Improved mechanics, yet lacking the “flash” from the console counterpart.

I’m going to save many you about three minutes of reading. If you like Dragon Ball Z, get this game. If you don’t like Dragon Ball Z, don’t get this game. If you’re indifferent, at least consider what I have to say. This is a good fighting game. Like its console brother, Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3, there are fighting mechanics in this game that many others simply do not have. This game is a breath of fresh air for a portable system that is in desperate need for quality fighting titles.

Gameplay
Shin Budokai is nothing for hardcore fighting gamers to scoff at (even though they do anyway). There are many, many elements in this game that make this game superior to even the best of 2D fighting games. Simple things, such as tapping the guard button when an enemy is doing a weak attack will result in a “quick dodge” where your player simply bobs and weaves to avoid taking any damage. When you attempt a combo on the opponent with your “weak” and “strong” attacks, you can hold a button down sometimes to charge your next attack, breaking the opponent’s guard and leaving him open to be heavily damaged. Also, if an opponent is unleashing a large hit combo on you, at certain times you can teleport behind him and give him a taste of his own medicine. Sadly, you can’t do this as often in this game as the limitations are much more strict than in Budokai 3.

But, most likely, all one will care about is big flashy attacks. Well, this game mostly has that, with Kamehamehas and Destructo Discs and Final Flashes and Special Beam Cannons flying all over the place. You’ll certainly get your fill of that. However, an important flashy feature, the Dragon Rush, was taken out of this game. It was an attack where you powered up, launched your opponent back, and then started attacking with a massive combo that depended upon whether or not your opponent presses the same button as you. In simpler terms, think about four rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors where the objective for the player is not to get a tie with the opponent for four rounds straight in order to do the most damage. I felt it was very necessary to improve this attack to include more skill, but leaving it out altogether will only disappoint the younger gamers.

This game does have excellent mechanics, however it is heavily hindered by giving the player the ability to button mash his way to victory through a very simplistic move. It involves knocking your opponent up in the air, then teleporting behind him/her and hitting them around like a pinball for massive damage. This fact alone makes the overall fun of the game suffer.

ontrol
What’s to say? Sometimes you’re quick on your feet, sometimes your player steers like a cow that just ate a farmer. As far as hit combinations go, however, this game is unrivaled. Most combo attacks can be “cancelled” out of if you hit the right button combination, leaving the opponent open to be hit by a different combo, and another, and another, etc. There’s nothing to bad to get hissy over.

Graphics
Pretty, but apparently sacrifices must have been made in order to get this game crammed onto the PSP. Most of the 3D over-the-top fighting moves from Budokai 3 have been watered down to a side-view perspective. The game really feels like more of a 2.5D title, apart from the fighter introductions before the match. I was disappointed thoroughly.

Music/Sound
The music is OK for this game, even if it was at least 90% ripped from the Budokai 3 soundtrack. That was a bit lazy. Also, there is a complete lack of voice acting for this game, apart from during the fighting where you’ll here, “Ow!” “Ooaaahhh!!” and “Kamehameha!!” I suppose voice acting couldn’t fit on this little UMD.

Replay
I would say that this game is fun to play again and again, but damn my short attention span. I was bored with this game in two weeks. There are tons and tons of different fighting moves and combos to learn for all the characters, and it’s always fun looking for system bugs to exploit. I’m sure the younger crowd will be all over this game for months, but when you’re stuck with a small screen and one player mode, the novelty wears off quick. There’s a story mode that deters from the original plot which I found refreshing, but it’s not enough to keep my interest.

If anyone is able to play online against a friend, go nuts. That’ll certainly be fun, assuming it isn’t very laggy like previous titles for the PSP such as MLB.

Overall
I’m not sure if I convinced you to buy this or bury it. Looking back, this game has a lot of things it did right, but it did just too many major things wrong to keep it far from greatness. Buy Budokai 3 if you have a PS2, but rent this one.