Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi

[Gikoku]

Another year and another new Dragon Ball game is on the horizon. Formerly listed as "Game Project Age 2011", DBZ: Ultimate Tenkaichi is set to be a DBZ game like no other... or so says the game's publisher: Namco-Bandai. At first glance, Ultimate Tenkaichi looks just like all the other past entries in the Budokai Tenkaichi/Raging Blast series (and rightfully so, as it uses the same gameplay engine), but there has been some changes both cosmetically and gameplay-wise to help raise the bar and sever the large similarities between its predecessors.​

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One of the main changes is the environmental physics, where the ground and surrounding battlefield will be dynamically damaged, ripped apart, and even obliterated based on every action that you do in combat. No longer will Kamehameha waves collide into the ground and do nothing to it, and the same goes for sending your opponent flying towards the soil like a comet. The combat is said to have been improved with deeper combos (while still remaining accessible to casual players). The game will again boast a large roster of fighters to choose from, a new story mode, and enhanced visuals mirroring that of Toriyama's manga.​

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Honestly though, I love Dragon Ball, but the games themselves have been really lackluster the past several years, and Ultimate Tenkaichi isn't exactly wowing me with its stale presentation. But I'm really not surprised, when you're releasing a game annually there's only so much you can do to change things up without starting over from scratch and launching with a small plate (see Burst Limit). Though I am skeptical, I'm willing to give the game a chance and continue playing the wait-and-see game until release on October 25th this fall.​

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Gameplay Trailer #1​

Gameplay Trailer #2​

 

[Dark Drakan]

Im always skeptical about new DBZ games and wish they would just take their time and develop a vastly improved one over a couple of years. Im sick of these yearly updates and havent been impressed by a DBZ game in a long time, last decent one was Budokai III. I will give it a glance maybe but im expecting another average 6/10 score and maybe some slight improvements but nothing major. They need a new BIG game that has some decent RPG elements.

 

[Gikoku]

Im always skeptical about new DBZ games and wish they would just take their time and develop a vastly improved one over a couple of years. Im sick of these yearly updates and havent been impressed by a DBZ game in a long time, last decent one was Budokai III. I will give it a glance maybe but im expecting another average 6/10 score and maybe some slight improvements but nothing major. They need a new BIG game that has some decent RPG elements.

Yeah really, whatever happened to that 4-on screen battle royal DBZ game that was arcade exclusive in Japan? Now that actually looked fun.

 

[Shadowfiend]

A lot of people are turned off from Budokai because it's a game featuring the characters from DBZ, but I gotta say, it's a pretty fun game-- and the fighting system is kind of unique. Reminds me vaguely of Psychic Force 2012 except with fully 3D arenas. Not to mention that Budokai has an incredibly solid counter system that allows players to escape from virtually anything as long as they have the timing down.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Yeah really, whatever happened to that 4-on screen battle royal DBZ game that was arcade exclusive in Japan? Now that actually looked fun.

Yeah at least it was trying something different and not the same thing we have seen for years with no significant improvement.

 

[Gikoku]

Yeah at least it was trying something different and not the same thing we have seen for years with no significant improvement.

Did a quick search and still no word on a console release, game released in Japan on Feb 4, 2011. Bummer.

A lot of people are turned off from Budokai because it's a game featuring the characters from DBZ, but I gotta say, it's a pretty fun game-- and the fighting system is kind of unique. Reminds me vaguely of Psychic Force 2012 except with fully 3D arenas. Not to mention that Budokai has an incredibly solid counter system that allows players to escape from virtually anything as long as they have the timing down.

I actually like the battle system of the Tenkaichi series, played BT2 to death on my PS2 (for one it was so easy to pick up and play for a quick bout).. but my main gripe with the series is how little they improve upon with each installment, it's gotten so stale and outdated. I tried the demo of Raging Blast 2, and it's still filled with the exact same recycled animations, combos, and sound effects from Budokai Tenkaichi back in 2005.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Did a quick search and still no word on a console release, game released in Japan on Feb 4, 2011. Bummer.

