Dragonball Z Budokai 2 (PS2)
Publisher: Bandai/Atari (formerly known as Infogrames)
Developer: Dimps
Genre: Fighting
Platform: Playstation 2
USA Release Date:Tuesday December 9th 2003
NZ Release Date:Tuesday November 18th 2003
Game Trailers
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Small (1.53 MB)
Medium (2.39 MB)
Big (5.65 MB)
See videos of some of the new characters in action here thanks to DBZonPS2.com
Playable Characters
Goku, Teen Gohan, Great Saiyaman, Future Trunks, Raditz, Vegeta, Nappa, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, Hercule, Piccolo, Frieza, Captain Ginyu, Recoome, Cell, Android 16, Android 17, Android 18, Goten, Kid Trunks, Adult Gohan, Videl, Majin Vegeta, Supreme Kai, Dabura, Android 20, Fat Buu, Super Buu, Kid Buu, Gotenks, Vegito and Gocule (fusion of Goku and Hercule)
10/10/03 - It has veen revealed that unlike what as previously thought Budokai 1 characters Dodoria, Zarbon, Kid Gohan and Android 19 will not be in Budokai 2 (although the rest of the Budokai 1 characters will be). Already known new Budokai 2 characters are Adult Gohan, Videl, Goten, Kid Trunks, Supreme Kai, Android 20, Dabura, Fat Buu, Super Buu and Kid Buu but recently announced are three additions to that list - Gotenks, Vegito and Gocule (a fusion of Goku and Hercule) plus to more unknown characters (I personally hope that one of those is Pikkon).
Game Features
* Budokai 2 will maintain the cel-shaded look used by its predecessor, though it will be making some minor changes. The character models will generally have a bit more detail, and the character style will be modified to be more in line with the art style adopted by Akira Toriyama in the later episodes of Dragon Ball Z. The little circular shadows that the characters used to cast will be gone too, though it doesn't seem that they will be replaced with anything. Interestling this new style of graphics is being used for the Nintendo GameCube version of the first Budokai (to be released in the USA in August)
* Unlike the first Budokai, Dragonball Z Budokai 2 will not have a straight story mode, but instead will feature a mode currently being called dragon world. In this mode, you'll lead a team of four heroes against a team of four villains in a race to collect all seven dragonballs first. This mode will operate much like a turn-based strategy game, where you're given an overview map of the world and you move your characters from location to location looking for the dragonballs. If one of your heroes is at the same location as one of the villains, you'll have to square off with him or her for a single round of fighting, though you'll have the option of letting the AI fight the fight for you. The winner can then move on, continuing his or her search for the dragonballs, while the loser is stuck at that location for a turn. This is quite sad to learn as the Story Mode in the first Budokai was awesome
* There will also be plenty of new fighting grounds some of which can be seen in the short trailer which you can see above such as Orange Star High School and the Capsule Corp.
*Atari has said that you'll be able to import your saved game from the original Budokai into Budokai 2. They also stressed the fact that once you've imported your save game, you won't be able to use it anymore in Budokai, so be sure to back up your saved game first. There will also be new moves available for each of the Budokai 1 characters.
*The gameplay in Budokai 2 will probably the same, though it seems that the developer is working on making the flying mechanic in the game much more dynamic, and that the gameplay will now include power struggles, where both characters throw ridiculously huge beams of energy at each other, each trying to beat back the other energy beam. This kind of action has been a staple of the DBZ show, and though no details have been released yet on the specific mechanics of the power struggles, I think its a good inclusion as a lot of people were dissapointed this was not in the first game
* At Mr. Popo's shop, the player can also buy fusions so that two characters can be combined to form a new character as a skill. This is how the characters of Gotenks, Vegtio and Gocule are formed
* Like the "what if" merger between Krillin and Cell in Budokai 1 Its been revealed that in Budokai 2 you will be able to do absorptions! So if you ever wanted to know what Super Buu would of looked like if he absorbed Vegito then you'll find out when the game is released!
Executive Producer Interview
by Fennec Fox of Gamepro.com
Heres an interview with the executive producer of Dragonball Z Budokai 2, Daisuke Uchiyama of Dimps who are developing the game....
How long has Budokai 2 been in development? How many people are involved?
With the incredible response we got from the first one, we wrote up a plan to build something new in a extremely small amount of time, so we probably haven't been working on this for a year, even. It's really tough... At its maximum, the team is around thirty people.
How did users respond to the original Budokai? Were there any ideas that surprised you in particular?
We received all sorts of new requests—people wanted more skills, they wanted us to put in Buu, they wanted to play as Tao Pai Pai, they wondered why they couldn't transform into Super Saiyan 3 form, and so on. The number-one request, though, was for us to include the whole Buu saga. That was the most popular response among users, and if we had more time in the last project, I think everyone in the staff wanted to include that, too.
Budokai's sales were very strong, both in Japan and overseas. Did it do better than you expected? What do you have to worry about when developing for an international audience?
To be honest, I had no idea it would do this well. Every time we get the new sales information in, everyone in the staff is amazed and surprised. It's good to see, because for the U.S. and European versions we concentrated on the localization process—making sure the dialogue sounded as natural and flowing as possible, and that all the characters that're especially popular overseas looked and played impressively.
What are some of the challenges in developing Budokai 2?
I think everyone in the staff would tell you that they want more time. That, or they want their own Hyperbolic Time Chamber, or they want Senzu beans to pep them up when they're tired, or they want to go home, or they want a girlfriend...
Adding the characters that debuted in the Buu saga to all the fighters we already had in the last game results in a huge number of characters we have to deal with. Getting all these characters into the game in the limited time we have is probably the hardest part of this project. This is especially the case with the Buu-saga characters, which all tend to have very singular moves; it's hard to get all these moves in and make the characters fun to play with for fans, but we're all working hard on it right now.
Will Budokai 2 have the same fighting system as in Budokai?
Although the basic system is an extension of the one in the original game, we're working on a system that lets users show off more with the characters they like the best. The theme here isn't on Dragon Ball-like battles; the focus is more on dynamic fighting
Will the skill-gathering system be any different? Some of people were puzzled that Mr. Popo's skill shop was based on random elements, even if there was a skill they wanted to buy in particular.
In Budokai 2 you'll be able to earn skills in a number of places. The single-player story mode has evolved into the Dragon World mode, and there will be other places to find skills, giving players more impetus to explore the game fully. The skill shop will be fully renovated... I can't go into details right now, but it will be evolved, so be on the lookout for it.
Credits
Gamespot
DBZonPS2.com
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Magic Box
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Updates to this Page
10/10/03 - NZ Release date, Character list alteration including 3 new character additions, Video clips note, absorptions info, cover art
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