I’ve had to watch my spending as of recent, but there was a time but months ago where I was heavy into manga. I’d buy $40 or $50 or more batches at one time. And what good manga loving otaku out there would you be if you didn’t dabble and watch the anime too. Though I only have one manga volume to date, I have watched all the currently airing Naruto episodes on television, and find that I can’t get enough. I’m apparently a sucker for the games too, because I always end up playing them, and though perhaps I shouldn’t, I do indeed find myself having a good time.

There isn’t really a story mode to this game, because the single player game (more on that in a bit) is made up of individual missions, with no cohesive story to tie them all together. With that said, the developers did include a lot of missions, which were taken straight from the manga and anime. You’ll go against Kakashi with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. You’ll have to beat Gaara with Sasuke’s chidori. You’ll need to beat Temari with Shikamaru’s shadow possession jutsu. And so on and so on. For the non-fans out there who doesn’t know one character from the next, you’ll think these are just normal fights, but fans will realize them for what they are and get a bit of kick out of playing these popular moments from the franchise.

SINGLE PLAYER: GAMEPLAY
As mentioned, there is no typical story for the single player portion of the game, but rather the single player is composed of many different missions, with some familiar to fans, and some created for the game. Missions range from using a certain move, defeating a certain amount of enemies in a time limit, surviving, protecting someone, or simple battles where you have to deplete the opposing fighter’s health down to nothing. All in total, you’ll have 60+ missions to complete. Depending on difficulty and your skill level, you’ll be looking at a few hours to complete it all.

Controls are pretty standard and simple to learn, as the D-pad moves you around, A-button jumps, B-button runs, Y attacks, X-button throws weapons you collect and throws enemies, right button blocks, and left button teleports behind the player. The general gist is you’ll be hitting the Y-button a ton and blocking when necessary. You’ll have to get better as you advance through the game and mix it up some, but mostly this is the whole combat experience.

A really nice thing is how the game captures the character specific techniques, and how you do many of the same movements with the stylus. As chakra stores up, once they highlight themselves, you’ll be able to tap on the bottom screen to select a technique to use. Some of the techniques your character will have to run into the enemy for them to use it, while others all they need to do is have enough time to go through the using animation. Once either happens, you’ll then have to perform a few simple techniques yourself, like spinning a chakra wheel in the direction it tells you, sliding your stylus up and down, tapping specific chakra flow points on a human body mockup, or even blowing into the microphone. Heck, for the summoning jutsus, you even have to do the hand signs (only tapping the right three character symbols), and then smear blood across the screen (of course, it’s yellow in the game, but all Naruto fans know you summon by smearing blood). They all look like their manga and anime counterparts when they are carried out, and there is just something satisfying about blowing into your microphone, only to see Sasuke blow out some fire. But then again, perhaps you need to be an otaku loving Naruto nerd like yours truly to really dig it.

The levels are also pretty expansive considering the game style, as there are always multiple layers, where you’ll be running across rooftops, telephone wires, floating islands, and cascading sand slides. All of that skipping and jumping around really feels like Naruto.

MULTIPLAYER: GAMEPLAY
You’ll get to use all of your unlocked characters, and battle with up to a total of four players on one stage across different systems wirelessly using multi-card play. Once again, though, lack of Wi-Fi sucks. The three modes of multiplayer include Scroll Battle (collect scrolls off of other opponents and enemies you hit), Treasure Hunt (the first player to find their treasure wins), and Battle Royale (last player standing wins). The Battle Royale is the best of the bunch, but in general the multi isn’t much. With simple combat consisting of mainly hitting one button, it just can’t naturally be that deep.

GRAPHICS
Though simple and dated, the graphics do a terrific job of representing all the characters appropriately to the original source material. As long as you know the characters, you’ll instantly be able to look at them and go, “Oh, that’s so and so.” The environments offer the same likeability factor, as they are created well, and have enough background animation and environmental hazards going on to be impressive.

SOUND
The music sounds good, as does the sound effects, though you’ll be hearing the same grunt combos over and over. The really nice thing is that, though given a DS cartridge, they still managed to include a ton of audio samples from the voice actors, as they’ll say the name of the techniques whenever you use one. I wasn’t expecting such commitment and didn’t think so much sound could be crammed on the cartridge personally.

IN CONCLUSION
If it weren’t a Naruto game, perhaps I wouldn’t enjoy it so much. Perhaps I’d write it off as a generic brawler with repeating combos. But regardless, I still enjoyed it. Even when I was struggling trying to figure out how to kill 20 snakes in a certain time limit, I was still having fun. The regular player might not care about the game, but many a Naruto fan will equally find a fun time to be had, though short time it may be.