I actually like the battle system of the Tenkaichi series, played BT2 to death on my PS2 (for one it was so easy to pick up and play for a quick bout).. but my main gripe with the series is how little they improve upon with each installment, it's gotten so stale and outdated. I tried the demo of Raging Blast 2, and it's still filled with the exact same recycled animations, combos, and sound effects from Budokai Tenkaichi back in 2005.

That is my main problem too, a shallow story mode with a shallow combat system complete with recycled animations and combos. Also with most characters handling the same but with different finishers and looks. Just seems alot of copying and paste design happens with every release and the same mistakes over and over. DBZ is begging for a deep open world RPG experience and its criminal that one hasnt been made with todays technology yet.

 

[James Butts]

I like tenkaichi 2 and there was another one I can't remember the name of were you actually wondered around during the story mode and could destroy the environments and you met the enemies on the way instead of just cutscenes and fighting inbetween. I LOVED that one.

 

[Gikoku]

I like tenkaichi 2 and there was another one I can't remember the name of were you actually wondered around during the story mode and could destroy the environments and you met the enemies on the way instead of just cutscenes and fighting inbetween. I LOVED that one.

Sounds like Dragon Ball Z: Sagas? .. Saw previews of something like that, but never played it.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Sounds like Dragon Ball Z: Sagas? .. Saw previews of something like that, but never played it.

Sagas was awful, nice idea in theory but thats all it was. Good on paper but not when you actually played it.

 

[Necromancer]

Looks like I'm a little late here. I always forget about the Bard's Corner. :lol:

As a veteran of Raging Blast 1 and an active player of Raging Blast 2, I have to say that I am looking forward to Ultimate Tenkaichi. I'm intrigued as to how they've changed the combat, and I'm excited for a larger character roster, especially since GT characters have been confirmed!

my main gripe with the series is how little they improve upon with each installment, it's gotten so stale and outdated.

It does seem that way at first glance, but as you play the game more and more, you start to realize that those small changes actually make big differences in combat.

Also with most characters handling the same but with different finishers and looks.

This also changes as you begin to get into the game more. Even characters with the same combo types handle differently due to different speeds, certain blockable and unblockable melee moves, super attacks (I'm assuming that's what you mean by finishers, things like kamehameha and meteor combination), and most of all, signature skills, which are different kinds of attacks and maneuvers that are unique to each character and help to string combos together in a way that other characters can't. I believe signature skills were adding in Raging Blast 1. I don't remember them in Budokai Tenkaichi 3.

 

[Dark Drakan]

It does seem that way at first glance, but as you play the game more and more, you start to realize that those small changes actually make big differences in combat.

This also changes as you begin to get into the game more. Even characters with the same combo types handle differently due to different speeds, certain blockable and unblockable melee moves, super attacks (I'm assuming that's what you mean by finishers, things like kamehameha and meteor combination), and most of all, signature skills, which are different kinds of attacks and maneuvers that are unique to each character and help to string combos together in a way that other characters can't. I believe signature skills were adding in Raging Blast 1. I don't remember them in Budokai Tenkaichi 3.

To me it merely felt like some characters were simply re-skinned versions of other characters with a handful of different moves in their movesets. Overall they handled very much like another character with only the odd stance difference. There only seemed to be about 8 different basic attack combos repeated over everyone and only the major characters differed vastly from eachothers.

 

[Necromancer]

Are you familiar with smash attacks and assault chases from the Tenkaichi/Raging Blast series? If so, it'll be a whole lot easier to explain this stuff.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Are you familiar with smash attacks and assault chases from the Tenkaichi/Raging Blast series? If so, it'll be a whole lot easier to explain this stuff.

Yeah im very familair with them as ive owned most of the DBZ games besides Sagas and Raging Blast.

They were another part i thought were really poorly done. Smash Attack followed by a pursuit combo and special attack could be spammed much to easy and the recycled animations over and over got old fast.

 

[Necromancer]

Ugh...looks like I forgot about the Bard's Corner again.

Smash Attack followed by a pursuit combo and special attack could be spammed much to easy

Well, any kind of attack can be spammed. That's just the way fighting games are. Not a whole lot of people do that anyway though. The real players will tell you off if you do.

