Because I’m a massive fan of the DragonBall Z franchise, a HD remake of Budokai and Budokai 3 was a big yes in my eyes. The originals were released on the PlayStation 2 which as you can tell is going back a console or two but even playing the originals brought hours of fun and quite a lot of nostalgic value. The games were brilliant fighters and I loved the fact that you could player as heroes and villains from the unforgettable DragonBall Z and some GT characters, also for fans perform iconic moves such as the Kamehameha and The Spirit Bomb. These two games were good for their time; now let’s see how the HD collection does.
Story
Budokai: The story for Budokai one simple followed the DragonBall Z timeline but you started by playing as the two main starts of the show Goku and Piccolo. The storyline for the first game started like the episodes on TV, the fight with Raditz in the Saiyan saga up till the Cell fight with Gohan in the Cell saga. There are 23 playable characters in this game and they are all well known characters from the TV series, each with their own story. On top of the story mode you had two other modes the tournament stage and practice mode. Practice mode was simply where you went to learn how to play as characters and practice how to use them to the best of their abilities and to find out which character suited your play style. Tournament mode was where you set up you own little tournament, select the amount of players you want in it and fight it out and see who because the winner. You can do 1 player vs CPU, CPU vs CPU or even 1 Player vs 2 Player. You could play with your family and friends too if they had a controller to play with.
HD collection: The HD versions of these games are exactly the same really but it’s really nice to see this game polished and back on the screen.
Budokai 3: The story for this game is similar to Budokai 1 but there are more characters and fights that take place because it covers more of the DragonBall Z anime series, than that of the first and second game. You play through the GT series and get some characters from the original DragonBall series such as kid Goku and Super Saiyan 4 Goku. Available is a battle raking stage where the player has to challenge the AI in hundred fighter challenges. When you defeat an AI you move to the next rank above it until reaching the top. Budokai 3 has the biggest character roster out of the three games.
HD collection: Like I have stated from the first game it’s really nice to see these game polished and in High-definition, really brings out how good of games these really are.
Game play
Budokai: The game play in this game is simple but great as it brings out the whole DragonBall Z feel. The flying in the first game was very basic and simple, but is very loyal to the story and it follows the anime very well. Each character has there own unique feel to them when fighting as then. The combos in this game are simple and easy to do. The HD collection of these game hasn’t had any of the mechanics changed it just makes the characters look a lot nicer and pretty but in a HD remake you’re not expecting for the game play to be improved.
Budokai 3: The game play in the third instalment has been vastly improved. The movement and feel from one attack to another when fighting is more engaging and fluid. When flying you do not feel as confined as you did in Budokai 1. The levels and characters in the HD remake of this look incredibly better than what they was on the PS2 versions of the game and makes them come to life. The fight mechanics have been enhance from the last two games which makes the game closer to that of the anime which for any DragonBall Z fan is a must buy. The combos from the anime are there and of course the iconic moves and finishers. Even though the game has basic fighting controls it still is a ton of fun to play. The AI is not as impossible to play against on this instalment of the game and gives you a hard challenge.
Graphics/Voices
The Graphics in both games are brilliant but, then again, this is a HD remake. The levels and characters look like their anime counterparts. The colours are clearer and make the game look beautiful and set the scene on some levels, like the earth when fighting Raditz which is bright and colourful. The fight on Namek against Frieza, when the planets are blowing up, you get the whole dark gloomy feel to it which improves upon the originals on the PS2.
DragonBall Z fans would be happy to know as well that they use the original voices from the anime for some characters within the game. Ones that you will notice straight away is the narrator, King Kia and of course Goku. This makes the game even more fun to play because if you have never watched all the episodes you can play this game and it would be like you’re watching the episodes.
The Positives and Negatives
- + Get to fight as the iconic characters and villains from the amazing anime series
- + Accurate to the series in character moves and aspects
- + Get to play through the timeline of each character to see what they in counter in the series
- -They put Budokai 1 in the HD pack instead of 2. This could have been improved by having all three games in the package
- -Can get quite repetitive fighting the same characters in the story but just as a different protagonists
- -Can get quite hard to play if your not into playing fighting games because of the combos
- -The medium difficulty for me seemed easy to play through but when I put it on hard it became very frustrating and extremely difficult
The Score
These games are really good in my opinion. I like the mechanics, the flow to the fighting in the game and the choice of characters. The only problems I can see is that they put Budokai 1 in the pack instead of 2 or all of them together and it can get quite repetitive when you keep playing the story but as different character. For these reasons I’m going to give DragonBall Z Budokai HD Collection a
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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