Rating:
Our Scoring System

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been a big fan of Godzilla. Sure, the dubbing was horrendous and it always delved down to the same thing – Godzilla kicking another monster’s butt while destroying the city in the process – but you know what, I didn’t care. I love the lizard (even the badly done 90s remake starring Matthew Broderick). So when I had the chance to visit the Foundation 9 booth and get a walkthrough of the upcoming Godzilla: Unleashed for the Wii, you better believe I was raring to go and see the game in action.

First up, if you’re a fan of the series and know your monsters, you’ll be pleased with the announcement of a final total of 16 monsters being included for your battling pleasure. Though the final roster hasn’t been revealed yet, Foundation 9 promised us that it wouldn’t be anything like Godzilla skinned three different ways, but rather 16 completely different and unique monsters. Out of the monsters announced so far, you’ve got Godzilla, Gigan, Mecha-Godzilla, and Megalon. That’s all well and good, but the thing that was really surprising to hear is that Foundation 9 actually worked with TOHO (the creators behind the Godzilla franchise) to develop two new monsters, who not only would appear in the game, but could be applied to the Godzilla canon of movies somewhere in the future.

The monsters will also be split into four factions, with similar grouped monsters being in the same faction, such as the Earth defenders featuring Godzilla or a mechanical faction featuring Mecha-Godzilla among others. The factions aren’t just for grouping, as they’ll play a factor in the story as well, which unfolds as a choose your own adventure story, as your decision will affect where and how the story advances. For example, you might enter into a battle arena and see two monsters battling – from here you can choose which monster to battle, instantly making you friends with the monster you are helping and giving you a negative reputation to the one you are beating up on. For that matter, monsters will have different missions and boss battles depending on decisions and the factions they are a part of. It’s a unique feature that hasn’t been seen in the Godzilla series of games yet. As for the story itself, much like the good old movies, the story involving crystal meteorites that strike the planet that the monsters are immediately drawn to, will be told from the perspective of the humans of planet Earth and will unfold with static, graphic novel styled cutscenes.

As for the gameplay, Godzilla: Unleashed was designed specifically with the Wii in mind, and it shows with the variety of ways you’ll be using the Wii-remote and nunchuk during combat. To start off with, a simple press of the A-button will give you instant gratification with small, quick attacks; however, combine that A-button press with controller movement and you’ll be performing stronger based attacks. Also, not every monster will have the same moves, so every character will play differently from one to the other. You’ll also perform moves like grabbing buildings by holding a button and lifting both the remote and nunchuk into the air, just like Godzilla getting ready to throw a building in the game. You’ll also have moves like laser beams and breath beams, which are completely steerable in the game by controller movement, but even cooler is if two of these weapons cross paths and hit each other, you’ll have to battle against each other’s weapon to see whose will come out on top and hit the other player, playing out like a tug of war battle of sorts. And unlike the past games where buildings took so much damage and simply fell, this time around they will take damage based on where you attack them, showing damage there before ultimately suffering too much and completely collapsing. And the nice thing about all of this battling action is that it will allow support for up to four players to battle it out at one time, just like in the past games.

Godzilla fans look like they have a lot to look forward to when Godzilla: Unleashed is finalized and ready for release. Not only is the game looking good graphically, but the action looked to be both smooth and enveloping, really drawing you into the battles of the game as you move the remote and nunchuk to act out your own monster moves. With 16 characters and the ability for four player battles, get ready to duke it out when Godzilla: Unleashed comes out later this year.

When you’re looking at videogame genres, perhaps none divides more players or demands more fanboy loyalty then that of the fighting game. Some players swear by the breast jiggling physics of the Dead or Alive series. Some players prefer the hardcore realism of a Virtua Fighter. Some players despise anything that isn’t sprite and pixel based set against a flat 2D battling arena. And then there are the Tekken fans. But do more than just Tekken fans have something to look forward to with the newest PS3 release, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection?

Unlike many fighting games (and even the Tekken series itself) Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection (Tekken 5 from here on) doesn’t even start out the same as past games in the history of fighting games and even the series itself. Usually, Tekken will give you a handful of characters, and through beating the Arcade Mode with these characters, you’re usually able to unlock a good, healthy staple of fighting game characters before everything is said and done. However, with Tekken 5, you’re simply given them all right from the beginning – 34 in fact, which is a pretty whopping number for a fighting game. On the plus side, it’s great not to have to work for everything, and instantly you can get playing with your favorites. On the downside of things, well, you don’t work for anything. I know, it’s odd that same thing is both a blessing and a curse, but though it feels great to play as your favorites, it is also even more so to use that character after you’ve spent a few hours unlocking them.

