Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi

Review from Barry - Thursday, 01 December 2011 @ 12:51pm

Let me preface this review by stating in no uncertain terms do I have any idea about the Dragon Ball Z universe. I do however have an idea about what makes a game fun & interesting. Sadly Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi is neither of these two things.

Before we get started here is the trailer explaining a little bit about the game.. I think?

Would you believe the game makes even less sense than that?

To be fair we cannot judge a game on if it makes sense or not, because we all love Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and that game makes no sense what so ever - but it IS fun.

DBZ:UT has a single button to attack, that’s it. Mash that button to win. Randomly there will be some sort of special move decider where both players are required to push either X or Y. What these do, is any one's guess, sometimes the other player will counter but mostly the person currently attacking, will continue to attack (as they are still mashing that one button)

This goes on until 50,000 damage has been dealt to one player and the match is thankfully over, you can now eject this game from your console and never play it again. If you happen to suffer from a severe mental disorder you may be able to withstand another round, but probably no more than two.

330 damage done - Only 49670 till the round will be over

Players can choose to fight on the ground and in the sky, the transition between the two seems to happen randomly however, sometimes leaving one person still flying. When this happens the game switches to a 3rd person view while you fly around and shoot fireballs at the person stuck on the ground. Once this has happened for a bit you go back to pushing that one attack button over and over.

The Dragon Ball Z universe is probably best known for super mega over the top moves where giant hand laser beams get shot from a screaming character floating in space while another character on the ground shoots his own hand laser beams back.

Thankfully these moves are a big part of DBZ:UT and like Matt on a friday night, easy to pull off. Flicking the right thumb stick in a direction will do one of the super moves you selected when you chose your character. Similarly to the TV show the other player will be given a chance to block, deflect or counter the giant meteor of hand laser beams, but only if they can decipher the mystery of how. Each of the three options (block, deflect or counter) are presented on the defenders side of the screen - but all three of these seemed to be greyed out - which resulted in the defender, like Matt on a Saturday night, copping it on the chin.

Is it ever explained how they can just fly without any sort of jetpack / wings?

There is a medium roster of similar looking people to choose from as well as the option to create your own character, but I don’t think this feature is enough to overcome the rest of the flaws in DBZ: UT. If you are a fan of the DBZ universe and have been itching to take control of your favorite DBZ character, or even make a giant haired version of your self, this may be the game for you.

But I seriously doubt it.

The level design and visual style is the one saving grace

The large levels and artistic style have been plucked straight out of the TV show, which will be a real delight to the fans, it is just a real shame that DBZ:UT is absolutely a case of style over substance.

Pros

• You can make your own DBZ character
• Visual style is perfectly captured from the TV show
• Large open levels give a good feel to the scale of the combat

Cons

• Everything!
• Lackluster combat mechanics
• So many better fighting games currently available