Game review: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2

1/3/2004

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (Atari)

PS2 exclusive (MSRP $49.99)

This cell-shaded version of Dragon Ball Z seems to stay truer to the anime feel that the original series made popular, proving that sometimes 3-D translations just don't work or add to the overall product.

Unfortunately, the straightforward, unimaginative gameplay just doesn't do the pretty package justice.

There are 29 playable characters in this release, which is a plus, but unfortunately most of them play very similarly — six probably get all moves done.

I gave Z a middle-of-the-road rating because the target gaming audience for this title probably isn't deterred by the overly simplistic fighting system. If you own the first one, this one is a skipper ‹ they re almost identical.

— Jake Jones