With 34 characters, chances are you’ll find someone you’ll like playing as, unless you are one of those really, really picky people. You’ve got your buff male powerhouses, demon spawns, giant robots, karate experts, boxers, graceful and cute women, strong and dependant women, a panda, a kangaroo, pieces of wood, and other such pugilists to tickle your fancy. A nice thing about the selection of characters is that for fans many of them will be familiar and old friends, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t new ones to focus on, study, and master. Another thing is that you should be able to find a player to fit your style, whether you like fighting with only women or men or both. You’ll also find the strong, muscular bruisers; the quick footed and agile dodgers; characters that prefer wrestling grapples more than hand strikes; and even one character in particular who doesn’t use kicks at all except for a few rare instances (he is strictly only a boxer and the usual kick buttons are for dodges and sways).

Controls in Tekken 5 aren’t too complicated, which will be good news to hear for the button mashers out there. The only buttons you’ll really have to concern yourself with is the directional pad and the face buttons, with the square and triangle buttons being the left and right punch respectively, and the X and circle buttons being the left and right kick respectively. However, simply nailing on buttons won’t get you that far, as you’ll need to learn to counter and break out of moves, learn how to grapple, find how to pop your enemy up in the air for a chain combo, find out which moves are best for which situation, and find out what moves flow naturally from one to the other. It won’t take you much time at all to jump in and win a game or two and find who you like, but it will take quite some time to become a pro and proficient with one.

Given how practice pays off, you’d think it’d be great to have a, I don’t know, perhaps a training mode. Well, sadly, there is no training mode whatsoever. There is no way to simply setup a dummy match, go in, and have the computer tell you, “Now, see this D-pad and button press – do that.” No, instead with Tekken 5 you’ll simply just have to work at it, experiment around, and find what exactly does what (or either find you a guide on some site online).

In a way, the whole game suffers like that, where though it gives you the goods for the most part in the way of unlockables and little extras, it fails to deliver on any substantial gameplay modes. You’ve got your Arcade Mode which is where you go through a ladder advancing system from weaker enemies to an ultimate boss. You’ve got the traditional Versus Mode so you can go head to head with a buddy on the same machine. And then you’ve got a Ghost Battle system which is for what we don’t know; it plays like Arcade Mode, only you can pick your challenger after each battle, almost like a career mode advancement system, only it isn’t. There aren’t also any of the minigames that have been popular with the series, such as a side scrolling beat’em up or anything like bowling either. However, those modes could probably be forgotten had one thing been included – online matches. So if you don’t fancy yourself the lonely gamer or have a bunch of friends to come over, don’t go into buying this for the online. There is talk that online play might come somewhere down the line, but as of now, you’ll have to make and have your most fun by yourself.

Another issue a bit broken is the unlockables. It’s great that there are so many things you can unlock, such as movies for characters that would play after you beat the game, as well as other extra wearable items like anime style hair, dizzy birdies, etc. but you have to unlock them with points, which given isn’t that hard to do since you can get at least 3000 simply by winning a match, and in some cases you can even do the spinner which can multiply your winnings by two, five, ten times for example. The movies are probably the greatest fault, because after you’ve amassed enough points to unlock them, you have to go to the store to buy them and then download them to your PS3 hardrive since they weren’t already in the file you downloaded for $20 bucks to get the game in the first place.

The graphics aren’t perfectly amazing either, unlike those of the Virtua Fighter that just came out for the exact same system, but they are still nice and do have those moments. Characters especially look good, featuring well designed character faces and bodies, showing off the curvaceous and the muscular equally well, plus things like the cloth on characters and hair are animated and look well in the game. The environments you fight in work a little less well than the characters, but they still look pretty good and even downright beautiful in some cases. You’ll fight in the frozen wastelands with penguins walking about; a dense forest at night with wolves closing in on you; fighting atop a Japanese mountain garden; fighting in a space station hovering the Earth; and one of the prettiest is an open field with shadows reflected on the tall grass which also blows with the sway of wind – really quite gorgeous in fact. The environments also have some destructibility, such as slamming an opponent against the ground and watching as giant slabs of concrete go bouncing up into the sky to crumble away. Sadly, the sound work doesn’t work as well as the visuals, because though the grunts, punches, and kicks all sound fine, things like background music and English voicework is sorely lacking; only the foreign voices seem to work, and those would probably be bad too if I knew how to properly judge the acting of someone speaking in a foreign tongue.

Ultimately, for the $20 bucks you are paying to download it over the PS3 Store network, it is a pretty solid and fun game. It doesn’t exactly look as if it fully belongs on the PS3 since it doesn’t feature the sort of graphics we’d expect, and though some of the animation is pretty clean, you’ll also get the weird, random moments that shouldn’t happen, like two people punching each other straight and both bouncing up into the air, or being able to juggle someone by punching them in mid-air (in reality they’d just keep falling). Still, you get quite a lot for your money, what with the characters and unlockables. At $20 dollars it is a solid three star rating, but if online play finally comes around, bump that up to four stars. Fans of Tekken will be happy, but it is still an “on the fence” game for others.

