Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, known as in Japan as simply is a series of fighting video games based on the anime series Dragon Ball Z, itself part of the larger Dragon Ball franchise.
Gameplay The Budokai series combines the gameplay elements of both Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout and Dead or Alive 3. The controls include regular punch and kick buttons, as well as the ability to unleash ki blasts as standard projectiles, which can also be used in specific special moves via input codes.
The special moves are mainly taken directly from the anime, including Son Goku's Kamehameha, Vegeta's Galick Gun, and Frieza's Death Beam.
Although these mechanics have stuck with the series, other ideas such as the "Hyper Mode", the ability to move at incredible speeds, fly freely, and "Beam Struggles" between two characters' beam attacks, were later replaced in favour of other techniques.
History
Main series Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (2002)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, released as in Japan, is a fighting game released for the PlayStation 2 on November 2, 2002, in Europe and on December 3, 2002, in North America, and for the GameCube on October 28, 2003, in North America and on November 14, 2003, in Europe. It is the first Budokai game of the series and the first Dragon Ball Z game to be released in all of Europe instead of having specific releases in France, Spain, and Portugal like earlier games. The game was released in Japan by Bandai on the PlayStation 2 on February 13, 2003, and on the GameCube on November 28, 2003. It was developed by Dimps and published by Infogrames and later by Atari as a Greatest Hits title for the PlayStation 2 in North America.
The game includes a total of 23 playable characters, and the story follows the first three story arcs/sagas of the Dragon Ball Z franchise starting the Saiyan Saga, the Planet Namek saga and ends with SSJ2 Gohan's final battle with Cell in the Android Saga. Features include a story mode, a versus mode, a World tournament stage, a practice mode, and an items shop which allows players to purchase customization abilities using money gained through challenges in the story mode and tournament victories to make custom fighters. Story mode is divided into special chapters, initially having the player fight predominantly as Goku and Gohan through the Saiyan, Namek and Android Sagas before unlocking bonus chapters from different perspectives like Piccolo and Vegeta. The story mode also includes a few "what if" episodes to play with the villains of each saga, retelling iconic Dragon Ball events with different outcomes. A cel-shading effect was added to the graphics in the GameCube version.
The North American versions feature English voice acting from the North American Funimation dub, while the European versions feature the original Japanese voice acting and several European languages text translations.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (2003)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, released as in Japan, is a fighting game and a sequel to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and was developed by Dimps and published by Atari for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in North America on December 4, 2003, and on the GameCube on December 15, 2004. The game was published in Japan by Bandai and released for the PlayStation 2 on February 5, 2004.
The game features a tournament stage, versus mode, and an item shop. Unlike its predecessor, Budokai 2s story mode, called Dragon World, introduces a unique retelling of all four chapters of Z and plays like a board game as the player assembles a team of Z-fighters alongside Goku to challenge the series' villains. The game has 31 playable characters, including fusions of different fighters, and Majin Buu's various absorbed forms. Many of these forms are unique to Budokai 2, including an original fusion between Tien and Yamcha called Tiencha and Super Buu absorbing Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, and Tien and Yamcha simultaneously, which does not appear in future games. The Japanese version of the game adds new costumes as well as a new stage in story mode. Some of the added costumes were included in the North American GameCube version.
Once again, the North American versions feature English voice acting from the North American Funimation dub. The European PlayStation 2 version also features it, while the later European GameCube version switched back to the original Japanese voice acting because of negative feedback from players who were used to the Japanese dub since the 16-bit era.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (2004)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, released as in Japan, is a fighting game developed by Dimps and published by Atari for the PlayStation 2. It was released on November 16, 2004, in North America in both a standard and Limited Edition release, the latter of which included a DVD featuring a behind the scenes looks at the game's development. In Europe, it was released on November 19, 2004, by Bandai, who also released the game in Japan on February 10, 2005.
The Japanese version of Budokai 3 added several costumes not present in the North American and European versions. The North American Greatest Hits version of Budokai 3 adds these costumes, as well as the option to switch the audio to Japanese for the first time in North America. This version was also released in Europe as a re-release of the game under the title Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 – Collector's Edition. From this release onwards, all Dragon Ball Z games in North America and Europe were released with dual voice language options in English and Japanese. as well as some graphical tweaks. This was also the first game to introduce Beam Struggles in the series.
It received runner-up placements in GameSpot's 2004 "Best Fighting Game" and "Best Game Based on a TV or Film Property" award categories across all platforms.
Other games Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (2006)
is a fighting video game part of the Dragon Ball Z franchise, developed by Dimps and released in North America on March 7, 2006, in Europe on May 25, 2006, and in Japan on April 20, 2006, for the PlayStation Portable. The game's story mode is based on the events of the movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn. The choices the player makes in the story determine how the story evolves.
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai – Another Road (2007) Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai – Another Road (known simply as in Japan and Europe).
