Do you know what a saiyan is? Do you know which super saiyan transformation gives the long hair? Do you know the differences between the various incarnations of Buu? If so, do I have a game for you! And if not, well then do I have a game for you! With more than 120 characters and one of the longest story modes in a fighter yet, you'll have quite a lot to keep you busy with Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2.

THE STORY SO FAR
As said, Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (DBZ from here on) has one of the longest and deepest fighting game stories I've ever played. Basically, from beginning to end, you'll play out all the major Dragonball Z sagas and the movies, meaning you'll have played almost the entire franchise from beginning to end. Told through narration and in-game cinematics with the real voice actors reprising their roles for their characters, it feels exactly like watching a playable episode of the anime unfold.

There are some inherent flaws with the story mode though, because if you are familiar with the manga or anime, you know a lot of the series is about fighting, and losing, and then ultimately coming through at the very end. Now, a game where you have to lose every single time to advance wouldn't be much fun or any count, so many times you'll have to win a bout, and no matter if you whooped them easily or not, if the story calls for you to have lost, after the match and during the cutscene it will either say you lost or show you. Another problem is that some of the more major story points are left out, such as not showing a spirit bomb defeating Frieza or failing to reference other key points that only fans will know are missing.

GAMEPLAY
In many ways, fights are setup like other fighters out there, but the controls have been simplified so almost anyone can come in and play right away, but only those that know exactly what they are doing will be the ones to win time after time. For instance, you don't have to perform any fireball type control swipes like the Street Fighter franchise is known for or memorize any overly difficult button hit combos like in Mortal Kombat. Instead, rather, all you really have to do is face the enemy, get close to them, and hit the Square and Triangle button, with the Triangle button being for the more long range attacks, but it adapts to a combo system of sorts when you are close to the other character you are fighting.

However, the one thing that separates DBZ from the others are the massive environments in which you can fly around in, which is something of itself since you don't usually have large environments whatsoever to run around in, hide, and fight. The other thing is the flying, where your characters can hover and attack both on the ground or in the air.

Since the game uses the controller pretty normally, nothing is overly complex and everything you can do with a little practice and knowing what does what, such as figuring out how to do dash attacks, properly block and evade attack, build up your Ki, transform into more powerful versions of your character (like making Goku go Super Saiyan) and other such moves. At first, unless you've played the series before, the controls might come off a bit frustrating since it will seem like you are rather limited in what you can do, but once you start to see how combos work and what does what, you'll enjoy the simplicity and be whooping butt in no time.

Besides the bulky Story Mode of the game, you've also got your more traditional round robin climb up the power ranking ladders as seen in previous games, as well as the ability to compete in single matches or in tournament brackets.

One of the other big things about the game (and the Story Mode more than anything else) is the evolution system that lets your fighters gain experience and level up, which means that typically daunting battles should be easier on your patience thanks to all your previous endeavors. To use the system, you must buy items, which you can then allocate into several slots, and each item can affect certain traits such as a higher defense, more attack power, more health, etc. Once equipped, these items will auto level up, but characters won't budge a bit unless they have an item attached to them. You can also get some of the more rare and valuable items by finding the seven dragonballs scattered throughout the world (usually found by smashing buildings, glaciers, rocks, and other objects during your battles). After you find all seven balls you'll be granted a wish from the dragon and can pick what item you want.

The fighting itself is fast and furious, with combos, power hits that send players flying across the level, zipping here and there with bursts of speed through the air, and every single item from the series is replicated faithfully here, such as being able to transform during battle, to the duels of two combatants running into each other during an attack, or the tug of war power trip that goes on when two conflicting kamehameha hit each other. The only downfall is that the fights fall apart after a while, with them seeming like the same fights over and over, which is especially the case during the Story Mode, when you might be required to fight the same enemy three or four times in a row, with only something minor changing like the character you are forced to use.

A feature for the game that is rather nice is the customized characters, where you can actually exchange password characters with other players, so they can play against the character you play with on a regular basis, which could be ten times as powerful as the player you send the character to.

GRAPHICS
If you are a fan of the anime you'll absolutely be in love with the graphics of the game, because though not real looking, it looks exactly as if you were playing a portion of the anime, which is exactly how the game should look and feel. One of the only drawback is on occasion it fails to achieve the exact replication of the anime, since there are some rough edges to the character looks once in awhile and things like hands look a little messed up and chunky. The environments are pretty sparse in some cases, but the destruction caused by your fights, such as the world almost exploding or chunks of a ring breaking away during the fight really make you feel like damage is going on. The characters (who look almost picture perfect) also do a great job of reflecting this damage, because just like the series, their clothes will tear and they'll get smudge marks on themselves where they've been getting beat up. Really, you couldn't ask for much more if you are a Dragonball Z fan.

SOUND
Not too much in the way of ambient music or anything, but the sound of fights sounds really great, especially the powerful grunts of the characters and the collision certain moves and environmental destruction causes. However, the real draw is the voice acting, which remains faithful to the series, as it sounds like everyone in the game was actually voiced by the actors who voiced them in the American dubbed anime series. Some voices sound goofy or odd, but you know what, that is Dragonball Z, so I'm glad they stuck by the source material.

IN CONCLUSION
For a fan, Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 has been an absolute joy, as it lets me feel as if I'm rewatching all my favorite moments from the series, only this time their fates are at my hands and my hands alone; it is so fulfilling to take a character that you love, make them transform into their ultimate form, and then unleash their most powerful attack on an unsuspecting foe. Non-fans will like the game too, but will like it more from the controls and deep story mode rather than the nostalgic joy of seeing all your faves. Overall, it is a great and really enjoyable fighter for the PS2.

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