Dragonball Z: Shin Budokai 2 (PSP)

Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball Z franchise no longer require an introduction, so we’ll go straight to the introduction of Dragonball Z: Shin Budokai 2 (Dragonball Z: Shin Budokai Another Road in some regions) for the Playstation Portable.

As the title implies, Shin Budokai 2 is actually the second in a series of “Budokai”-style DBZ games on the PSP, but there’s no sense in reviewing the first one, because there’s nothing in it that isn’t included in Shin Budokai 2, which also included a ton of new content and several minor tweaks to the gameplay.

If you’ve played the Budokai games on the PS2, you’ll find Shin Budokai to be familiar ground. It’s basically a more streamlined version – combat is faster and controls are simpler. It’s easy to describe Shin Budokai as “Budokai-lite,” but it would be an unfair description because the PSP fighters brought a number of improvements to the table.

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Kansen (PSP)

While technically a full-blown sequel to Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Saisen, Kansen is basically the same game with an updated roster and a few minor tweaks under the hood. This means two things: first is that there is no longer any need to get Saisen if you don’t have it yet because there’s nothing in it that isn’t in Kansen and second, there’s no longer any need to go over the basics in this review. You can check out my old review of Saisen for the specifics on the game. This time we’re going to focus on the changes that Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Kansen brings to the table.

Graphics-wise, there’s nothing different. It’s still the same engine and you won’t notice anything different other than the new menu and characters. The same goes for the audio side of things (again, refer to the Saisen review for details).

Content-wise, there are tons of welcome changes. The roster was already decent for a fighting game in the previous game, but now they’ve added several more without removing any of the previous playable characters.

The new additions include some odd choices, like Okita Souji, who only appeared in the series during a flashback. There are also some characters added from the Reflection OVA, such as Kenshi’s estranged son Kenji and the teenaged version of Yahiko. As expected, you have to unlock most of the characters first. If you have a savefile from Saisen, you’ll automatically unlock some of the old hidden characters as well as get a certain amount for upgrading the weapons.

Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (Playstation)

Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout is not the first Dragon Ball fighting game on Sony’s Playstation console, nor is it the first Dragon Ball game to appear on a 32-bit console. However, it is the first Dragon Ball game to make use of a fully 3D engine, making it a landmark of sorts.

Normally, I would start the review proper by outlining all the positive things about a game, but unfortunately I can’t think of one good thing about Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout. The intro FMV, perhaps. Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout had a really kick ass FMV intro, which you can watch below: