Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden combines the fast-paced and explosive fights of Dragon Ball Z with a thoroughly enjoyable 2D fighting system, and does justice to the series’ grand legacy.
Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden
Developer: Arc System Works
Price: $39.99
Platform: 3DS
MonsterVine was provided with a review code for the game.
With the amount of Dragon Ball Z games made, you’d be surprised at the lack of 2D fighting games based on the world-renowned series. Its only natural that a series largely made of high-flying battles would have a fair amount of 2D fighting games developed for it, which is why it’s surprising that there are only a few games of that genre, with the majority of them released only in Japan. Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden sets out to rectify this, and does a mostly good job at it.
The core gameplay is incredibly fun, as it manages to be simple enough for anyone to enjoy, all the while having a more complex combo system, for better or for worse. Battles occur on a 2D plane, where the player uses the face buttons for light and heavy physical attacks, a small ki blast attack, and dodges. You can also charge your energy, in order to use iconic Super and Ultimate attacks, like the Kamehameha, and Final Flash. While Super attacks can be executed by pressing two buttons, Ultimate attacks require you to input a specific combo in order to send your opponent offscreen, which can be cumbersome. As a result, Ultimate attacks feel somewhat inaccessible, especially in contrast to super attacks.
Extreme Butoden has a great number of modes, each delivering a different approach to the gameplay. The two main modes, Z-Story and Adventure Mode, each provide stories derived from the Dragon Ball universe. Z-Story is divided into sections, with alternating playable characters headlining each. This mode covers the main events of the Dragon Ball Z anime, with the player participating in all of the series’s major fights, in addition to what-if scenarios. The plot is fairly minor, but covers the major points, which is the best way that the story could be done.
The story presents itself through text-based cutscenes, with dynamic images of the characters conversing with one another. Countless games have repeatedly shown the Raditz to Buu storyline, so the minimal approach to storytelling Extreme Butoden takes here is refreshing. The main story points are still covered for anyone who has never watched or read Dragon Ball Z, so anybody playing the game can get a feeling for the story.
The stories aren’t too long, and some of the what-if scenarios are pretty funny. For example, in one what-if scenario, Krillin beats Vegeta on Namek, to the astonishment of everyone, particularly Vegeta. There’s an entire section taking place after the series, where you play as numerous villains who want to beat whoever killed them. It’s these small stories that add some fun originality to the tried and true storyline, which is very refreshing.
Adventure Mode provides a different type of story, taking place after Dragon Ball GT, in which both GT, and all of the DBZ movies, are canon. All of the villains from each installment of the series return to wreak havoc on the numerous worlds of Dragon Ball Z. The story feels somewhat similar to the villains storyline in Z-Story, but the fact that, story-wise, you play as Goku and the other protagonists, rather than the villains, helps to keep the mode from feeling like a retread.
Adventure Mode’s gameplay is also different from Z-Story’s. Rather than simply going from cutscene to cutscene with battles inbetween, you play as Goku on a mapped out environment, moving to different points, which are either cutscenes, or battles, on the grid-like map. Each battle comes with certain conditions that are attached to different ranks; S, A and B. When fulfilled, you receive certain rewards.
These rewards are normally Zeni, currency for the mode’s shop, items used to buff your stats in battles, and support characters. While the Zeni and items prove to be helpful in Adventure Mode, the real reward is the enormous number of support characters from all eras of Dragon Ball, which range from main characters like Tien and Bulma, to more obscure characters, like the Pilaf Gang, and Garlic Jr. Most of the conditions to obtain these characters are fair, so once you know how the ranking system works, it’s rarely a huge strain to unlock them.
Although the catalogue of support characters is fantastic, there are some odd character choices when it comes to who is playable. Characters like Tien, Android 17 and Omega Shenron feel as though they should be playable characters, rather than just support. There are a number characters that deserve to be fully playable, making the roster of playable characters feel a bit thin.
Extreme Butoden also has an Extreme Tournament mode, which is a number of battles in a row on the Tournament stage, as well as a Free Battle mode for fighting CPUs, and a Versus mode for local multiplayer. Unfortunately, the Extreme Tournament mode is underwhelming, especially compared to the tournament modes of other Dragon Ball Z games, as it’s more or less a set amount of battles that can easily be replicated in Battle mode. The game also features StreetPass functionality, where players can exchange a Guild Card, a card with your main set team, and a catchphrase, with other Streetpassers.
Extreme Butoden‘s visuals are absolutely fantastic. Each character’s sprite is perfectly accurate to their appearance in the show, with movements being fluid and stylish. Every attack looks just as intense and explosive as they do in the show, giving off a real impact when it hits your opponent. Even the support characters, who are rarely on screen for more than five seconds, all look and move exactly as they should.
The game’s sound is exactly what you would expect from a Dragon Ball Z game, with its music, sound effects, and voices all completely on point. Though the music isn’t incredibly memorable, it serves its purpose, as it is energetic and exciting during battles, and atmospheric in cutscenes. The sound effects hit their mark as well, with each punch and blast leaving a heavy feeling, to further the effect of your strikes. The characters are voiced by their Japanese voice actors, which will no doubt be odd to some. Though I personally enjoy the voices, Western fans may be caught off-guard by how high-pitched Goku’s voice is in comparison to his American voice. Either way, hearing characters scream their attacks at one another is wonderfully nostalgic.
The Final Word
Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden is, for the most part, a fantastic combination of the high-flying action of Dragon Ball Z, and a hard-hitting, extremely enjoyable fighting system. Though there are some odd gameplay choices, and some glaring character omissions, the visuals and core gameplay provide a remarkably fun experience that’s as explosive as a Spirit Bomb.
-MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
