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Nintendo Wii DBZ Tenkaichi 2: 5 Things that Need to Change
by Feelno
Wii Dragonball Z: Tenkaichi 2Dragonball Z: Tenkaichi 2 is the latest installment in the Tenkaichi series, which started back in 2005. Going a step further than the successful DBZ Budokai series, the Tenkaichi series attempts to immerse the player into the game by offering a unique behind-the-player camera angle, which allows greater movement and greatly expands the arena. Tenkaichi 2 does well in fixing the problems that plagued the first one (i.e.- the camera angles at times were hazy), and in addition offers more depth with new modes to play and new characters to master. However, there are still some things that can be improved upon for the next Tenkaichi game, and which would, in my opinion, bring this DBZ fighting series to the next level.
The following, in order, are the improvements that must be made on the next Tenkaichi game.
5. More variety in adventure mode.
It would be foolish for me to criticize the Adventure mode in DBZ Tenkaichi 2- the ability to level up your characters, buy and sell Z-items to enhance your characters before big battles, and other features such as Yamcha's 100,000 zen battle, RPG elements never before seen in a DBZ fighting game. However, it seems as if the developers weren't too creative with regards to leveling up. Throughout most of the game, only the saibamen (the green monsters that grow from seeds) offer the best way for a player to level up without buying Z-items. It would be more interesting if they had other ways for you to level up, aside from Kami's Tower and the saibamen in the wastelands. Some ideas include fighting the villains in Baba's Palace (the vampire, invisible man, and grandpa Gohan), fighting Cyborg Tao in the Cell Saga fighting the saiyans from the past (as done by Tien, Yamcha, Krillin, and Chioutzou in the Saiyan Saga), and so on.
4. Make the different modes of play (i.e. - Tournament mode) more diverse.
Ultimate Battle and the three different tournament modes are a huge plus to the very expansive Adventure Mode, which, despite the aforementioned flaws, is still a great feature. However, they are not different enough, especially Tournament Mode. Ultimate Battle (which bears a striking similarity to Mortal Kombat in its layout) makes it in the quantitative category, with a myriad of battle sequences ranging from Crazy Tag Team (with odd pairings such as Yamcha and a Saibamen and Goku and Frieza, amongst others) to the Ginyu Force (in which, like a few other sequences, you maintain the same health throughout each battle). But they could add different elements to it, making it similar to the Event matches in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For instance, one Ultimate Battle sequence could be that you have to collect all seven dragonballs and defeat a foe before time runs out, or you have to revive five of your fallen comrades with senzu beans while defeating an opponent. Indeed, there are endless possibilities for this mode.
The same holds for tournament mode. Sure, you have three different Tournament options (the traditional Tenkaichi Budokai, the Cell Games, and Hercules Budokai), but they are more or less the same. The traditional Tenkaichi Budokai could be made more interesting if you had to, say, fight characters who competed in the tournaments seen in Dragonball, or perhaps having to fight ordinary human fighters without your health replenishing, before fighting in the tournament itself. The Cell Games could consist of the Z-fighters, who were at the Cell Games in the anime, each taking their turn fighting Cell, who would be a pretty high level (say 100+). Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, Piccolo, Trunks, Vegeta, Goku, and Gohan could each take their turn fighting Ultimate Cell. And in the Hercule mode, you could fight on the actual battle grounds (platforms and all), as seen in the Bojack movie. This would add some extra spice to an otherwise ordinary fighting mode.
3. Take out some characters, and replace them with other, more original ones.
DBZ Tenkaichi 2 offers over a 120 playable characters. Unfortunately, some of those characters include cheesy transformations of a character. The following characters, in my opinion, should be taken out:
Big Ape Raditz- he never turned big ape in the series, so this makes little sense.
Big Ape Nappa- again, he never transformed in the series, so why bother?
Regular Broli- nobody wants to play as the thin, unimposing Broli, who can take punches and energy blasts like any other fighter. When I think Broli, I think of a gigantic super saiyan who is virtually indestructible.
Big Master Roshi- you know you're stretching for characters when you have two versions of Master Roshi. Instead, they should just have Master Roshi's special move be the ultimate Kamehameha, where he bulks up, and move the lightning flash attack to a secondary attack.
