Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi for PlayStation 3

GF Rating

8

Very Good

Kamehame-rent

posted by Kronotross (CHICO, CA) Feb 22, 2012

Member since Feb 2012

16 out of 16 gamers (100%) found this review helpful

The combat resembles the Tenkaichi series more than the Budokai series, but it also the most unique DBZ game I've played in the past two generations.

The one critical flaw in the combat system is that it relies heavily on a "rock paper scissors" type of mechanic, where the success of your attack or counter is dependent on whether or not the attack type is guessed.
All things being even, that means a 50% chance for each melee combo or range transition to work.
Against another person, there is a sort of a high-level rock-paper-scissors dynamic this allows for, especially considering that the two attack types have different offensive and anti-defensive characteristics. When the fight starts, there is no point in me trying for the purple-themed combo that removes my enemy's ki, because he hasn't had a chance to charge any yet, but he also knows that and so he is more likely to counter it. Unless he knows that I know that he knows, so on and so forth.
Against the AI? It's either obvious because the enemy is always picking one color, or a complete crapshoot.

So the combat is competent, enjoyable, has some degree of depth, and actually replicates the feel of DBZ fights quite well. What is there to do with it?

The main story is surprisingly accurate up through the Cell Saga, then skims through Buu, a few movies, and the end of GT. The AI will cheat in an attempt to make fights hard that were losing battles in the show, but if you play defensively it's never frustratingly difficult. There are some fights against giant enemies (Oozaru, Hildegarn, etc) which overuse Quick Time Events, but are also enjoyable in their own way.
There is also a mode where you create your own Saiyan and do a less structured storyline that reads like a bad fan fiction. It has more flaws than I have space here to detail, but it shows a lot of potential and has its own grindy charm to it.

A solid rent for DBZ fans.
A difficult buy, even as I own six others.
For the everyman? Give it

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

Good Overall Game

posted by Henry121 (LYFORD, TX) Nov 2, 2011

Member since Nov 2008

4 out of 4 gamers (100%) found this review helpful

Story- The story covers most of the Dragon-ball series. You can know nothing at all about Dragonball and still understand the story mode. It really sticks to the animated show. There is a Hero Mode that lets you customize you character in good detail. At first there are not a lot of options but you unlock everything as the game progresses. This includes, fighting styles, super moves, hair, clothes etc. I rate the story a 7

Graphics- The graphics are what I call block graphics. Block graphics involve heavy dark lines around the people and insanely cartoony graphics. Honestly they didn't have much leniency when making the game. It is after all based of a cartoon. But if you compare the graphics to the cartoon then I'd rate it a 9.

Gameplay-This is a fighting game and gameplay is critical. The battle system is phenomenal. It really unfolds like the TV show. Every punch, every ki move and every ultimate attack is true to the dragonball universe. Also you can fly around the Earth and planet Namek on your own and see all the key landmarks shown in the series which is cool. I rate it a 10

Heart-The heart factor is how much depth and feeling there is in a game. It's a huge factor for the story. The Story mode is exactly like the series so no surprises are offered, but the series itself has good depth. The Hero mode could have been better. There isn't too much character development or heart in it. I rate a 6.

Online-The online is predictable. FIGHT! The gameplay is really good and it transfers over to the online. I rate it a 8.

Overall it's a great game and Dragonball fan or not its still awesome. Definitely a game for anyone who likes the smash and brawl style feeling of Dragonball. It's worth a buy.

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GF Rating

7

Good

Dragonball Ultimate Tenkaichi

posted by rockcity1988 (KIRKLAND, WA) Nov 2, 2011

Member since Apr 2011

4 out of 4 gamers (100%) found this review helpful

The visuals are what sets this game apart from previous games. The downfall is the direction they took the actual gameplay. I don't enjoy "blast range" and "melee range" flashing across the bottom of the screen if i'm far enough or close enough away to perform a specific attack. They should've taken elements from Dragonball Z Budokai 3 and Tenkaichi 3 and merged them in a coherent way. I hate that they use SS forms of characters as separate characters as a opposed to transformations. That's what the original Budokai series on ps2 got right. I'll have to play it a little more but the only reason it has such a decent score is because i've been a fan of DBZ for 13 years.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

Not Great, But Good

posted by Kusuke (FLORAL CITY, FL) Oct 13, 2012

Member since Oct 2012

1 out of 1 gamers (100%) found this review helpful

Pros: Story Mode and Graphics.
Cons: Hero Mode, Gameplay, Lack of Characters, and the fact that you almost have to be dead to use an Ultimate Attack.

