05-02-2010, 12:25 AM
Dragonball Z Budokai
![[Image: dragon-ball-z-budokai-47867.2942830.jpg]](http://i.testfreaks.com/images/products/600x400/110/dragon-ball-z-budokai-47867.2942830.jpg)
Dragonball Z Budokai's Review (IGN)
Whether you love or hate Dragon Ball Z, there is no denying that it's a popular franchise. This martial arts focused anime has developed a large cult following, which makes it a prime videogame license since the legions of devoted DBZ fans are guaranteed to snatch up the latest title, whether good or bad.
This obsessive quality has led many a poor, DBZ fan to purchase bad games solely for the sake of controlling their favorite Super Saiyan. Fortunately, for fans, Atari's Budokai isn't another worthless licensed title -- although far from being the best fighter on the system. Finding its way to GameCube a year after its PS2 release, is Budokai a title DBZ fans can purchase in good conscience?
Feature:
Gameplay
Fairly standard for today's fighters, Budokai features story, world tournament, versus, and practice modes. Practice is where most players should begin their Budokai adventure because it offers a surprisingly deep tutorial as well as enough AI options to gradually introduce you to your Saiyan powers. Once you've learned all you can about the combat system, you can test your skills in versus mode against a friend or AI controlled character. World tournament is similar to an arcade mode -- you fight in a number of matches, and if you make it the final round you're awarded Zenie (whether you win or lose) that can be used to purchase items in the Skill Edit mode.
Skill Edit lets you upgrade your character's abilities with a variety of Z-capsules. You can change your combos, gain self-healing abilities, more Ki Power, and defensive stats. All these can be earned in story mode or purchased with winnings, allowing you to build your own customized fighters. Skill Edit adds depth for advanced players that aren't likely to find it elsewhere in the game.
Story mode, the DBZ fan's delight, a hybrid of the show and a fighter. Cut scenes tell the story, which is interrupted only when it comes time for two Saiyans to rumble (which is often). You'll control the protagonist as he battles Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, and Cell. There will be multiple missions in each "episode," and when you've come to a break in the story -- you'll even see a preview of what's to come. It's the ultimate blending of licensed property and game. It's too bad that the developer Dimps put more time into the presentation than the fighting system, because Budokai would be Dragon Ball Z incarnate.
The fighting system is so limited that it severely detracts from the game's excellent presentation. While you're given your standard set of moves: block (which can be used to deflect Ki blasts), punch, kick, Ki blast, counter and throw, it really feels like that's the extent of your arsenal. Even your movements are limited -- since you can't duck or jump -- to forwards or back.
Properly stringing together combinations of directions and buttons unleashes popular moves from the show like the Kamehameha, Dragon Throw, Jackhammer, King Kai Fist, or the Beam Cannon. However, these rarely do more damage than a well placed round of kicks or punches. You're supposed to string together several of these combos, but you'll rarely pull off more than two -- since one combo involves mashing punch or kick five times and then throwing in a Ki blast.
The only incentive for learning combos, besides for the visual appeal, is that once learned you can transfer it to every character in the game. While the animations are different, all twenty-three characters share a universal moves list. This makes it easy to swap between characters, especially during story mode, but also makes the multiple characters little more than an aesthetic addition.
Adding to the frustration is the fact that you can't fly. Anyone who has watched DBZ knows that at least half of the battles take place in the air. While you can go airborne if launched by an opponent -- as soon as you've gained any altitude, invisible ground is created for your character to stand on. You can't control your vertical height. You can only move in a direct line towards your opponent. Once you reach the same altitude, the battle continues as if it were on ground until someone is launched again or batted to the earth.
Virtually unchanged from the PS2 version from a gameplay perspective, Budokai continues to be an example of a game with great presentation and flawed gameplay. Dimps did a great job recreating the DBZ atmosphere -- appealing to fans -- but the fighting just gets repetitive thanks to an overly simplified fighting engine.
Graphics
While it remains faithful to the source material, Budokai isn't visually appealing. Simple, cel-shaded textures and coloring is what you get, but since the anime's art style is so minimal to begin with it's not all that surprising.
While fault can be found with these basic visual representations of the character, they're as detailed as the show and the cel-shading captures them perfectly. The only real problem is that the visuals look all too like an aliased-plagued PS2 title than a GameCube game (albeit a port). At least the PS2's circular shadows have been replaced real-time shadowing. Backgrounds, except for a few stages, are relatively bland. Arenas rarely show more than a mountain or two in the distance.
Even if out of place on today's consoles, Budokai does accurately portrays the artistic style of DBZ, which should please the series' fans.
Sounds
The DBZ faithful will also be happy to know that Dimps has kept Budokai as aurally accurate as possible. The score, sound effects, and voices are all taken directly from the source. Music plays in all the right spots, whether it's the opening theme song, or the bass heavy battle score. Explosions, collisions, and painful exclamations are the same heard countless times in actual episodes.
