The atmosphere of Budokai 1

[Son-Kun!!]

Perhaps it's my nostalgia but I think Budokai 1 had a really "Dragonball" atmosphere. The Music was awesome, Popo's capsule shop was mystical. The stage select had each stage popping up out of the box in 3D models, The alternate costumes are very uniuqe and unused in later games. AND THE CHIBI CHARECTER SELECT PORTRAITS!

I don't know if anyone else feels this, or if I'm just crazy.

[Naruto6583]

Plus don't forget that it was a literal animated adaptation of the manga (both Budokai 1 and Infinite World).

[Insertclevername]

I totally nostalgia over that game as well. It was like a huge love letter to the franchise. Unfortunately that enthusiasm didn't carry on to the 7th gen games.

[Quebaz]

Forth me on that, Budokai 1 shows so much love for the franchise It's amazing. The detailed character models that have so much personality along with all of their costumes of that certain point of the story. The way the story is made surpasses all of the other games (specially the way it was animated) in terms of presentation. (Also fuck yeah the character select screen, both the Big and chibi portraits (which add so much personality to each character, too bad Budokai 2 and 3 used generic ones) and the stage select screen with its music always made me eager to battle.

(Also fuck yeah the alternate costumes. I WANT MY CASUAL GOKU, VEGETA, YAMCHA, AND KRILLIN BACK DAMNIT).

[hulkty]

That Vegeta scene.
"Now watch, as I wipe that horrible smile...off that ugly face!"

[Naruto6583]

Lets not forget schemmels badass performence as goku when he first turned into a super saiyan. Epecially the line that followed soon afterwords
IT'S OVER FRIEZAAAAAAA
So much power and raw emotion

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

I feel the same. I might even play Budokai 1 later to recapture that feeling.

[Gokuden]

I'm going to play it later too, using my PC to make it faster.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

That game was the first Dragonball game I ever got to play. After a few years of day dreaming about how awesome Final Bout might be(and countless failed attempts to win a copy from Beckett Magazine) I finally got to play my favorite show. I got it for Christmas and I was glued to the TV the whole day. It's not perfect, but it's a great example of what an adapted anime game should be. Beat for beat, the storymode was just like watching an episode. While the combat definitely improved in later sequels, the gameplay was on point too. It was easy to pick up, but still challenging. This game also served as a big gateway into actual, harder, fighting games. I got good at memorizing combos because of that game. I'm getting so nostalgic thinking back to this game, I might have to plug in my PS2 and play it again. It's a shame, there hasn't been a game like it for the PS3.

[Son-Kun!!]

Wow!, I'm so happy I'm not the only one!

[Cold Skin]

The game had the best story mode a Dragon Ball game ever had.
Plus, the characters were in a superb 2D anime style during the character selection or the Tenkaichi Budokai presentation.

Why? Why couldn't they keep the 2D anime characters in the selection screen and the awesome "we're actually trying to faithfully animate most scenes and events" cutscenes?

[Captain-Sora]

Why? Why couldn't they keep the 2D anime characters in the selection screen and the awesome "we're actually trying to faithfully animate most scenes and events" cutscenes?

The latter part is due to time and money. From that point on, the most you could expect from a DBZ game was only a handful of fully animated cutscenes in one title given how short their development times were. Although, even then those type of scenes didn't truly return until Burst Limit came around, which only had a few(a good deal of it was just repeatedly used battle animations). BT2 had some scenes before that, but those were blatantly limited, sluggish, and used the in-game models.

[Gonstead]

Newer DB games may be technically superior, but they will never capture the charm that Budokai 1 gave us.

T'was also my first experience with the Japanese cast since the PAL version did not contain English voices.

[Quebaz]

Why? Why couldn't they keep the 2D anime characters in the selection screen and the awesome "we're actually trying to faithfully animate most scenes and events" cutscenes?

The latter part is due to time and money. From that point on, the most you could expect from a DBZ game was only a handful of fully animated cutscenes in one title given how short their development times were. Although, even then those type of scenes didn't truly return until Burst Limit came around, which only had a few(a good deal of it was just repeatedly used battle animations). BT2 had some scenes before that, but those were blatantly limited, sluggish, and used the in-game models.

Budokai 1 also used the in-game models. It's just that the BT models are blocky as hell.

[chaospunishment]

Why? Why couldn't they keep the 2D anime characters in the selection screen and the awesome "we're actually trying to faithfully animate most scenes and events" cutscenes?

The latter part is due to time and money. From that point on, the most you could expect from a DBZ game was only a handful of fully animated cutscenes in one title given how short their development times were. Although, even then those type of scenes didn't truly return until Burst Limit came around, which only had a few(a good deal of it was just repeatedly used battle animations). BT2 had some scenes before that, but those were blatantly limited, sluggish, and used the in-game models.

BT2's are actually pre-rendered cutscenes.

In Burst Limit they wanted a lot more and wanted it to be like Budokai 1. They left in a lot of what they wanted in the files. Super Trunks was going to have a proper transformation, Cell was going to have the newscast and SS2 Goku vs broly was going to be a fight. + All the Oozaru and other stuff in the credits.

But the way they did the game (Your character + Support, Opponent + Support) also limited the amount of characters in one battles scene to 4.

[Son-Kun!!]

Burst Limit would have been like a new budokai but those damn drama pieces held it back.

[DNA]

Well, let me give you guys my honest opinion. It's not just your nostalgia at play, the game is genuinely good. I say this because I only played the game for the first time not even a year ago and I fully enjoyed it. Sure, the combat system could use some improvement, which was improved in the next instalments, but unfortunately they progressively lost their soul. This game was honestly fun and solid, and the cutscenes are amazing, this game simply showed that there was care put into it, all the other ones felt like shovelware, which they were.

[Freeza Soldier #156]

I agree 100%. I've never enjoyed a Dragon Ball game as much I enjoyed Budokai 1. The story mode was my absolute favorite; it literally felt as though you were playing through the show. Every time a new game comes out, I pray for a story mode even half as good as that one, but it never happens (and probably never will, at this point.) It killed me never being able to play through the Majin Buu arc with Budokai 1 style story mode.

[dbzfan7]

Budokai 1 definitely told the story the best. I really want future games to be like Budokai 1. The only problem was it's combat pales in comparison to it's sequels. Also the English voice acting is just...meh. Some lines are good, while a lot of others aren't. The music is FUCKING FANTASTIC. I love this soundtrack to death as well as the entire Budokai series BGM. It's the reason why I'll never buy the HD collection. I might buy budokai 1 for PS2 though later on.

Like what Johnny said in his review. "You play Budokai 1 for the story and Budokai 3 for everything else."

[Son-Kun!!]

I really wish they'd just spend a solid 2 or 3 years and make a Budokai 4 with a real attempt to re-create even the smallest details in cutscenes for story. And tell it from DB to DBZ.