The game's fun, no doubt about it but once you complete Story Mode there's really nothing to do. I mean you can play Hero Mode but all you do is train/spar with people. The storyline is terrible and it makes no sense why Goku and everyone else is there. I honestly think the mode was put in so people wouldn't complain as much about the lack of characters in the game, I mean I would've much rather had Budokai Tenkaichi 3's roster than this one. Another complaint is how in Story Mode they had Dragon Ball Kai voiceovers and cutscenes, why not just get the original cutscenes from Dragon Ball Z. It may look better but the music in the background just kills moment and the audio doesn't synch with the video to well, sometimes it delayed sometimes it's not. Now to end this review I will only say this, Gameplay is way to repetitive, to many quick time events, and finally why do I almost have to be dead to do an Ultimate attack that is so stupid and it completely ruins most of the fun you'll have.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

Eh? Close but no cigar

posted by buumoj2 (BROOMFIELD, CO) Dec 4, 2011

Member since Dec 2007

22 out of 26 gamers (85%) found this review helpful

Well lets start with what they got right. The story presentation and the way the story interacts with the fights, the graphics and powers are all awesome. But that is it, the fighting is terrible in fact it can't even be called fighting, every single battle is exactly the same, you can melee close or shoot from far away. the fighting is all based on a fifty fifty two button system during combos that determines who will receive the damage. You might think this review is coming from someone who doesn't like the dragonball series, but I have played every game through and enjoyed them all, but there is no fun here after only a few matches I was completely bored and there really is no fighting strategy to be had here. It i s worth trying if you want but I could not endure it long enough to even make it very far in story mode. It needs variety and a real fighting system other wise the graphic and presentation are great.

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

I am a fan of every game before this.

posted by Whovencrof (LONG VALLEY, NJ) Mar 3, 2012

Member since Jan 2009

3 out of 4 gamers (75%) found this review helpful

This game however is abysmal. The only real selling point is the "Hero Mode," wherein you can make your own character. By which I mean a clone of Goku with slightly askew hair and lackluster abilities. For how much content there actually is in the hero mode, they might as well have not included it and just made the game better as a whole.

If you're looking for a fighting game, avoid this. There is nearly no fighting what-so-ever. Every battle boils down to several QTEs that have a 50/50 (literally, there is a 50% chance you will fail) shot at working.

I hate this game.

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GF Rating

9

Excellent

Dragon button smash

posted by theboy31 (EAST ALTON, IL) Nov 14, 2011

Member since May 2011

3 out of 4 gamers (75%) found this review helpful

Game play seemed like it needed more moves. Extremly fun and long too beat completely. Super moves are extremly easy to do. The really thing that sucked were the cut scenes where you have too button smash. Some just seemed like I was about to break the controler if I went any faster. Ala in all it deserves a nine, worth buying.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

Good game, could be a lot better

posted by SionPhoenix (LIZELLA, GA) Nov 9, 2011

Member since Nov 2011

3 out of 4 gamers (75%) found this review helpful

Ok, here we go, I've been playing DBZ games pretty much since I got ps1 imports, so I've been around the block a few times. The game in general is repetitive, the basic moves are all the same for all the characters, the only difference is each ones fighting style changes the look only slightly, this gets old after a while, not to mention the character list is severly lacking all around, you can get ss4 gogeta, but not ss4 goku or vegeta, not including a lot of other favorites they left out. The super and ultimate moves are definitely awesome, probably my favorite aspect of the game, very crisp and beautiful graphics to go along with them, my only complaint here is the only way to perform ultimates is either you or your opponent need to be almost dead and you have to be lucky enough to have the proper bars to perform the move, other than that, its great. Hero mode is an awesome improvement, but it is severely lacking in almost every aspect. You can only choose whole outfits to try on which leaves you with very few options to choose from, you can only go super saiyan 1 for the entirity of this mode, no other levels are available, the training portion does unlock a vast array of moves and abilities that I feel makes up for the lack of appearance options. I will say I enjoyed playing both story and hero modes and acting out pivotal moments in DBZ history, allowing you to perform alot of the awesome moves done against DBZ enemies we all know and love. Overall this game is definitely worth a rent, but I wouldn't suggest buying it, I hope this helps anyone thinking about trying it out.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

It takes a bit to get into

posted by Darkwing_Duck12 (COATESVILLE, PA) Oct 26, 2011

Member since May 2011

20 out of 30 gamers (67%) found this review helpful

okay character customazation is awesome, but you need to unlock more to make more characters and change there styles.