Dimps has gone the distance -- not only acquiring the music and sound effects from DBZ, but also all the voice actors. No matter how minor their role, every voice in the game is the same as the actor that dubbed the series into English.
Closing Comments
Budokai is far from a perfect game, but Dimps has gotten one thing right and that's the presentation values. They've essentially taken an episode of Dragon Ball Z, put it on a GameCube disc, and inserted playable fighting sequences. It looks and sounds exactly like the series. The only problem is, as a fighter, it doesn't quite live up to its Saiyan namesake.
A combination of odd choices, like the illusion of flying, button mashing combos, and an overly simplified fighting engine, detract from what could have been an enjoyable, if not technically impressive, fighter -- whether you're a DBZ fan or not.
Current Optimal Settings
General
Basic Settings
Check:
Uncheck:
Framelimit: Off
Advanced Settings
Check:
Uncheck:
CPU Emulator Engine
JIT recompiler
Dolphin Direct3D9 Plug-in
Direct3D
Uncheck:
Aspect ratio: Auto
Full Screen Resolution: 640x480
Anti-Alias mode: None
Enhancements
Texture filtering
Uncheck:
EFB Hacks
Check:
Advanced
Settings
Uncheck:
Then Check:
Dolphin DSP-HLE Plug-in
Sound Settings
Check:
Uncheck:
Audio Backbend: DSound
Volume: 100%
Known Issues/Problems
My Emulation Review (r5419)
The game runs pretty well. 100% speed for my laptop even with my weak video card. All of the plugins work. You may want to limit the FPS on this game because it doesn't need a high end CPU to emulate. This a fun game and can be enjoyed by many people at once without to much of a FPS or VPS drop or loss in speed.
Screenshots/Videos
![[Image: dbzbudokai_101603_01_640w.jpg]](http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/dbzbudokai_101603_01_640w.jpg)
![[Image: dbzbudokai_101603_05_640w.jpg]](http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/dbzbudokai_101603_05_640w.jpg)
![[Image: YAE-GC_G070703_8_640w.jpg]](http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/YAE-GC_G070703_8_640w.jpg)
Dragonball Z Budokai's Review (IGN)
Whether you love or hate Dragon Ball Z, there is no denying that it's a popular franchise. This martial arts focused anime has developed a large cult following, which makes it a prime videogame license since the legions of devoted DBZ fans are guaranteed to snatch up the latest title, whether good or bad.
This obsessive quality has led many a poor, DBZ fan to purchase bad games solely for the sake of controlling their favorite Super Saiyan. Fortunately, for fans, Atari's Budokai isn't another worthless licensed title -- although far from being the best fighter on the system. Finding its way to GameCube a year after its PS2 release, is Budokai a title DBZ fans can purchase in good conscience?
Feature:
- Take control of 23 Dragon Ball Z warriors
- Battle through the DBZ anime from the Saiyan Saga to the Cell Games
- 5 different fighting modes: story, duel, world tournament, practice, and
- Customize your fighters by unlocking and trading skills with friends
- Learn up to 60 combos per fighter
- Sharpen your skills against customized AI settings in training mode
- Battle at blazing speeds in the Burst Zone
Gameplay
Fairly standard for today's fighters, Budokai features story, world tournament, versus, and practice modes. Practice is where most players should begin their Budokai adventure because it offers a surprisingly deep tutorial as well as enough AI options to gradually introduce you to your Saiyan powers. Once you've learned all you can about the combat system, you can test your skills in versus mode against a friend or AI controlled character. World tournament is similar to an arcade mode -- you fight in a number of matches, and if you make it the final round you're awarded Zenie (whether you win or lose) that can be used to purchase items in the Skill Edit mode.
Skill Edit lets you upgrade your character's abilities with a variety of Z-capsules. You can change your combos, gain self-healing abilities, more Ki Power, and defensive stats. All these can be earned in story mode or purchased with winnings, allowing you to build your own customized fighters. Skill Edit adds depth for advanced players that aren't likely to find it elsewhere in the game.
Story mode, the DBZ fan's delight, a hybrid of the show and a fighter. Cut scenes tell the story, which is interrupted only when it comes time for two Saiyans to rumble (which is often). You'll control the protagonist as he battles Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, and Cell. There will be multiple missions in each "episode," and when you've come to a break in the story -- you'll even see a preview of what's to come. It's the ultimate blending of licensed property and game. It's too bad that the developer Dimps put more time into the presentation than the fighting system, because Budokai would be Dragon Ball Z incarnate.