Rating:
Our Scoring System

Where my snare at? Give me some snare in my headphones! Yeah, now drop the beat. If I could, you know I would, bust out some mad dope rhyme about Def Jam: Icon finally giving me time. I’d talk about the punches and the kicks to the stomach, scratched that record up made him completely flummoxed. I grabbed that wannabe rapper and tossed him into the gas station, doesn’t seem like even an inch of the 360 power is wasting. So that’s about as good as I do when trying to rhyme, so here’s the real preview showing why this game is worth your time. Word!

Def Jam: Icon is the latest hip-hop brawler in the massively popular franchise that blends street banging hip-hop grooves and beats with rappers and homemade creator made thugs tossing down the microphone rap battles for your more traditional Fight Club fights (of course you didn’t hear that from me, because the first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about it). So be prepared for some absolutely brutal fisticuffs as these pugilists slug it out to prove who the top dog on the street is.

It seems as if everything from the ground up has been tweaked for the newest installment, as it seemingly features nothing the same, which is a good thing, cause everything looks better because of it. For starters, the graphics are phenomenal, and where past fighters looked close to their real-life rapper counterparts, they lacked that extra something to truly make them standout. With Icon, however, the fighters are highly detailed, featuring realistic looking body features, and as they take a beating and get burnt up, they accurately reflect the damaged smoke burns and scars on their face to show their wear and tear. The animations of the fighters is a bit slow during the execution of some moves like a tumble forward or backwards, but beyond that they are animated well and a well thrown strong punch lands with an actual impact from a visual representation standpoint.

The environments are even better than the characters. For the preview there is only one arena – a gas station – but it sure is one nicely destructible, Michael Gondry warping head-trip. The gas station level blends old school 2D fighters with the more robust 3D environments of a Soul Calibur, giving you the impression the fighter is a 2.5D juggernaut. The levels look almost like a play you’d seen on the stage, as there is environment on the left of the screen, the back of the screen, and on the right with an invisible fourth wall consisting basically at your screen. You can fight into and out of the foreground, such as positioning yourself so the guy you are fighting is between you and the gas pumps.

As the fight progresses, the stage is constantly warping itself, such as the sky looking as if it was painted on a record that some higher being was scratching, as it turns and flips throughout the fight. The buildings in the background also thump like they are pulsing to the rhythm too and constantly expand and contract as the beat hits louder and louder. The environment is so unlike anything I’ve ever seen that simply labeling it as cool is almost enough to describe the beauty and creativity of this world. Heck, that isn’t even mentioning the bombastic destruction happening seemingly from beginning to end, as buildings look like they are crumbling, windows get broken, cars get crumpled, and gas stations go up in marvelous explosions of flames and smoke. The environments also have some interacting damage, such as a store owner who appears on the left side of the screen and sprays you with a fire extinguisher or the car wash that hits you with its rollers on the right.

When it comes to the actual fighting, you’ve got both high and low weak and strong blows attached to the face buttons of the controller, and they are easy to perform a combo with by just hitting the buttons. You can also perform grapples by flicking the right thumbstick up, and then either using the face buttons for punches or pushing the right thumbstick in the direction you want to throw your opponent. The almost skill of the game comes from the DJing, which allows you to virtually mix records to cause damage to your opponent. By holding down the left trigger, you’re able to either rewind the beat or move it forward to where you need it by circling the left thumbstick, meaning that the better you know the track the better chances are of using it to your advantage. While the game is beating along to itself, you can also hold down the left trigger and use the right thumbstick to flick in certain directions to make scratches happen. While scratching you can mess up, for instance, if you drop in on the wrong beat, which will have your character falling backwards, giving your opponent the chance to close the gap and get some ground shots on you. If you scratch properly though like any good mix master, you’ll lower your arms in triumpha, setting off a loud boom that sends the gas tanks exploding and shooting flames, damaging any character nearby.

We’ve only got a taste of the fighting mechanics and the way the new DJing system works, but there is still a whole storyline mode waiting in the wings too. For now though, we leave satisfied and impressed at the sheer level of creativity and environmental interactivity, and we can’t wait to bust some more rhymes, all the while keep our punches to the beat.

Do you know what a saiyan is? Do you know which super saiyan transformation gives the long hair? Do you know the differences between the various incarnations of Buu? If so, do I have a game for you! And if not, well then do I have a game for you! With more than 120 characters and one of the longest story modes in a fighter yet, you’ll have quite a lot to keep you busy with Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2.

THE STORY SO FAR
As said, Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (DBZ from here on) has one of the longest and deepest fighting game stories I’ve ever played. Basically, from beginning to end, you’ll play out all the major Dragonball Z sagas and the movies, meaning you’ll have played almost the entire franchise from beginning to end. Told through narration and in-game cinematics with the real voice actors reprising their roles for their characters, it feels exactly like watching a playable episode of the anime unfold.