With 2 different stories (hero mode and actual story mode) there is a lot to do. the redrawn and remastered cut scenes are amazing. if anything the games is worth a once through to witness all of the new animation. a true dbz fan will give it a go at least once.

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

Characters you love but controls you might hate

posted by jayrocz (JAMAICA, NY) Oct 27, 2011

Member since Sep 2010

17 out of 26 gamers (65%) found this review helpful

Well ill start this review by saying that this is a terrific game!. Even though its the same dbz story we all know and love but different controls. For one;this is now a strategic/fighting game. Even though this game has ok but very different controls it is easily forgotten when seeing the amazing animations and graphics. The boss fights are very fun and has interactive cutscenes similar to the ones in naruto ultimate ninja storm 2. But they have also brought back the scrolling map in story mode gameplay. You can once again travel the dbz world map and search for hidden enemies and dragonballs. This game also offers a variety of game modes and options. Of one is my favorite is character creation. You can also make your created dbz character become real as you play hero mode as your character. Sounds awesome right, well thats because it is. Well anyway here are my ratings of this game. Graphics/presentation-10
Gameplay/controls-7.5 story mode/hero mode-9
Overall score is a 8.5 for good effort congradulations spike you made a pretty good game to end your career in dbz game designment. So for those of you hardcore dbz fans like me pick this up if you want to have a totally different experiance of dbz. And for those of you who actually like to use your brain get this. But if u dont like stategy games this is a diffinant rent but what ever you do dont start playing this game with out trying training first trust me. Well i hope this review helped remember rent or buy this game definatly deserves a chance to be played!

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GF Rating

7

Good

Too many QTEs

posted by Mokushiroku (SAN JOSE, CA) Nov 6, 2011

Member since Nov 2011

4 out of 6 gamers (67%) found this review helpful

The story is DBZ nothing special, which is fine considering the series is over. The graphics are the best part the game looks amazing, and they even added in cut scenes from the HD version of the anime. The one downside to the cut scenes though is when they use the 3D models and if you are using the English dubbing your can see the mouths move even after they finish talking. This just reminded me of the old terrible dubbing of anime and I just let it go.

Now to the main problem I have with this game, and that is the combat. It relies too much on luck and less on skill. When you land a 3 punch combo you have to press either normal (square) or hard (triangle) punch. This would be fine if that was the end of it, but if your opponent choose the same button you get countered. Even if you press the opposite of your oppoent they can still counter you during the combo that follows, which really only requires you to mash whatever button your chose. If they counter you, you can counter back which leads to an QTE that requires you to press a button right as a circle lands on the button, which if they re-counter the circle, in my opinion, moves so fast it is almost impossible to hit. If your opponent wants to land a super move on you all you need to do is make sure your Ki gauge is at its second or third level and you can counter it. Level 2 requires you to press square as 1-3 lines move across the screen onto a line that is at the left hand side, and you dodge it. Level 3 lets you counter by mashing triangle more times than you opponent.

Basically if your Ki gauge is at level 2 and you are good at guessing and QTEs you will be hard to beat.

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GF Rating

2

Really Bad

This is the only review you need to read....

posted by scbqqstn (WINDERMERE, FL) Oct 27, 2011

Member since Oct 2011

16 out of 26 gamers (62%) found this review helpful

I am a die hard DBZ fan, and have played practically all of the DBZ games that have come out. Let me tell you, I got bored of this game after only 30 minutes of playing it.

Let's do the good part first...

1) Graphics 9/10. They are superior, no question about it. This is the most beautiful DBZ game ever created. The fighting cut scenes, the powered up attacks (Kamehameha, spirit bomb, etc.) are simply glorious. Enviromental damage has returned... however it is a very flawed notion. Yeah massive craters show up during a super attack, but once the cutscene is over the damage is displayed outside the fighting arena, so you can't even fly over the massive crater you just created.

2) Boss fights 10/10 - This is a new feature that really shines. It brings an entirely new element into the game. However the boss fights where you can experience these new combat features (think God of War) are very few and far between.

The bad...

3) Dialogue 3/10 - It sucks. The voice actors are clearly tired of saying the same lines over and over again. To it's credit however, the dialogue is in fact better than most of the past DBZ games.