The fighting system is so limited that it severely detracts from the game's excellent presentation. While you're given your standard set of moves: block (which can be used to deflect Ki blasts), punch, kick, Ki blast, counter and throw, it really feels like that's the extent of your arsenal. Even your movements are limited -- since you can't duck or jump -- to forwards or back.
Properly stringing together combinations of directions and buttons unleashes popular moves from the show like the Kamehameha, Dragon Throw, Jackhammer, King Kai Fist, or the Beam Cannon. However, these rarely do more damage than a well placed round of kicks or punches. You're supposed to string together several of these combos, but you'll rarely pull off more than two -- since one combo involves mashing punch or kick five times and then throwing in a Ki blast.
The only incentive for learning combos, besides for the visual appeal, is that once learned you can transfer it to every character in the game. While the animations are different, all twenty-three characters share a universal moves list. This makes it easy to swap between characters, especially during story mode, but also makes the multiple characters little more than an aesthetic addition.
Adding to the frustration is the fact that you can't fly. Anyone who has watched DBZ knows that at least half of the battles take place in the air. While you can go airborne if launched by an opponent -- as soon as you've gained any altitude, invisible ground is created for your character to stand on. You can't control your vertical height. You can only move in a direct line towards your opponent. Once you reach the same altitude, the battle continues as if it were on ground until someone is launched again or batted to the earth.
Virtually unchanged from the PS2 version from a gameplay perspective, Budokai continues to be an example of a game with great presentation and flawed gameplay. Dimps did a great job recreating the DBZ atmosphere -- appealing to fans -- but the fighting just gets repetitive thanks to an overly simplified fighting engine.
Graphics
While it remains faithful to the source material, Budokai isn't visually appealing. Simple, cel-shaded textures and coloring is what you get, but since the anime's art style is so minimal to begin with it's not all that surprising.
While fault can be found with these basic visual representations of the character, they're as detailed as the show and the cel-shading captures them perfectly. The only real problem is that the visuals look all too like an aliased-plagued PS2 title than a GameCube game (albeit a port). At least the PS2's circular shadows have been replaced real-time shadowing. Backgrounds, except for a few stages, are relatively bland. Arenas rarely show more than a mountain or two in the distance.
Even if out of place on today's consoles, Budokai does accurately portrays the artistic style of DBZ, which should please the series' fans.
Sounds
The DBZ faithful will also be happy to know that Dimps has kept Budokai as aurally accurate as possible. The score, sound effects, and voices are all taken directly from the source. Music plays in all the right spots, whether it's the opening theme song, or the bass heavy battle score. Explosions, collisions, and painful exclamations are the same heard countless times in actual episodes.
Dimps has gone the distance -- not only acquiring the music and sound effects from DBZ, but also all the voice actors. No matter how minor their role, every voice in the game is the same as the actor that dubbed the series into English.
Closing Comments
Budokai is far from a perfect game, but Dimps has gotten one thing right and that's the presentation values. They've essentially taken an episode of Dragon Ball Z, put it on a GameCube disc, and inserted playable fighting sequences. It looks and sounds exactly like the series. The only problem is, as a fighter, it doesn't quite live up to its Saiyan namesake.
A combination of odd choices, like the illusion of flying, button mashing combos, and an overly simplified fighting engine, detract from what could have been an enjoyable, if not technically impressive, fighter -- whether you're a DBZ fan or not.
Current Optimal Settings
General
Basic Settings
Check:
- Enable Dual Core
- Enable Idle Skipping
Uncheck:
- Enable Cheats
- Use FPS For Limiting
Framelimit: Off
Advanced Settings
Check:
- HLE the IPL
Uncheck:
- Lock threads to cores
- DSPLLE on thread
CPU Emulator Engine
JIT recompiler
Dolphin Direct3D9 Plug-in
Direct3D
Uncheck:
- V-sync
- Widescreen
- Enable CPU > EFB Access
- Safe Texture Cache
Aspect ratio: Auto
Full Screen Resolution: 640x480
Anti-Alias mode: None
Enhancements
Texture filtering
Uncheck:
- Everything
EFB Hacks
Check:
- EFB scaled copy
Advanced
Settings
Uncheck:
- Everything
Then Check:
- Disable Fog
- Enable EFB Copy to Texture
Dolphin DSP-HLE Plug-in
Sound Settings
Check:
- Enable HLE Audio
- Enable DTK Music
Uncheck:
- Enable Audio Throttle
Audio Backbend: DSound
Volume: 100%
Known Issues/Problems
- Screen Flickering
My Emulation Review (r5419)
The game runs pretty well. 100% speed for my laptop even with my weak video card. All of the plugins work. You may want to limit the FPS on this game because it doesn't need a high end CPU to emulate. This a fun game and can be enjoyed by many people at once without to much of a FPS or VPS drop or loss in speed.
Screenshots/Videos