Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road (PSP)
- Publisher:
- Atari
- Developer:
- Namco Bandai
- Release Date:
- 20.03.2007
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Action
- Reality Factor:
- Science Fiction
- Perspective:
- Third-Person
- Extra:
- Comic Style
- Blood Level:
- Low Blood
- Age:
- Futuristic
We play Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road...
The DragonBall Z franchise is one of those series that seemingly knows no limits. Long after the popular Anime series has been discontinued, developers are still keen to hop on the bandwagon and produce a couple of games a year at the very least, most of which are incremental updates with a minimal amount of innovation. Shin Budokai 2 is very much in this vein, and anybody that sampled the previous version will be either delighted or dismayed to hear that the mechanics, graphical engine and core gameplay remains intact and virtually untouched.
Shin Budokai 2 ('Another Road' as it's titled overseas) takes place in an alternative timeline to the main series, and asks the player to take control of a character named 'Trunks'. The main plot quickly becomes fairly ludicrous and involves a vast swathe of lesser-known characters, time-travel and some ridiculous leaps of faith throughout, and as complex as it is, the story-telling on offer here is pretty appalling at times. I guess as a brawler you'd expect nothing less, and Budokai 2 delivers up a truckload of cliché with aplomb.
The series at this point is at heart a hybrid 2d-3d fighting game with simplistic controls and fast-paced immediate action. The multi-height arena system adds a dash of flair and dynamism to the proceedings and stays faithful to the original source material, without lending any amount of complexity to the mechanics. Graphically the title takes inspiration directly from the Anime series, with some bare backgrounds and beautifully cell-shaded main characters floating in mid-air and delivering some spectacular and extremely good-looking basic combat and special attacks.
Each fighter controls as you would expect from a 2d beat-em-up, with a couple of buttons for attacking, blocking and various combinations of special moves available from the off. However, the amount of variation between each character is unfortunately minimal, which hampers any sense of uniqueness and undermines the efforts expended to create a decent yet fairly basic fighting system.
Not that the game isn't fun mind. Often times the pacing of combat is well-judged, and defeating troublesome opponents never feels particularly cheap or lucky, instead relying on skilful balancing of your offensive and defensive capabilities. As simplistic as it is, there is no doubt that the core gameplay on offer here is well-developed and by this point supremely refined, as any fan of the series will no doubt attest.
The main campaign revolves around an over world map (similar in tone to the system used in older Final Fantasy games), containing the various territories that Trunks and his band of followers are tasked to protect. Enemies fly around in real-time and begin attacking the various locations, and it's up to you to decide which ones to attempt to stop. Approaching a foe transports the player into a standard 1-1 fight (following some extremely lengthy load times), and keeping your health bar topped up becomes extremely important. The only way to regenerate health after finishing any battle is to hover over one of the safe territories on the over world map, so defence quickly becomes a priority.
Your group of two followers will also come to your aid, either attacking or defending locations depending on the personality traits of each chosen compatriot. Balancing the need to attack enemies and keeping the health of your comrades in check becomes an onerous task at times, and the over world map can quickly become a frantic place to keep stable.
Stat upgrades are handled throughout by a trading-card system, with victory in each battle usually resulting in your enemy dropping several cards which can be used as you see fit. Attacking and defensive boosts are the order of the day here, and booster cards can also be bought via the in-game shop, adding an additional layer of complexity to the proceedings. Essentially though the card system is a simple manner of boosting abilities, not transforming the core of your character, and doesn't form the majority of most decision-making in-game.
Outside of the main single-player campaign, Shin Budokai 2 contains the usual raft of fighting game options, from standard ad-hoc wifi play through to arcade and practice modes. The challenge mode is a welcome addition, and contains some of the more interesting variants of play, but nothing that any fighting game fan won't have seen before on numerous occasions.
As a sequel, Shin Budokai 2 does barely enough to warrant a purchase, and any casual player of the original game will want to avoid picking this up. If you're a fan of the series in any form then it doesn't really matter what I say here, chances are you've already picked this up and will love the esoteric and unintelligible storyline for what it is. As fan-service Shin Budokai 2 deserves to gain some credit, but you can't help but feel that as a mass-market product this is a series on its last legs.
