repeated in the series. Playing random Vegeta and Gohan dialogue when I'm playing a game is not the same thing as getting the performances that were recorded for the game.