Big Lord Slug- considering how god awful the movie was, Lord Slug should be lucky to have one version of his character in the game, let alone two. Again, let his ultimate move be a giant transformation, or even a temporary power-up, which could make things really interesting.
These five characters should be replaced by the following five:
Android 14- Appeared in the Super Android 13 movie; he has a very distinctive personality- the silent, strong type, who has enough distinctive moves and battle time to warrant an appearance in Tenkaichi.
Android 15- also appeared in the Super Android 13 movie; his insatiable drinking (which could play into his fighting style somehow) and distinctive fighting style would make him a perfect fit for the next Tenkaichi game.
Hachihyaku- a lesser known DBZ character. He was the final villain in the Famicon and PlayDia game, Dragonball Z: Gaiden: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans. Built by Dr. Raichi to get revenge on the saiyans, Hachiyaku is an extremely powerful foe, and is only stopped when Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, and Gohan combine their most powerful attacks into one massive energy wave. This "movie" is rare, but still a good number of DBZ fans will recognize him.
Amond- a henchman of Turles's in the "Tree of Might" movie; he's the brute who fights Krillin, and is ultimately killed by Goku.
Kakao- a henchman of Turles's in the "Tree of Might" movie; a cyborg with built in jet-packs, Kakao would make for a very interesting character; he overwhelms Yamcha, but is ultimately killed by Goku.
2. On-line capabilities!
The shortcomings that I have mentioned thus far could be almost completely compensated for if this game had an online option. Imagine fighting a three on three tag team battle with people from all over the world, of all different levels and varying skill. Imagine competing in a massive tournament with people from Europe and Asia, and coming out victorious as you execute your ultimate move. But alas, none of this is possible, because for some reason the Wii has not had a single game with an online option in the six months that its been out. Despite the overwhelming success of DS games that support WiFi, such as Mario Kart DS and Metroid Prime Hunters, we will not be seeing an online Wii game until the new Pokemon game comes out (which, apparently, people still play). I don't pretend to know the issues behind third party developers having their games go online for the Wii, but a DBZ fighting game online is long overdue, and Tenkaichi 2 would have been the perfect game to break the streak.
1. Better dialogue and less editing in the American version of the game.
But even more important than on-line capabilities, unnecessary characters, and a lack of more RPG elements in Adventure Mode, is the horrendous, god-awful, un-excusable dialogue in the American version of the game. Aside from the cheesy intros and victory sayings that each character has (the worst I feel is when Tien and Yamcha fight: "Looking good Tien!" "Looking good Yamcha!"), which become tolerable once you learn to block them out, the dialogue in Adventure Mode brings shame to the anime. I honestly don't understand America's obsession with censuring words that pertain to death (as if teenagers, who are the youngest demographic who are allowed to buy and play the game, don't understand what death is by now). It's hard for Super Android 13 to sound tough when he refers to Hell as "the other side". (Wait, you mean the other side of that glacier, or is it a metaphor for something else, I'm confused, because maybe if you just said "Hell" I would understand you better!) Or when Androids 17 and 18 arrive on the scene to fight Dr. Gero, and the only dialogue that comes out of them is "…". If they were going for a suspenseful effect, they failed.
But what's even worse is the editing. A non DBZ fan would undoubtedly be confused when Goku and Raditz randomly fall, without showing Piccolo's special beam cannon hitting them, or be even more confused when Android 18 appears next to Cell during Cell's fight with Gohan. Whether the Japanese version of the game has Piccolo's special beam cannon hitting Goku and Raditz, or Cell throwing up Android 18, I don't know, but what I do know is that it wouldn't kill them to show a few seconds of Gohan punching Cell in the stomach and Cell coughing up 18, or Piccolo's attack shooting right through Goku and Raditz. Even when the anime is over, Funimation refuses to stop screwing DBZ fans over. It's really a testament to their will to foster an even more anal America.
So there you have it. Making these necessary changes would make Tenkaichi 3 a game a worthy fighter for all to enjoy, and put it up there with the renowned fighters of our time.