4) Gameplay 2/10 - That is no exaggeration, the gameplay is simpy that awful and is the main reason I returned the video game the very next day. One word, repetitive. I mean REALLY repetitive. No matter what character you are, the cutscene fight sequences are literally identical. It's cool the first couple of times watching it, then very quickly becomes boring. Fighting in this game is based on luck as opposed to skill. That is an enormous flaw that no good graphics can overcome. You have to try it for yourself to really understand how poor the battle system is. It would have been perfect if SPIKE was able to fuse the fighting engine of Raging Blast 2, with the graphics/cutscenes of Ultimate Tenkaichi.

For 2012, Spike needs to release Raging Blast 3, or a VASTLY improved version of UT2.

Do not buy this game, it's truly terrible

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GF Rating

9

Excellent

great dbz game, after so many years of flops

posted by hippykiller (FREDERICKSBURG, VA) Oct 27, 2011

Member since Apr 2011

14 out of 23 gamers (61%) found this review helpful

I havent even finished all of this game yet but i had to buy it. I have been disapointed in all the new dbz games since tenkaichi 3.
If you played raging blast and burst limit, you know exactly what im talking about. definite buy.

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

Worse dbz game ever

posted by decoy (WALKER, LA) Jan 12, 2012

Member since Nov 2011

2 out of 3 gamers (67%) found this review helpful

pressing square 3 times and x twice is not a fighting game. its a movie while beating up your controller. boring.!!! great graphics, better be since you watch the game more than play during a fight.

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GF Rating

6

Above Average

Ok for a short time

posted by Caliking86 (SACRAMENTO, CA) Nov 3, 2011

Member since Nov 2011

2 out of 3 gamers (67%) found this review helpful

I enjoyed my few days with this game. The constant loading eventually began to wear on my nerves, and the lack of presentation in the story mode was questionable in my opinion, I really would've liked to see some of my favorite scenes played out in this game. The fighting elements could have used much improvement, I found them terribly repetitive and simplistic. It seems like the makers focused too much on making the game beautiful, which it is. In other areas things were etchy, the fighting became repetitive too fast due to the fact that pretty much all the fighters do the same things over and over. The specials are appealing and nice to view but they can only last so long before your threw being amazed. I thought the ability to create my own character would be fun but found that aspect also very lacking as it provides the ingredients but the character creation is weak and that took a lot away from something that I think the developers almost got right. The building up my character was kind of fun. All in all its an ok game, I wouldn't rush it to the top of GameQ though unless your a hardcore dbz fan

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

sucked

posted by CashCashKid (TUCSON, AZ) Jan 18, 2012

Member since Sep 2011

2 out of 4 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

i like dbz but dayumn, this game was so boring... i didn't feel free at all, i felt like i just had to press one button and the character would start fighting for me in a lame repetitive cut scene... it was a let down....

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

This Game Sucks

posted by daisetsu (MILWAUKEE, WI) Jan 15, 2012

Member since Jan 2012

2 out of 4 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

They Need To Make A "CUTSCENE" Catagory Just For This Game Cause All It Is Is One Long Cutscene That Allows You To Press Button Its So Boring That One Hour Into Playing I Fell Asleep For 3 Hours The Charecter Creation Is Terrible You Can Only Make Three One Normal One Tall & One Short The Voices Arent That Great And All The Charecter's You Create Look Like Goku Or Vegeta's Face You Cant Make Your Own Outfit You Can Just Edit The Color On The Pre Selected Ones And Your Hair Comes With A Face You Cant Pick One Or The Other. The Actual Story Is Okay But Charecter Selection Is Terrible And Teen Gohan Is Stuck Super Saiyan The Best Thing Here Is The Graphics Other Than That Dont Waste Your Time Worst DBZ Ever!!! -David

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GF Rating

9

Excellent

DRAGON BALL Z IS BACK

posted by scorpion621 (OXON HILL, MD) Nov 19, 2011

Member since Sep 2011

2 out of 4 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

i was not trilled with raging blasts 1 and 2 but ultimate dragon ball show balance in all melee, ki, and special attacks this was the greatest having both balanced and non overpowering moves. AND FINALLY YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN PERSON. you start by choosing between heavy (melee strong) light (ki strong) or balance each choosing what moves you can learn and how you perform

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

Terrible

posted by PaRaDoXiiC (WHEAT RIDGE, CO) Jan 13, 2012

Member since Nov 2011

1 out of 2 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

I give the them credit for trying, and for making the graphics totally amazing. The thing I hate about this game, is the pure terribleness of the fighting sequences. I would hardly call it fighting, because you have to do what it says. No making up combos, no freedom to do anything, and the blasts Ex: (Kamehameha) is impossible to use, because you never know when and where you can use it. I think this game deserves less than a 1, because they made a complete mockery of the DBZ Tenkaichi series. I seriously do not recommend this game to anybody who has enjoyed this game in the past. Go and rent Dragon Ball Z Tenkaichi 1 or 2, those are the best games to play with your friends! But seriously, do not get this game, it is terrible!!

