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Finally, a GOOD fighting game for the PSP!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: April 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai.

INTRODUCTION:
I have long been a fan of the Dragon Ball Z series. The series has a "love it or hate it" reputation, but even those who do love the series aren't afraid to say that a lot of the games based on it haven't exactly been that good. The Budokai series is a major exception to the rule. Its two-dimensional fighting action has been nothing short of excellent, and definitely one of the best Dragon Ball sub-series of games. In 2006, the Budokai series went portable with the arrival of Shin Budokai for the Playstation Portable. Keep reading to see how it fares!

OVERVIEW:
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai was released in early 2006 in the United States. The game features several characters available right off the bat, as well as many more characters/forms that can be unlocked. There are many different gameplay modes.

REVIEW:
I had some doubts about this game, and some of those doubts I was right to have. However, ultimately this is a nice return to form after the tragic misstep of Budokai Tenkaichi for the Playstation Two. Read on for some pros and cons the game has, and see how the product ultimately measures up.

-THE GOOD:

-AWESOME GRAPHICS. I had my doubts the whole consular cel-shading thing would work well on a portable gaming system. How wrong I was. The graphics in this game are stunning, and right on par with the consular Budokai games. Arguably the finest graphics seen on the Playstation Portable so far.

-FAIRLY EASY TO LEARN. The game isn't so simplistic that it's a button-masher, but not so complex that you're going to have to waste your time lingering in the instruction manual for hours on end. This learning curve is just right for this sort of game.

-NICE AUDIO. The characters sound just like their anime counterparts, and all of the sound effects are recreated nicely. All in all, audio fares very well in this game.

-LOTS OF DIFFERENT GAME PLAY MODES. With all the different game modes, this is a game that is likely to hold your attention for a long time, as soon as you're able to get into it.

-TONS OF UNLOCKABLES. Dragon Ball games always have unlockable stuff, and there are a ton of hidden things in this game, including many more characters than just those initially available.

-CHARACTERS ARE IN THIS GAME THAT ARE OFTEN NOT SELECTABLE IN DRAGON BALL GAMES! Since the game follows the storyline of the twelfth movie, Janemba and Pikkon are here! Definitely nice to see some of the underrated guys get a boost.

-A GOOD FIGHTING GAME ON THE PLAYSTATION PORTABLE! FINALLY! Most fighting games suck on the PSP because of the poorly-designed D-pad. However, the Budokai series' attack motions aren't based on traditional fighting game mechanics. Thus, this is one of the few fighting games on the system that actually works!
-ONLINE MULTIPLAYER! This is great if you want to battle someone, and the computer isn't giving you enough of a challenge.

-THE BAD:

-COMPUTER OPPONENTS OFTEN HAVE LOW INTELLIGENCE. Usually, you can thrash the other guy to death with little or no effort at all. Higher difficulty levels can help this, but they don't totally remedy the problem.

-IT IS UNCLEAR HOW TO UNLOCK/OBTAIN THINGS. I understand why the unlockables remain a secret; it adds some fun to the game. However, many different items/skills/etc. must be obtained in the various game modes, and it's confusing as to what does what, and how it must be obtained.

-NOTHING NEW TO THE BUDOKAI SERIES. If you're looking for a ton of innovations that revolutionize Budokai, you won't find them here. For the most part, this is the same game you played on the consoles, with minor updates.

-ONLINE MULTIPLAYER IS AD HOC ONLY. I wish they would have been clearer about this on the packaging!

OVERALL:
Overall, this is an excellent game - it's about damn time they made a good fighting game for the PSP! If you're looking for a fighting game and the other ones on the console aren't doing for you, give this one a whirl. You should be pleasantly surprised with the overall quality.

EDITION NOTES:
At the time I write this review, the game is still fairly new and fairly popular. You should have absolutely no trouble finding it in any place that sells video games.

Dragonball Z Shin Budokai........

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Looking through my collection of Playstation Portable games, I realized that the only genre of game that I didn't have for the system was a fighting game. So, I set out to find me one. Thankfully, the only one I found was Dragonball Z Shin Budokai. Being a longtime fan of the Dragonball series and of the Budokai games, I thought I'd give Shin Budokai a chance although I'll admit I was a little hesitant at first. Well, Dragonball Z fans, you can rejoice. Shin Budokai takes everything you like about the series and gives you a portable experience that is positively worth spending your hard-earned money on. It's a solid effort by its' developers and it shows. I'm especially impressed by the cel-shaded graphics and the gameplay that I actually felt like I was living out the storyline of "Fusion Reborn". There's alot to like about Shin Budokai, like the fact that players can play one another via wireless combat, unlock unlockable material and more.

I'll have to agree with other reviewers on this site that most fighters on the PSP are mediocre at best. Until properties like Tekken, Soul Calibur or Mortal Kombat grace the system; we'll have to do with the best 3-D game on the system now and that, my friends, is Dragonball Z Shin Budokai.

I hope we see another Shin Budokai grace the Playstation Portable. That would, definitely, be nice.

The best in fighting is now portable!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

As soon as i picked this title up i hadn't put it down. This game is by far the best Budokai to ever grace systems dus far. It combines the action and speed of Budokai 3 but the controls of Tenkaichi. An overall okay storyine built upon the movie Fusion Reborn and a healthy dose of multiplayer (if you can find someone else to fight that is). If you're looking to enhance your psp gaming experience and library, this is a must buy.

Fun isn't all that matters, ya know?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai is a port of the incredibly popular Dragon Ball Z: Budokai line. Shin means new or better, so get ready for a new clean game.