Top Game Moment: Frantically dashing around the over world map, attempting to keep up with enemy attacks.
 |
 |
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| Bland backdrops are still all the rage | The action is the same as ever |
Shin Budokai 2 ('Another Road' as it's titled overseas) takes place in an alternative timeline to the main series, and asks the player to take control of a character named 'Trunks'. The main plot quickly becomes fairly ludicrous and involves a vast swathe of lesser-known characters, time-travel and some ridiculous leaps of faith throughout, and as complex as it is, the story-telling on offer here is pretty appalling at times. I guess as a brawler you'd expect nothing less, and Budokai 2 delivers up a truckload of cliché with aplomb.
The series at this point is at heart a hybrid 2d-3d fighting game with simplistic controls and fast-paced immediate action. The multi-height arena system adds a dash of flair and dynamism to the proceedings and stays faithful to the original source material, without lending any amount of complexity to the mechanics. Graphically the title takes inspiration directly from the Anime series, with some bare backgrounds and beautifully cell-shaded main characters floating in mid-air and delivering some spectacular and extremely good-looking basic combat and special attacks.
Each fighter controls as you would expect from a 2d beat-em-up, with a couple of buttons for attacking, blocking and various combinations of special moves available from the off. However, the amount of variation between each character is unfortunately minimal, which hampers any sense of uniqueness and undermines the efforts expended to create a decent yet fairly basic fighting system.
 |
 |
|
| The cell-shaded look fits the series perfectly | All the standard game modes are present and accounted for |
Not that the game isn't fun mind. Often times the pacing of combat is well-judged, and defeating troublesome opponents never feels particularly cheap or lucky, instead relying on skilful balancing of your offensive and defensive capabilities. As simplistic as it is, there is no doubt that the core gameplay on offer here is well-developed and by this point supremely refined, as any fan of the series will no doubt attest.
The main campaign revolves around an over world map (similar in tone to the system used in older Final Fantasy games), containing the various territories that Trunks and his band of followers are tasked to protect. Enemies fly around in real-time and begin attacking the various locations, and it's up to you to decide which ones to attempt to stop. Approaching a foe transports the player into a standard 1-1 fight (following some extremely lengthy load times), and keeping your health bar topped up becomes extremely important. The only way to regenerate health after finishing any battle is to hover over one of the safe territories on the over world map, so defence quickly becomes a priority.
Your group of two followers will also come to your aid, either attacking or defending locations depending on the personality traits of each chosen compatriot. Balancing the need to attack enemies and keeping the health of your comrades in check becomes an onerous task at times, and the over world map can quickly become a frantic place to keep stable.
Stat upgrades are handled throughout by a trading-card system, with victory in each battle usually resulting in your enemy dropping several cards which can be used as you see fit. Attacking and defensive boosts are the order of the day here, and booster cards can also be bought via the in-game shop, adding an additional layer of complexity to the proceedings. Essentially though the card system is a simple manner of boosting abilities, not transforming the core of your character, and doesn't form the majority of most decision-making in-game.
Outside of the main single-player campaign, Shin Budokai 2 contains the usual raft of fighting game options, from standard ad-hoc wifi play through to arcade and practice modes. The challenge mode is a welcome addition, and contains some of the more interesting variants of play, but nothing that any fighting game fan won't have seen before on numerous occasions.
 |
 |
|
| Wacky storylines and 'interesting' translations are all the rage | Special attacks are as potent as ever |
As a sequel, Shin Budokai 2 does barely enough to warrant a purchase, and any casual player of the original game will want to avoid picking this up. If you're a fan of the series in any form then it doesn't really matter what I say here, chances are you've already picked this up and will love the esoteric and unintelligible storyline for what it is. As fan-service Shin Budokai 2 deserves to gain some credit, but you can't help but feel that as a mass-market product this is a series on its last legs.
Top Game Moment: Frantically dashing around the over world map, attempting to keep up with enemy attacks.