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

Why

posted by Ramenel (FALLS CHURCH, VA) Jan 11, 2012

Member since Sep 2011

1 out of 2 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

This games get worse each year

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GF Rating

7

Good

For fans only

posted by AJOT91 (CHARLOTTE, NC) Dec 14, 2011

Member since Sep 2011

1 out of 2 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

To start ill tell you what really bothers me about this game which is the fighting system. Unlike the previous DBZ games, the fighting system takes away the freedom and flow that a dragonball z game should have. The two different battle ranges really killed the "battle- flow" that was enjoyed in many other dragonball z games. I also felt that the fighting system has become too cinematic, you can only have about a 4 hit combo before it takes you into the cinematic mini game. Besides the poor fighting system i felt that this was a great game. I felt that it had enough game modes that will keep players entertained for a long time. I love the redone cinematics for the storytelling in the Story Mode, and the Hero Mode is a great addition that i would love to continue seeing in future dragonball z games. In conclusion i felt that this could have been one of the greatest dragonball z games to be released in awhile, but in the end it is a fighting game and its poor fighting system is enough to ruin the game in my opinion. If you are a dragonball z fan like myself, its definitely worth a play, otherwise i wouldnt waste my time.

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GF Rating

8

Very Good

Good solid game with a couple fixable mistakes....

posted by cheeko2222 (MIFFLINTOWN, PA) Nov 7, 2011

Member since Nov 2011

1 out of 2 gamers (50%) found this review helpful

Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi is finally another Dragon Ball Z game in two years that has the story mode back in it. Not only that, they tell the story about most of what happens in the story, yes they leave some characters out, but it's to benefit in the future of the game. The game play is solid and some people would think that the graphics are meant for PS2. I have to disagree. These graphics make you feel like you're right in the show controlling the characters, and not just the graphics but the fighting mechanics really push it up towards looking like the show. There were some mistakes in the story mode; after each person talked there was usually a fairly long pause, their mouths are still talking even after they're actually done talking, there are moderate to long waits in changing who talks in the story mode, and they did tweak a little bit of the story. When Gohan kills Cell it isn't as epic as the show or Budokai 1 was. Cell just kind of gets blown away with the Kamehameha. Other than those faults this is a good solid game that deserves an 8. Hopefully next years game will be the same thing, but with the mistakes all fixed.

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GF Rating

5

Fair

Not what I thought

posted by barbarian70 (STARKVILLE, MS) Nov 22, 2011

Member since Oct 2011

2 out of 5 gamers (40%) found this review helpful

The game is not what I thought it was going to be. I will not buy this one.

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

Could have been awesome

posted by Mingomadness (LOCKPORT, IL) Dec 17, 2011

Member since Jun 2011

1 out of 3 gamers (33%) found this review helpful

I love the show I may be what some would call a "hardcore fan" but what kind of half cocked numbskull idea is this? DBZ Raging Blast 2 was way more enjoyable than this.. the constant shallow repetitive combo's and having to mash all x square circle and triangle to recover that for what ever reason never worked for me. THEN! you can't even power up to start blasting away your opponent! Instead you have to initiate a combo with the triangle button to slowly build up your blast meter, also you had to power up to have enough energy to choose to block (shaved off maybe a little of the damage? imo pointless) dodge, or start a tug o war blasting battle. I will say I loved that they included scenes from the show in the story mode. Even the custom hero mode story was cool... In the end I tried to play this 6 hours later I'm sending this back its really a sad..sad excuse of a fighting game..

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GF Rating

1

Horrible

wack -_-

posted by ninjaboy789 (BRONX, NY) Dec 13, 2011

Member since Dec 2011

1 out of 3 gamers (33%) found this review helpful

it was awesome and cool at first but i have played all other dbz games and this one is whack. its good for a fist time dbbut i have played them all and i say just get raging blast 2. stiil try it cuz the chracter creation is cool and the great ape fights are addicting. so to me this game was ok at first but then it got whack after a while and i got bored so i sent it back

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Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

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