Developer: Spike Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games America, Inc
Rating Guide: How I Review Games
Screenshots: Click Here

Review:

I won’t hide my disappointment in the last DBZ game I played.  I’ve played just about every game in the series so I’ve been able to see its improvements and failures for quite some time.  Raging Blast 2 was definitely not the best in the series but I’m happy to say that Ultimate Tenkaichi brings DBZ back to its fans in a proper way.  Namco Bandai was kind enough to send me a copy of the game a few days in advance of its release.  As soon as I began to play I knew I was in for a good time.

Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi once again dives into the Dragon Ball anime series and its story.  You have the usual suspects returning in Goku, Gohan, Vegeta etc.  It isn’t a DBZ game without them.  It’s so much better than Raging Blast 2 that you might as well call it a reboot … and a really good one at that.  The story is much improved this time around focusing much more on the world the anime series has created and on the exciting battles that take place in it. You’ll spend hours going through each branching arc with each saga and even your created character story!  The story mode is simply more engaging.  In previous versions of the game I would skip through quite a bit of the story to get into the fighting but not this time.  Spike put a lot into centering this game on the various aspects of the DBZ universe and it shows.

So much about the game just feels new to me.  The controls are easier and more responsive.  I used to have such a hard time with chaining together my Ki blasts and strikes and then flight but I managed to pull off quite a few with ease in Tenkaichi.  I’m happy about that because the giant bosses that you fight are ridiculous!

You’ll be able to go through the normal set modes including training/tutorial modes that all come with the loading screen mini-game (install the game to the hard drive to help a little with loading times).  It’s a staple to the series so get over it.  Fear not though because the memorable battles and fighting are so much improved that you won’t cringe at the load times.

Visually, the characters are a noticeable improvement over what the series has always offered.  It was one of the things that jumped out at me immediately.  The characters really take on a new look and feel this time around.  Ultimate Tenkaichi’s character designs are the best representation of the anime series to date.  The environments are more detailed and colorful with a greater sense of destruction thanks to the new Impact Break system.  When you land that powerful energy blast and send someone through the mountain side, you feel it!  Environment destruction has long been needed and I’m glad it’s here.  One of my complaints throughout the series has always been the recreation of the characters and the battle areas.  Those concerns are nearly extinct now with how good Spike has managed to bring life to the anime series on console.  It makes all past versions of the game irrelevant as far as style goes.

Hero Mode (character creation) was a fantastic addition to the game!  I’ve been waiting on it but it leaves much to be desired.  It doesn’t give you much control in shaping the way your own DBZ character.  You had a nice amount of color options and move sets but I just wasn’t at all able to get my character like I wanted it.  They need to get better templates and editing tools for users.  For the first entry it does what it needs to do but I can’t help but dream about a deeper character creation experience that gave me total control and more choices.  As it stands, I created my character in about 3 minutes because I didn’t have much choice.  And the story that you take your hero on isn’t a brand new story of your own with your character’s history being shaped.  Great addition like I said but I’m looking forward to Spike expanding on it.

I managed to get a few games in today online and there didn’t seem to be anything to throw an alarm up at.  I got my butt handed to me but that’s no big deal.  The match did have some slow spots but that may be due to the P2P connection more than the game.  If online fighting is your thing, it seems well enough in place to enjoy.

Conclusion

The Dragon Ball Z video game is back to form!  Ultimate Tenkaichi delivers a very good mix of story and anime action that had gone missing from the series the past two iterations.  Any fighting game fan should take a look at Ultimate Tenkaichi for some hard hitting, powerful Ki blasts and combo action.  And any fan of the DBZ universe should be ashamed if they don’t have this game in their collection.

KAMEHAMEHA!!!

8.5
“Standout”