There are some inherent flaws with the story mode though, because if you are familiar with the manga or anime, you know a lot of the series is about fighting, and losing, and then ultimately coming through at the very end. Now, a game where you have to lose every single time to advance wouldn’t be much fun or any count, so many times you’ll have to win a bout, and no matter if you whooped them easily or not, if the story calls for you to have lost, after the match and during the cutscene it will either say you lost or show you. Another problem is that some of the more major story points are left out, such as not showing a spirit bomb defeating Frieza or failing to reference other key points that only fans will know are missing.

GAMEPLAY
In many ways, fights are setup like other fighters out there, but the controls have been simplified so almost anyone can come in and play right away, but only those that know exactly what they are doing will be the ones to win time after time. For instance, you don’t have to perform any fireball type control swipes like the Street Fighter franchise is known for or memorize any overly difficult button hit combos like in Mortal Kombat. Instead, rather, all you really have to do is face the enemy, get close to them, and hit the Square and Triangle button, with the Triangle button being for the more long range attacks, but it adapts to a combo system of sorts when you are close to the other character you are fighting.

However, the one thing that separates DBZ from the others are the massive environments in which you can fly around in, which is something of itself since you don’t usually have large environments whatsoever to run around in, hide, and fight. The other thing is the flying, where your characters can hover and attack both on the ground or in the air.

Since the game uses the controller pretty normally, nothing is overly complex and everything you can do with a little practice and knowing what does what, such as figuring out how to do dash attacks, properly block and evade attack, build up your Ki, transform into more powerful versions of your character (like making Goku go Super Saiyan) and other such moves. At first, unless you’ve played the series before, the controls might come off a bit frustrating since it will seem like you are rather limited in what you can do, but once you start to see how combos work and what does what, you’ll enjoy the simplicity and be whooping butt in no time.

Besides the bulky Story Mode of the game, you’ve also got your more traditional round robin climb up the power ranking ladders as seen in previous games, as well as the ability to compete in single matches or in tournament brackets.

One of the other big things about the game (and the Story Mode more than anything else) is the evolution system that lets your fighters gain experience and level up, which means that typically daunting battles should be easier on your patience thanks to all your previous endeavors. To use the system, you must buy items, which you can then allocate into several slots, and each item can affect certain traits such as a higher defense, more attack power, more health, etc. Once equipped, these items will auto level up, but characters won’t budge a bit unless they have an item attached to them. You can also get some of the more rare and valuable items by finding the seven dragonballs scattered throughout the world (usually found by smashing buildings, glaciers, rocks, and other objects during your battles). After you find all seven balls you’ll be granted a wish from the dragon and can pick what item you want.

The fighting itself is fast and furious, with combos, power hits that send players flying across the level, zipping here and there with bursts of speed through the air, and every single item from the series is replicated faithfully here, such as being able to transform during battle, to the duels of two combatants running into each other during an attack, or the tug of war power trip that goes on when two conflicting kamehameha hit each other. The only downfall is that the fights fall apart after a while, with them seeming like the same fights over and over, which is especially the case during the Story Mode, when you might be required to fight the same enemy three or four times in a row, with only something minor changing like the character you are forced to use.

A feature for the game that is rather nice is the customized characters, where you can actually exchange password characters with other players, so they can play against the character you play with on a regular basis, which could be ten times as powerful as the player you send the character to.

GRAPHICS
If you are a fan of the anime you’ll absolutely be in love with the graphics of the game, because though not real looking, it looks exactly as if you were playing a portion of the anime, which is exactly how the game should look and feel. One of the only drawback is on occasion it fails to achieve the exact replication of the anime, since there are some rough edges to the character looks once in awhile and things like hands look a little messed up and chunky. The environments are pretty sparse in some cases, but the destruction caused by your fights, such as the world almost exploding or chunks of a ring breaking away during the fight really make you feel like damage is going on. The characters (who look almost picture perfect) also do a great job of reflecting this damage, because just like the series, their clothes will tear and they’ll get smudge marks on themselves where they’ve been getting beat up. Really, you couldn’t ask for much more if you are a Dragonball Z fan.

SOUND
Not too much in the way of ambient music or anything, but the sound of fights sounds really great, especially the powerful grunts of the characters and the collision certain moves and environmental destruction causes. However, the real draw is the voice acting, which remains faithful to the series, as it sounds like everyone in the game was actually voiced by the actors who voiced them in the American dubbed anime series. Some voices sound goofy or odd, but you know what, that is Dragonball Z, so I’m glad they stuck by the source material.

IN CONCLUSION
For a fan, Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 has been an absolute joy, as it lets me feel as if I’m rewatching all my favorite moments from the series, only this time their fates are at my hands and my hands alone; it is so fulfilling to take a character that you love, make them transform into their ultimate form, and then unleash their most powerful attack on an unsuspecting foe. Non-fans will like the game too, but will like it more from the controls and deep story mode rather than the nostalgic joy of seeing all your faves. Overall, it is a great and really enjoyable fighter for the PS2.

Rating:
Our Scoring System

Do you know what a saiyan is? Do you know which super saiyan transformation gives the long hair? Do you know the differences between the various incarnations of Buu? If so, do I have a game for you! And if not, well then do I have a game for you! With more than 120 characters and one of the longest story modes in a fighter yet, you’ll have quite a lot to keep you busy with Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2.

THE STORY SO FAR
As said, Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (DBZ from here on) has one of the longest and deepest fighting game stories I’ve ever played. Basically, from beginning to end, you’ll play out all the major Dragonball Z sagas and the movies, meaning you’ll have played almost the entire franchise from beginning to end. Told through narration and in-game cinematics with the real voice actors reprising their roles for their characters, it feels exactly like watching a playable episode of the anime unfold.

There are some inherent flaws with the story mode though, because if you are familiar with the manga or anime, you know a lot of the series is about fighting, and losing, and then ultimately coming through at the very end. Now, a game where you have to lose every single time to advance wouldn’t be much fun or any count, so many times you’ll have to win a bout, and no matter if you whupped them easily or not, if the story calls for you to have lost, after the match and during the cutscene it will either say you lost or show you. Another problem is that some of the more major story points are left out, such as not showing a spirit bomb defeating Frieza or failing to reference other key points that only fans will know are missing.

GAMEPLAY
Here is what makes DBZ ultimately one of the most unique fighters of all time – the control scheme. Given that the game is on the Wii, you just knew they’d pull out all the stops to make this fighter different, and that they did. The game is ultimately supposed to be played with the Wii remote and nunchuk, with the A and B buttons being used for attacks, and the control stick on the nunchuk being used for movement and the C button to jump/fly and the Z button to charge your ki (just to name a few of the most used buttons).

The big thing isn’t so much the small things like the controls listed above, but rather the fancy, all out blasts and attacks the Dragonball Z franchise is ultimately known for, such as Goku’s spirit bomb or his kamehameha wave. Unlike some games where the option to use this might be simply to press one button, in this game you typically have to perform the movement of the maneuver as it usually looks, for example, to do the kamehameha wave, you have to press a button in, bring the Wii remote in towards you, and then push it forward towards the screen (replicating the maneuver as it appears in the series).

The game is meant to be played with those controls, but that doesn’t mean you are forced to completely rely on them, as truth be told I sucked at them and found myself getting very frustrated with them. I know the game is more rewarding and “skillful” if you take the time to learn it, but I just wanted to whoop some butt and whip it quick, so I relied on my trusty Gamecube pad. The only inherent problem with going to a pad such as this is that there is no training in the game to tell you how to play the game with another controller other than the default Wii remote and nunchuk, so you’ll have to experiment around and try out moves for yourself to see what does what.

Besides the bulky Story Mode of the game, you’ve also got your more traditional round robin climb up the power ranking ladders as seen in previous games, as well as the ability to compete in single matches or in tournament brackets.

One of the other big things about the game (and the Story Mode more than anything else) is the evolution system that lets your fighters gain experience and level up, which means that typically daunting battles should be easier on your patience thanks to all your previous endeavors. To use the system, you must buy items, which you can then allocate into several slots, and each item can affect certain traits such as a higher defense, more attack power, more health, etc. Once equipped, these items will auto level up, but characters won’t budge a bit unless they have an item attached to them. You can also get some of the more rare and valuable items by finding the seven dragonballs scattered throughout the world (usually found by smashing buildings, glaciers, rocks, and other objects during your battles). After you find all seven balls you’ll be granted a wish from the dragon and can pick what item you want.

The fighting itself is fast and furious, with combos, power hits that send players flying across the level, zipping here and there with bursts of speed through the air, and every single item from the series is replicated faithfully here, such as being able to transform during battle, to the duels of two combatants running into each other during an attack, or the tug of war power trip that goes on when two conflicting kamehameha hit each other. The only downfall is that the fights fall apart after a while, with them seeming like the same fights over and over, which is especially the case during the Story Mode, when you might be required to fight the same enemy three or four times in a row, with only something minor changing like the character you are forced to use.

GRAPHICS
If you are a fan of the anime you’ll absolutely be in love with the graphics of the game. Though not real looking, it looks exactly as if you were playing a portion of the anime, which is exactly how the game should look and feel. The environments are pretty sparse in some cases, but the destruction caused by your fights, such as the world almost exploding or chunks of a ring breaking away during the fight really make you feel like damage is going on. The characters (who look picture perfect) also do a great job of reflecting this damage, because just like the series, their clothes will tear and they’ll get smudge marks on themselves where they’ve been getting beat up. Really, you couldn’t ask for more if you are a Dragonball Z fan.

SOUND
Not too much in the way of ambient music or anything, but the sound of fights sounds really great, especially the powerful grunts of the characters and the collision certain moves and environmental destruction causes. However, the real draw is the voice acting, which remains faithful to the series, as it sounds like everyone in the game was actually voiced by the actors who voiced them in the American dubbed anime series. Some voices sound goofy or odd, but you know what, that is Dragonball Z, so I’m glad they stuck by the source material.

IN CONCLUSION
For a fan, Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 has been an absolute joy, as it lets me feel as if I’m rewatching all my favorite moments from the series, only this time their fates are at my hands and my hands alone; it is so fulfilling to take a character that you love, make them transform into their ultimate form, and then unleash their most powerful attack on an unsuspecting foe. Non-fans will like the game too, but will like it more from the controls and deep story mode rather than the nostalgic joy of seeing all your faves. Overall, it is a great game, and one of the best of the Wii launch window games yet.

Rating:
Our Scoring System

With all the new next generation console systems finally out on the market, what could possibly be making me put down my Xbox 360 and Wii controllers in favor of a Nintendo DS imported 2D fighter featuring manga characters where everything is written in Japanese (a language I can’t read or speak). I’ve got three words for you – Pure. Gaming. Bliss.

THE STORY SO FAR
Not quite sure what the story of the game is or even if there is one, because like I said, the game is imported over from Japan, and I can’t make heads or tails of the language, but what I do know is this: the Jump magazines are a big hit in Japan, featuring a ton of different manga series collected in each volume, and Shonen Jump is even a popular manga over here (one in which I happen to collect). Jump Ultimate Stars takes the characters from all the series covered in the Jump series, and puts them together and makes them battle it out with each other. Some characters are playable, some are support, and some give you bonuses. You’ll work your way through the galaxy, visiting various themed worlds based on each series, and unlocking these character cards as you go.

So since there is no possible way for me to know the exact story, and thus you probably won’t either unless you know the language, you should still absolutely get this game if you are a manga or anime fan who knows their stuff, because though it is in a foreign language, you wont really need to know any once you get a feel for where everything is and what unknown symbols do what. You won’t know the names of all the worlds and characters and mission objectives if you don’t know the moves, but there are FAQs out there to help you with what you don’t know.

SINGLE PLAYER: GAMEPLAY
The core of the single player game will be playing the story mode, traveling through the universe to visit the different theme worlds so that you can ultimately get to the end and unlock all the cards that you can. As you advance through the worlds, you’ll have different missions open up, and to complete the world (and color it) you’ll have to beat each mission and fulfill at least one mission objective in each mission. Many of the missions are things you can unlock naturally just by playing the game to best of your ability and trying to win the mission as quick as you can, while others require things like protect someone for so long, knock someone out with a support character, etc. There are also missions where you don’t get to use your made decks, but rather must battle with what is designated for that particular level. It is here, where you can’t read what you are supposed to do, a FAQ comes in real handy. You’ve also got the J-Arena that lets you advance up ranks through certain game types, allowing you to get some gems and practice up with your teams to see how good they are when put into battle.

The gems play an important part, because you must have them so that you can upgrade your player cards. You see, whenever you get a player card from playing through the single player game, it will always be a help card, and it will always be that unless you give away the gems needed to upgrade the card to a battle character or support character. There are several different colored gems that appear throughout play, though whether certain colors come from certain actions or not I couldn’t tell you since I, once again, can’t read anything in the game.

The cards play an important function in the game, as they are what is ultimately the reason while you keep playing, trying to perfect that ultimate deck. Instead of thinking of the deck like a battle deck of Magic cards, it would probably be best to call them a “page” as the cards are placed upon a square grid to make a full page that looks as if it would appear in a manga. Help characters are always one card and can easily be placed in any empty spot. Help cards, once placed, give the player they are attached to special abilities depending on what their specialty is. Help characters can also have special attachments depending on if they have like characteristics, such as two friends from the same manga being attached to each other. Things get harder when it comes to support and battle characters, because they take up more than one card slot and often come in funky designs, which means when planning your page you must take special consideration so that not a frame of your page is wasted. Once a page is completed, assign the page a leader, and who will jump in with the presses of the L and R shoulder buttons.

Battles all take place on relatively close levels, though it still gives you enough room to do some planning and yet always have the fighting tight and tense. The general idea is to do enough damage to either kill the character (their color starts bright and gets more black and white the farther the health depletes) or knock them off the level (much like Super Smash Brothers). Actually, if you are thinking the game sounds like Super Smash Brothers with manga characters, then you wouldn’t be far off. At the end, whoever has the most points, wins the game. There are also both good and bad powerups scattered throughout the levels, hidden within chests and such, that will grant you improved power, reduced speed, health, poison, reverse your controls, etc.

