Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2

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Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, released in Japan as Dragon Ball Z 2 (ドラゴン ボール ゼット ツー, Doragon Bōru Zetto Tsū), is a fighting game for the Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. It was developed by Dimps and published by Atari

As the GameCube version was released sometime after the PlayStation 2 version, the opportunity was taken to improve the graphics slightly and add new costumes. A Japanese version for the GameCube was not released, although the European version for the GameCube did feature the Japanese voiceover. Budokai 2 has cel-shaded graphics to mirror the look and feel of the combat in the series. In order to experience the full potential of the game, a Memory Card is required to obtain and edit skills and create custom characters.

Gameplay

Where Budokai had characters up to the Androids Saga, Budokai 2 has characters up to the Kid Buu Saga. It also removed 4 characters, Zarbon, Dodoria, Kid Gohan, and Artificial Human No. 19. Other differences are that Freeza and Cell no longer need to charge up to their most powerful forms as they are already in those forms. Unlike the previous Budokai game Goku and Vegeta can now charge up to their highest forms used in Dragon Ball Z. There are also new characters such as Tiencha, Gokule, and Kuriza (although Kuriza is just an alternate costume for Frieza in the Japanese version of the game).

Skills

As in Budokai, each character is able to be customised by using a 7-slot skill tray. Players may choose up to 7 skills and give them to a fighter. Skills can take from one to seven slots. There are three types of skills, Special Moves which includes skills such as the Kamehameha and Super Saiyan, Physical which includes such skills as the Super Dragon Fist and Zanku Fist, and Equipment which includes skills such as the Senzu and Bulma's Wish.

Story mode

Story mode in Budokai 2 consists of a board game-like adventure called Dragon World. In this mode, you play as Goku and along with one or more allies, travel around the 9 different levels defeating enemies, and collecting items such as money, capsules or Dragon Balls. After you complete the game, if you have collected all seven Dragon Balls, you are able to make a "wish" which lets you choose one from three special capsules, which include Breakthrough capsules (these allow a player to use all of a character's moves and abilities at once), Fusion capsules, and Bulma costumes.

For a list of the stages in the game, see List of stages in Budokai 2.

World Tournament

The World Tournament allows players to compete against the computer or up to 8 players in a Martial Arts Tournament. If more than one human player is present no prize money is available, but with only one human player the following prizes can be won:

• Novice: 10,000 Zeni
• Adept: 30,000 Zeni
• Advance: 50,000 Zeni

If a player reaches second place, they will win half the prize money.

Dueling

Dueling mode allows a player to fight the computer at a preset skill level, or two human players to fight each other using any custom skills. A player may also watch a fight between two computer fighters.

Edit skills

Made up of three sections, the Skill Shop, character editing, and instructions. A player may edit skills on either memory card.

Aside from Dragon World, the Skill Shop is the place to get your skill capsules. Bulma will wear a different costume depending on how many you have purchased at the Skill Shop (up to seven). Not every skill is available here, (Fusions and Breakthroughs can only be found in Dragon World) and the prices range from 1,500 Zeni to over 1,000,000 Zeni.

Babidi's Spaceship

Babidi's Spaceship is unlocked when the player wishes for the capsule (by completing the Dragon World with all seven Dragon Balls). Here, one or two players may play under various special conditions. One player mode builds up Ki (a form of energy in Dragon Ball Z) and when you have enough you will unlock Babidi-related skill capsules. This is the only way to unlock Dabura and Majin Boo (Fat, Super, and Kid).

Glitches

The game has two glitches. The first glitch was able to give you random capsules in groups of five. To use the glitch, a player would hold down the L2 button and repeatedly go in and out of the Skill Shop. Each time a player does this he or she will receive five randomly-chosen capsules. By doing this, a player could unlock every capsule in the game. This glitch was removed from the GameCube version. The second glitch was able to freeze time with Android 17, 18 and Cell. To use it, the player must taunt at exactly the moment when the Energy Field attack was used. By doing this, everything was frozen but the player. To get out of the glitch, you must punch or kick the enemy.

Japanese version extras

The Japanese version of "Budokai 2" contains references to the self-parody of Dragon Ball, Neko Majin, including an extra level in Dragon World and extra costume for Freeza. There were also the Cell Games Tournament and the Z difficulty level, both of which were added to the GameCube version of Budokai 2 and all versions of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3.

Returning characters

• Son Goku (Base, Kaio-ken x20, Super Saiyan)
• Teen Son Gohan (Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2)
• Vegeta (Base, Super Saiyan)
• Trunks (Base, Super Saiyan)
• Piccolo (Base, Sync with Nail, Fuse with Kami)
• Kuririn (Base, Unlock Potential)
• Tenshinhan
• Yamucha
• Great Saiyaman
• Hercule (Base, High Tension)
• Raditz
• Nappa
• Recoome
• Captain Ginyu
• Freeza (Final Form, Mecha Freeza *via item*)
• Android 16
• Android 17
• Android 18
• Cell (Perfect Form)

New characters

• Son Goku (Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan 3)
• Son Gohan (Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Elder Kai's Unlock Ability)
• Vegeta (Super Saiyan 2, Majin Vegeta *via item*)
• Trunks (Super Saiyan 2)
• Kid Trunks (Base, Super Saiyan)
• Son Goten (Base, Super Saiyan)
• Videl
• East Kaioshin (Base, Kibitokai)
• Dr. Gero
• Dabura
• Majin Boo
• Super Boo (Base, Gotenks absorbed, Piccolo absorbed, Gohan absorbed)
• Kid Boo
• Gotenks (Goten or Trunks) (Base, SS1 ,SS3)
• Vegetto (Goku or Vegeta) (Base, Super Vegito)
• Kuriza (as an alternate costume for Freeza, exclusive to Japanese releases)

New what if characters

• Tiencha
• Super Boo (Vegeta absorbed, Cell absorbed, Freeza absorbed, Tenshinhan and Yamucha absorbed)
• Gokule

Dragon Ball Z 2 V

In Japan, 1000 lucky V Jump readers got Dragon Ball Z 2 V. It was a revamped version of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 with Cooler. All of the characters were already unlocked, but the capsules were preset. The logo for the game was slightly changed. In addition to a flaming 'V', mostly likely to emulate the 'V' in V Jump, Cooler poses near the 'D' in 'Dragon Ball Z'. The manual for the game is the cover, but in a manga style. The manual resembles the 2002-2005 remake covers of the Dragon Ball manga. This version of Budokai 2 served as a bridge between Budokai 2 and Budokai 3.

Gallery

Voice cast

Character	Japanese dub	FUNimation dub
Goku	Masako Nozawa	Sean Schemmel
Teen Gohan	Masako Nozawa	Stephanie Nadolny
Adult Gohan	Masako Nozawa	Kyle Hebert
Great Saiyaman	Masako Nozawa	Kyle Hebert
Goten	Masako Nozawa	Kara Edwards
Piccolo	Toshio Furukawa	Christopher Sabat
Vegeta	Ryo Horikawa	Christopher Sabat
Bulma	Hiromi Tsuru	Tiffany Vollmer
Dr. Briefs	Jōji Yanami	Chris Forbis
Trunks	Takeshi Kusao	Eric Vale
Kid Trunks	Takeshi Kusao	Laura Bailey
Krillin	Mayumi Tanaka	Sonny Strait
Yamcha	Tōru Furuya	Christopher Sabat
Tien	Hirotaka Suzuoki	John Burgmeier
Hercule	Daisuke Gōri	Chris Rager
Videl	Yūko Minaguchi	Kara Edwards
East Kaio	Yūji Mitsuya	Kent Williams
Kibito	Shin Aomori	Chuck Huber
Raditz	Shigeru Chiba	Justin Cook
Nappa	Shōzō Iizuka	Phil Parsons
Frieza	Ryūsei Nakao	Linda Young
Captain Ginyu	Hideyuki Hori	Brice Armstrong
Recoome	Kenji Utsumi	Christopher Sabat
Android 20	Kōji Yada	Kent Williams
Android 16	Hikaru Midorikawa	Jeremy Inman
Android 17	Shigeru Nakahara	Chuck Huber
Android 18	Miki Itō	Meredith McCoy
Cell	Norio Wakamoto	Dameon Clarke
Majin Boo	Kōzō Shioya	Josh Martin
Super Boo	Kōzō Shioya	Justin Cook
Kid Boo	Kōzō Shioya	Josh Martin
Babidi	Jōji Yanami	Duncan Brannan
Dabura	Ryūzaburō Ōtomo	Rick Robertson
Vegetto	Masako Nozawa Ryo Horikawa	Sean Schemmel Christopher Sabat
Gotenks	Masako Nozawa Takeshi Kusao	Laura Bailey
Gokule	Masako Nozawa Daisuke Gōri	Sean Schemmel Chris Rager
Tiencha	Tōru Furuya Hirotaka Suzuoki	Christopher Sabat John Burgmeier
Kibitoshin	Yūji Mitsuya	Kent Williams
Saibaman	Tōru Furuya	John Burgmeier
Cell Jr.	Hirotaka Suzuoki	Justin Cook
Shenron	Kenji Utsumi	Christopher Sabat
World Tournament Announcer	Hirotaka Suzuoki	Eric Vale
Narrator	Jōji Yanami	Kyle Hebert

Fighting

Each character has a Health bar and a Ki bar. When health runs out, the character loses (as in most fighting games). Ki is required to perform Special Moves and Ki Blasts. Each Special Move is used by entering a combination of P (Punch), K (Kick), and E (Energy) buttons, as well as the Left and Right directional buttons. Characters can dodge attacks with the G (Guard) button. There are varying mechanics for ultimate moves, some will automatically work upon their execution, some require a button input within a certain timeframe, some require rotating the control stick to build power, and some require both players to rotate control sticks in a struggle.

New character features

In the Story mode, you can now fight brand new enemies such as Majin Freeza and Majin Cell (Freeza and Cell with the Majin 'M' on their heads).

New fusions are made, such as Gotan (Gokule in the NA version) (Goku + Hercule (Satan)), and Yamhan (Tiencha outside of Japan) (Tien (Tenshinhan) + Yamcha), as well as the old ones like Vegito, Gotenks, and Kibitokai.

Additionally, Super Boo can absorb Cell, Freeza, Tenshinhan, and Yamucha (at the same time), or Vegeta.

Reception

The game received slightly better reviews than its precursor, Budokai. Many critics enjoyed the cel-shaded look, but thought that the gameplay still needed work. It has a 69% average on Game Rankings.

Trivia

• This is the first game in the Budokai series to feature fusions.
• This is the only game with 'Z' in its name that features unlockable what if characters.
• Kuririn is shown to have no hair while playing with Goten and Trunks in the opening sequence of Budokai 2. Kuririn should have hair, however, in the era of Goten and Trunks. This mistake is made again in the opening of Budokai 3 when the characters are from the Buu Saga era, but Kuririn has his Android Saga/Cell Saga style. It is most likely that they just picked the image Kuririn is most famous for.
• The entire Ginyu Force makes an appearance in the opening sequence of Budokai 2 even though Captain Ginyu and Recoome are the only members that are in the game.
• Future Trunks is given the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan 2 in this game for some reason.

External links

• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 at Game Rankings
• Review at IGN