Anyway, I'm not sure what assault chases were like before Raging Blast 2, but now, there is a pretty big variety of combos you can execute with them. You can follow a full rush attack or any of the six smash attacks with an assault chase, and each of the seven combo types has different assault chases. You can start an assault chase by attacking with A or Y, then use two more attacks to continue it with A, B, X, and/or Y. Every combo type has different moves assigned to each button, so some quick math will tell you that there are a ton of different combos you can pull off. Then, you can combine these combos with different kinds of charged attacks, super attacks, and especially signature skills. Plus, with Raging Blast 2's raging soul mode, you can pull off a 20+ hit combo with a single assault chase if you know what you're doing, and something like that would even do more damage than an ultimate attack.

I don't mean to sound pretentious, but I've spent a lot of time on Raging Blast. I'm considered to be pretty good at it, and this is the kind of experience I get every time I play.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Ugh...looks like I forgot about the Bard's Corner again.



Well, any kind of attack can be spammed. That's just the way fighting games are. Not a whole lot of people do that anyway though. The real players will tell you off if you do.

Anyway, I'm not sure what assault chases were like before Raging Blast 2, but now, there is a pretty big variety of combos you can execute with them. You can follow a full rush attack or any of the six smash attacks with an assault chase, and each of the seven combo types has different assault chases. You can start an assault chase by attacking with A or Y, then use two more attacks to continue it with A, B, X, and/or Y. Every combo type has different moves assigned to each button, so some quick math will tell you that there are a ton of different combos you can pull off. Then, you can combine these combos with different kinds of charged attacks, super attacks, and especially signature skills. Plus, with Raging Blast 2's raging soul mode, you can pull off a 20+ hit combo with a single assault chase if you know what you're doing, and something like that would even do more damage than an ultimate attack.

I don't mean to sound pretentious, but I've spent a lot of time on Raging Blast. I'm considered to be pretty good at it, and this is the kind of experience I get every time I play.

Any attack can be spammed but the smash attacks were unblockable and could chain everything together to execute the chases in seconds leaving opponent sitting there waiting until you had finished the whole sequence. Played the early games to death but gave up after Tenkaichi 2 pretty much as it was the same recycled things over the over and went downhill from Budokai III onwards.

 

[Necromancer]

In the Raging Blast series, each character only has two or three smash attacks that are unblockable. Which smash attacks are unblockable varies from character to character. And you can vanish from an assault chase as well. As Shadowfiend said, you can escape from anything as long as you have the timing down.

I wish I was more familiar with the Tenkaichi series so I knew what kinds of moves and maneuvers it had in it, and so I could better compare it to the Raging Blast series.

 

[Gikoku]

I wish I was more familiar with the Tenkaichi series so I knew what kinds of moves and maneuvers it had in it, and so I could better compare it to the Raging Blast series.

It's not much different than Raging Blast aside from the button layout, although Tenkaichi 3 did introduce some new things that don't appear to be present in Raging Blast (what those things are... well, i forget). I'm surprised though, there's actually a series of Dragon Ball games you're not familiar with??

 

[Necromancer]

I never had a Playstation or a Wii, so I couldn't get any of the Tenkaichi games. I only played Tenkaichi 3 on my friend's Wii, and that was a while ago.

 

[Gikoku]

Quick update of new tidbits from Comic-Con.

• Complete Character Creation & Customization – Appearance and attributes can be customized such as model body, face, hair, attire, fighting style and more! Additionally fighting style and special moves can be selected.
• Enhanced Battle Mechanics – "Impact Break" system allows large scale environment destruction. Improved mechanics allow for faster long-to-short range fights. There is also an added health recovery system and a vast collection of more cinematic camera angles.
• Deeper Brand Representation – Fight presentations more closely mirror the animation series. Battle against a new group of giant bosses as in the animation series. Experience 15 animated scenes with bosses up to 15x the size of playable characters! Also enjoy bonus level from movie and Dragon Ball GT series!

Gameplay Trailer #3​

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