The game features an original story that tells the tale of Majin Buu being released in Future Trunks' timeline. As Majin Buu is too strong for Trunks to handle alone, he uses his time machine to recruit the original Z warriors for assistance, eventually succeeding in the destruction of Majin Buu.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai – HD Collection (2012) The Dragon Ball Z: Budokai – HD Collection is a video game compilation that includes remastered versions of Budokai and Budokai 3, alongside full Trophy and Achievements support. The collection was released in Europe on November 2, 2012, and in North America on November 6, 2012, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Both games include the optional original Japanese language track, but also feature reused soundtracks from the US and European versions of the Budokai Tenkaichi games (known in Japan as the Sparking! series), whereas the soundtracks from the original PS2 versions were made by Kenji Yamamoto. This is because Yamamoto had used actual commercial songs as a basis for the music for the Dragon Ball Z games he worked on as well as Dragon Ball Z Kai and as a result, Yamamoto was fired by Toei Animation in 2011, and all the soundtracks he did for Dragon Ball Z Kai were replaced by Shunsuke Kikuchi's scores.
Playable characters CharacterBudokaiBudokai 2Budokai 3Shin BudokaiShin Budokai: Another RoadGokuKid GohanTeen GohanGreat SaiyamanVegetaTrunksPiccoloKrillinTienYamchaAndroid 16Android 17Android 18Android 19FriezaDodoriaZarbonCaptain GinyuRecoomeCellHerculeNappaRaditzGoten GohanKid TrunksVidelSupreme KaiDr. Gero (Android 20)DaburaMajin BuuSuper BuuKid BuuSaibamenCell Jr.BardockCoolerBrolyOmega Shenron / Syn ShenronOob/UubKid GokuJanembaPikkonFuture GohanGotenksGogetaVegito
Music Dragon Ball Z & Z 2 Original Soundtrack
is the official licensed soundtrack of the first two Dragon Ball Z: Budokai & Budokai 2 for PlayStation 2 and GameCube video games. It was released by Team Entertainment on January 19, 2005, in Japan only.
This release was unique in that composer Kenji Yamamoto collaborated with not just the standard Japanese performers of American as well as Japanese artists. American credits include Steve Lukather, Simon Phillips, and Mike Porcaro of the rock band Toto and R&B Soul Funk band Tower of Power who can predominately be heard on tracks 22–24, but despite these credits the album remains a Japanese exclusive. The American artists were hired through the American Federation of Musicians labor union and were contracted by Dan Savant with recordings for the soundtrack taking place in Los Angeles, California, U.S., Burbank, California, U.S., and later in Tokyo, Japan at Yamamoto's home studio and Teruo Mu's home studio. Because this release focuses on the first two PS2 DBZ games, many of Yamamoto's orchestrated tracks heard in the story modes of both games were left out. Prompting many fans digitally rip music straight from the games themselves. For the most part, the tracks featured are very rock oriented with only a few featuring a jazzy funk vibe thanks in part to Tower of Power's influence. The back of the jewel casing gives both Japanese and English track listings for the songs, but the English list is not a direct translation of the Japanese. Instead, they are the names that were provided when the games were released as Budokai and Budokai 2. Easily giving the impression that the soundtrack producer anticipated a big demand of importing the album by fans in English-speaking countries. Coupled with the soundtrack is a bonus DVD featuring the intro and music videos of the opening theme "Kusuburu heart ni Hi o Tsukero" performed by Hironobu Kageyama, and montage game footage.
The compositions were met with positive reviews by various gaming critics. Many critics who reviewed the first Budokai game assumed that the music, like the voice talent, was Faulconer's compositions straight from the anime. Sites like IGN and GameSpy consider the music the strongest feature of Budokai. Michael Knutson of GameZone though the tracks in Budokai 2 were upbeat and would not get repetitive.
Track listing: くすぶるheartに火をつけろ!!Kusuburu heart ni Hi o Tsukero!!/Light a Fire in your Smouldering Heart!! Big Opportunity Expectation 熱き風のごとくAtsuki Kaze no Gotoku/Like A Burning Wind 勝利への疾走 Shōri e no Shissō/Running Towards Victory Move Forward Fearlessly 挑戦者たちChōsensha-tachi/Challengers Breaking Free 決戦へのカウントダウンKessen e no Kauntodaun/Countdown to the Decisive Battle 戦慄の刻(とき) Senritsu no Toki/It's Thrilling Time 最強の力 Saikyō no Chikara/Super Strength BUDO～Asian Spirit～
Spark of Fighting A lot of'Qi' 限界を超えて～`Qi'No Limit～ Genkai o Koete ~'Qi' No Limit~/Breaking The Limit: 'Qi' No Limit I Trust My 7th Sense～至高の力を信じて～I Trust My 7th Sense ~Shikō no Chikara o Shinjite~ /I Trust My 7th Sense: Believe in the Supreme Power 遭遇Sōgū/Encounter 未知の邦[くに]から来た戦士Michi no Kuni Kara Kita Senshi/Warrior From An Unknown Land The Battle With All My Force 野性の魂～Wild Soul～Yasei no Tamashii ~Wild Soul~/Wild-Natured Spirit: Wild Soul Soul Vaccination Only so Much Oil in the Ground Soul With A Capital'S' I'm Gonna Get Over～地平線の彼方へ～I'm Gonna Get Over ~Chiheisen no Kanata~/I'm Gonna Get Over: The Other Side Of The Horizon Do It At All Risks Full Of Tears～悲しみの淵で～Full of Tears ~Kanashimi no Fuchi de~/Full of Tears: In The Depths Of Sadness The Man Called 'C'