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The DragonBall Z: Budokai series has had a bizarre
relationship with Nintendo consoles. With the first
two editions arriving on the GameCube a year after their
PlayStation2 counterparts yet featuring all the updates of the
current release, they’ve achieved a reasonable sales-peak yet
support seemed to dwindle. Last year’s
DragonBall Z: Budokai
Tenkaichi not only pushed the boundaries of the series but also
One-On-One Beat-‘Em-Ups as a genre and noted that, even though
things hadn’t changed all that much in the fifteen years since they
shot to glory with the fabled Street Fighter II, there was
still insurmountable room for innovation. Now, with the advent of
Wii, the series returns to Nintendo consoles with the next in the
series; DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi II.
The E3 Preview build was established
incredibly similar to the version running on the PlayStation2. Only
one Arena was playable and an even greater limit was set on the
playable characters with a selection of only four available; Goku,
Vegeta, Android 13 and Super Bu. The moves performed are, confusing,
to say the least. One of the most energetic games on the stand,
DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi II engages the player in
spinning, thrusting, twisting jabbing and shaking the Remote in
order to perform some very stylish looking
 moves.
Holding buttons while swinging the Remote performs additional arrays
of moves, for example holding both the Z Button and B Trigger whilst
twisting the Remote executed Goku’s Kamehameha, should your Chi
Meter have gathered enough power.
The title looked little different to
its’ PlayStation2 sister-release. Keeping the series traditional Cel-Shaded
visuals, the differences the Next-Generation offers are limited to a
vastly improved Draw-Distance and some spectacular Lighting-Effects
when performing Special Moves; however the Character Models and
Arena Textures look identical. For those that though many games on
Wii would simply feature tacked-on Remote support, DragonBall Z:
Budokai Tenkaichi II will certainly be a wake-up call, however, how
many other major Third-Party Licences follow-suit is yet to be seen. |
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