Dragon Ball has been around for about 20 years. Through those 20 years there have been several Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT games. Some of those games have been good and brought something new and exciting to the series, and most of them have been bad not living up to the greatness the anime or the manga. However, people keep asking for more. Where does this game stock up in the series?
Let me start out by saying that this game is huge. There are about 90 playable characters each with their own version of a story mode. This story mode lets players unlock more characters and more moves for those who like to create their own custom move set. There is battle game mode, which is kind of equivalent to the game series mode (where the player would fight in the series of fights just like the anime and the manga). Aside from those two modes, there is battle tournament, online mode, a movie viewer, and a picture viewer. The battle tournament is straightforward and you fight two CPU characters, two player characters, or one player versus one CPU per match. This mode is common to all Dragon Ball fighting games. Playing online can be a mixed bag, there is little or no lag when fighting other players, however there are times that it can be frustrating --players will often preform moves that would seem cheap even to the most veteran player to the Dragon Ball games.
Gameplay is as balanced as it can be for the various characters. The developer added all the moves that people who are a fan of the series know and love. However, most of the special moves will have to be unlocked if gamers want to play the story mode with their custom character. Moves can be easily pulled off as long as the players have the appropriate power level with button press. This makes the action fast paced and fluid just like in the anime.
The only gripe about the gameplay is the camera angles. At times when moving around on land, sea, or air the player can move faster then the camera. There is also an issue when two characters are on different elevation and the camera cannot seems to find the opponent.
The audio is very good. The background songs go along with the action and have a very fast upbeat tempo. When players go into a power mode the music changes to emphasize said change. There are also Japanese voices in the game. I have come to the believe that this addition is a good idea. I find myself liking the Japanese voices better than the English just because I am used to watching the anime with Japanese voices and English subtitles.
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