Story
5/10

The story of Shin Budokai roughly follows Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fusion Reborn. A few plotholes here in there, kind of an unoriginal story A.K.A., Son Goku finds a new enemy, enemy gets followers, Son Goku and friends eventually kill the enemy. The Shin Budokai story is FULL of grammatical errors. It's kind on annoying, but it's also common in most portable Dragon Ball Z games.

Graphics
9/10
AMAZING graphics. The menus aren't too special, words, nice looking letters, colorful, yea. The battlefield is pretty darn amazing though. The stages are the same as the ones from Dragon Ball Z 3, with the exception of Hell of course. The 3D backgrounds are nicely done. The characters are nicely done, not just clothing, but like all of the little details from the anime are right there. The only flaw is a slight freeze in between frames and the lack of changing facial expressions (e.g. Broly is always grinning).

Gameplay
7/10
so if Shin means new, does the mean it is a new battle system? Pretty much. This battle system is supposed to be an amped version of the DBZ3 battle system. The gameplay flows perfectly. It is very fast paced. The brand new Aura Burst lets your character fly around freely and quickly. It is like taking the good parts of Dragon Ball Z 3 and Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! and throwing them into one battle system. Combos are still available, and can go on just as long as the PS2 combos. It sounds like I'm pretty happy with the gameplay, so why did I give it a 7? Well, after Dragon Road is complete, there is absolutly nothing to do. Afterwards, you only have your Survival, Free Battle, and Time Attack Modes. And the Profile Cards are REALLY boring. It's like customizing a school ID with Dragon Ball stickers. Also, the lack of multiple In-Game Transformations makes combos a lot harded to think up. And every character is pre-equipped with techniques, unlike in Dragon Ball Z 1, 2 , and 3 where you get to choose what techniques your character gets. Making every character the same.

Sound
6/10
I hate the new theme song. Also, the music is the same recycled music that we've been hearing sicne 2001. While many of the good tracks are still in Shin Budokai, I want some new music. I mean, Atari and Bandai have legends of American and Japanese music. They can totally do better than what they've been using for the past 5 years. What I love about the sound, Japanese voice actors. Plain and simple. The English voice actors are great too, but the original is just where it's at.

Overall
7.5/10
Dragon Ball Z: shin Budokai puts tons of new mechanics on the table, but doesn't give you too much new stuff that's good. The game gets REALLY boring after you beat Dragon Road and you may feel like you wasted your money after about a week. The game still delivers what a Dragon ball Z fan wants though, fast paced action. The game could do with better mini-games other than Dragon Pace and Profile Cards. Also, I feel kind of annoyed that Atari would advertise Wireless online Play when you can only play using Ad Hoc WiFi.

Rent or Buy?
A rent for sure, if you like games that last 3-5 hours after spending $40, then go ahead, buy it.

one of the best fighting games so far for the PSP

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: March 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

the batch of fighting games thus far for the PSP have been mediocre at best. Shin Budokai is in a league of its own because it is entirely fun and totally blew me away with its graphics and looks (i love how it is rendered to look like the movies/cartoons and not like a video game). the fighting is great and has already consumed so much of my time simply because this game gets highly addictive. if you're itching to buy a 2D-ish fighting game for the PSP, i totally would go ahead and purchase this because so far, in my opinion at least, nothing compares quite to Budokai's gameplay, graphics, and appeal.

get some friends

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 10
Date: May 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First off, Mr. Darth Kommissar and Justin Pinoy need to really stop thinking that they are the only ones who matter and reallize that their opinion is their opinion and nobody cares on their little grading system because that is only one persons opinion. Some people might like Broly always grinning cooly.
Also, you guys make other ppl feel lesser of themselves because you ppl telling us when the game came out and who made it and who scrathes you @$$ evry morning. You shud relly get a life you ppl.

Now for my personal review: This game is a pretty decent overall game, but, after you beat the season mode and the time trials and the survival, make sure your friends buy the game too because the game is REALLY boring all on your own unless you don't mind playing arcade mode with Krillin and Piccolo (probably the two worst guys in the game)

From someone who knows nothing about DBZ

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Overall I like the concept of DBZ though I've never had the patience to watch an entire episode.

As far as the game is concerned:

Pros:
- Game is responsive and fight mechanics are well implemented.
- Visuals are as good as I've seen them on Budokai 3 on the PS2.

Cons:
- In the "quest" mode- which is essentially a string of fights punctuated by chatter between characters, unless you are a DBZ fan, it makes no sense whatsoever. So I ended up just clicking X until the lengthy dialog was over so I can resume fighting.

If you're a fan of the show then this game's great.

great fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

this game is fun just like shin budokai another road but another road is better but this game is fun to i still play this even though i have dbz another road i can still play this one. The story mode in here was good but it was really a movie and a little short but it was great. Nice grapic to in both of the shin buodaki's.

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: November 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is indeed a great game. Same graphics as Budokai pt 3. Game is based on the FUSION REBORN movie. With loads of characters, Missions, survival modes, etc. Only downside to the game its that is too easy. But the game is indeed fun

What I think

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: December 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is the best game I have ever played and that I have for psp it has 18 characters some of them are Goku, Ten Gohan, Grown up Gohan, Vegeta, Grown up Trunks, Kid Buu, Janemba, Gogeta, Vegeto, Pikkon, Android 18, Cell, Frieza, Gotenks, Broly, Krillin, Piccolo, and I cant remember the last one but if they only had Dragonball z tenkaicji thats a whole different story its 999999999999999999999999 trillion better than Dragonball z shin budokai thats my opinion please make Dragonball z tenkaichi for psp just like on ps2 thank you.

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