are any of the PS2 DBZ games any good?

[Edmond Dantes]

I been thinking of getting some of them, but... well, they're by Atari, and Atari doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation. The only one I've actually played is the first Budokai, and honestly I didn't like the Tekken-style controls. Something that plays more like Street Fighter but with controllable flying (or, in other words, is spiritually in the same lieu as the Super Butoden games) is what I'm looking for.

I saw something today called "Super Dragonball Z" and it sounded like what I'm looking for, but I had reservations.

Any recommendations?

[Rickstilwell1]

I actually am quite of fan of all of the PS2 Dragonball Z games. I have all of them and beat all of them except Sagas which I just got. If you like the anime then these games are for you. Even if you didn't watch the anime the games tell you some of the plot in an interesting way. They are also relatively cheap to buy so not much money is wasted if you don't end up liking them. I would play them in order of release because they seem to keep adding to each other and build up characters as they went. Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 has all of the real character forms, except adult Chi-Chi who is only in Super Dragonball Z. Kid Chi-Chi is still in the game though. I would say the Budokai Tenkaichi series is my favorite set. The first one is weak compared to the second and thrid though.

[Baloo]

The original Budokai Series is pretty dated, but Budokai Tenkaichi is a LOT of fun! 3 replaces 2 and 1 as they're all mostly the same thing but with progressively more characters. Great 2-player crazy over-the-top fighting action though.

[Kyle15]

The Budokai games are pretty fun and as "Street Fighter-ish" as you're going to get. Despite the Atari logo, the series was just localized by them; actual development took place at Dimps. Super is the port of an arcade game by Crafts and Meister. It's clunky and a bit odd in my experience. (Budokai is a lot better.) Just stay far, far away from Sagas.

[kupomogli]

Like Kyle said, Sagas is terrible. Don't touch it. I'd also avoid Super DBZ.

For the Budokai games, the original one goes up to the end of the Cell Saga with plenty of cutscenes in a fairly large amount of detail. It's a great game, but gameplay wise Budokai 2, Budokai 3, and Infinite World are better. The game is worth it solely because of the amount of detail in the cutscenes.

Budokai 2 can be skipped, but it's got a unique Dragon World mode, as well as a few things not seen in the later games for the characters that are available. Multiple different fusions like Tiencha and Gokule. Other than that, not really worth getting when Budokai 3 and Infinite World are better.

Budokai 3 and Infinite World are the two best. Reason I list both is because the gameplay system in Infinite World has been slightly enhanced, but also most characters combos have changed a little bit. They both have different capsule equipment menus. Infinite World has extra characters but a few are mission, etc. The story mode is different where both tell the entire storyline, Budokai 3 has where you go from place to place on the world map in 3d following the storyline out, yet it's fairly boring. Infinite World has the world map in 2d where you can go back to any mission you previously completed. It's got a lot of stupid mini games you have to go through other than fights.

Haven't played the PSP games so can't give an opinion on those, but I finally got Burst Limit for the PS3, which is basically similar to the Budokai games. After playing a bit of this game, I think it's overall worse than literally all of the Budokai games. It's like the changes that they made were exclusively to sap the fun out of the games. Good thing I got it for free with LA Noire so selling it works out nice.

For the Tenkaichi games. Make sure you start with the second. The first one sucks. Just like the regular Budokai 3, on Tenkaichi 2 you go around a 3d world map. However it's just locations. The script in battle is a couple lines and you just got the the fight. It goes in detail though that you fight most battles in the DBZ and GT Sagas. However, what's different with the Budokai games is that they play more like action games and if you want to feel like you're playing a Dragon Ball game, then you want to play the Tenkaichi games.

Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the best of the Tenkaichi series though. While you don't go through most of the battles each saga like you do on Tenkaichi 2, the main thing on this one is you go through just the main battles and during battle the script follows closely to what it does on the anime. It's amazing and a must own if you're a DBZ fan.

This guy kind of sucks, but here's a Budokai Tenkaichi 3 video(Saiyan Saga against Vegeta.) It goes through the story specific parts during battle which make it much more fun than just fighting the enemy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23kEP2NID2M

Raging Blast is a downgrade to Tenkaichi 3. It uses Tenkaichi 2's style where you go through battle after battle on each saga(and there are a ton of battles.) No stupid 3d map this time around thankfully. There are a few things tweaked but it's practically the same as Budokai 3 gameplay with a worse camera, far less characters(since it only goes up to DBZ,) and far less environments to battle on. It's like buying a sports game that has half the teams.

I didn't buy Raging Blast 2, but I only played the demo for a very short period of time and didn't like it. I'll eventually pick it up once it gets $20 or less, but I'd say avoid it if you're not sure about the series.

[Edmond Dantes]

Sorry I totally forgot I made this topic until just now. I'm scatterbrained.

Anyway, you guys can assume I'm a pretty knowledgable DBZ fan. I've read all 42 volumes of the manga, and I have every episode of the Z anime (still working on DB and GT). I've already said I don't like the Budokai style, because it doesn't make sense to me that to throw a Kamehameha you have to do a series of punches in midair--though I remember the game being kinda fun last time I played it, so I might pick it up anyway.

I guess I'll just have to take a chance on Super DBZ, since it seems to be a hit-or-miss game for most of the players here.

[kupomogli]

I've already said I don't like the Budokai style, because it doesn't make sense to me that to throw a Kamehameha you have to do a series of punches in midair

Budokai 3 and Infinite World you can hit forward plus special or back plus special to do any regular special attacks that are available for the character. I don't remember if it's required in Budokai 2, but punch, punch, punch, punch, special is required on the original.

[Lanzo]

Ya the budokai games are good. A lot of people knocked it saying it was unresponsive but thats complete bs. Me and my cousin got really good at it and had a blast playing each other.

[Rickstilwell1]

Budokai 3 and Infinite World you can hit forward plus special or back plus special to do any regular special attacks that are available for the character. I don't remember if it's required in Budokai 2, but punch, punch, punch, punch, special is required on the original.

Regular Budokai 2 is also just like Budokai 3 and infinite world.

I still think the best one is Budokai Tenakichi 2. The gameplay is much different than the plain Budokai series and you get way more characters and a much better storyline re-enactment that leaves almost nothing out. Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is much like an expansion pack of 2, so I recommend #2 first. If you unlock characters in Tenkaichi 2, they also transfer over to Tenkaichi 3. Just leave Tenkaichi 1 as a curiousity till after you beat others. It's not as good.

[Xtincthed]

I've never been a fan of the series (can't say that i've watched more then 5 episodes) so I played this game as a DBZ noob.. and I was bored quite fast with it

I tried the Budokai one (dont remember which number) and i found it quite a crappy fighting game

[Kellhus]

The Budokai Tenkaichi games are awesome. If you like DBZ then you honestly can't go wrong.

I know you didn't ask about PS3 games but Burst Limit is probably the best DBZ game since Hyper Dimension on the SFC so that's definitely worth looking into.

[TheGam3r]

Budokai 2 & 3 are personal favorites of mine. I suggest you start off with them.