The game is fun because there aren’t too many complicated maneuvers to memorize like some fighters, but rather it comes to strategy and finding the best deck that works for you and knowing when to use your characters. In the game, the A-button jumps, B-button is a light attack, Y-button is a heavy attack, and the X-button is your special attacks. You can also switch characters by tapping on their portrait on the screen or pressing the L or R button they are attached to. Beyond pushing the buttons, by pressing on different directions on the directional pad (up, left or right, and down) you’ll alter the move to something different. All in all, if I was to take a guess, there are about 10 to 12 moves per character. Though all the light and heavy attacks are available at all times, support characters and special attacks will only be available if your special gauge is built up enough so that a number appears to the side of it, showing how many times you can use one of the two.

MULTIPLAYER: GAMEPLAY
If you can access the DS ability to play Wi-Fi games, then get ready to find the heart of the game: battling against human players. Since the game is only out in Japan and must be imported, you’ll be playing players mostly from Japan, and though it takes a bit of time to find players to connect to and there is slowdown given how far away you are playing people from, it still remains a blast. These Japanese players are hardcore, and have all the top cards, so most of the time you’ll be spent in awe wondering when you’ll get those cards, but every so often you’ll own someone, and you’ll feel like the top player in the world. What’s especially nice is that should you find a player with an absolutely top-notch deck, you can save their page info to your DS, and you can match up your own deck to look like that as long as you have the same cards; a great feature that lets you see who people are using and help you find combos you might not have thought would’ve worked.

GRAPHICS
Bright and cheerful, featuring a lot of pizzazz and flashy moves, everything looks extremely well animated, plus if you know anything about the manga or seen the anime, these characters look practically identical to their respective series.

SOUND
The music is okay, but the sound of battling is what really sells the package, as they feature a ton of love, as the multi hits, fireballs, and all other sorts of maneuvers feature plenty of humor and impact depending on what the move calls for (a powerful palm hit or someone riding at you on a scooter).

IN CONCLUSION
If you love anime and manga and own a Nintendo DS (an American bought one will play this so no need to buy a Japanese DS to play) then you must get Jump Ultimate Stars. If you love Super Smash Brothers type fighting games, then you must get Jump Ultimate Stars. If you love quality games, then you must get Jump Ultimate Stars. Due to copyright laws, the game will probably never appear here in an English form, so suck up any fear about owning a Japanese game and import this one right away. If it were a RPG where story was everything, I’d tell you to pass, but since only the menus contain writing and it’s all about the fighting, language isn’t a barrier you need to worry about.

RATING:
Our Scoring System

Dragonball is one of the most heralded of all anime and manga series, and with the upcoming Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, it looks to immerse gamers in their fighting heaven more than ever before. In what amounts to an astounding number of characters, the upcoming game for the Wii offers over 100 characters to choose from (the most for any fighting game). To help get you ready for the Wii version launch, we’ve decided to reveal the first half of the characters, to help you get acclimated to who you’ll be battling both as and against.

Goku
Dragonball -
VS Vegita, Freeza, Cell,Evil Buu, etc.

This is the strong young man named Goku.

As a Saiyan baby, he was sent from planet Vegeta to destroy the planet Earth, However, an unexpected head injury caused his Saiyan characteristics to disappear. Instead of an evil beast, he grew up as a kind-hearted Earthling under the care of his loving foster father, Grandpa Gohan.

When his older brother Raditz arrives on Earth and reminds Goku of his original mission, Goku refuses to carry out the task, instead choosing to fight for the good of Earth.

From then on, Goku’s job as the world’s greatest defender becomes increasingly difficult as he is faced with many dark and formidable enemies, one after another.

No matter how large the crisis, he never gives up, and his loyalty to the good of all people and to his friends makes him the ultimate hero.

However, since Goku spends his days fighting evil, this makes life tricky for his wife, Chi-Chi, forcing her to be the family breadwinner in an effort to make ends meet.

In Dragonball GT, Goku once again travels deep into space with Trunks and Pan to defend the world on an adventure that puts the entire universe in his hands.

Goku (Super Saiyan 2)
Dragonball Z (Evil Buu Saga)
VS Evil Vegeta

Goku transforms from Super Saiyan into this form. After training in Other World, he achieved the ability to transform into Super Saiyan 2.

A Super Saiyan’s distinctive change is more pronounced, and his power rises further.

In the duel with Majin-Vegeta, who had powered up thanks to Babidi’s magic, Goku changed into this form and showed an extraordinary power.

Kid Gohan
Dragonball Z (Saiyan arc)
VS Nappa, Vegeta, FriezaGarlic Jr., and others

This is Goku’s young son, Gohan. He is a gentle child, with dreams of one day becoming a scholar.

Chichi has forbidden Gohan from receiving martial arts training so that he might concentrate on his schoolwork. Thus, Gohan’s power level is very low. Even so, he possesses a great fighting potential that, once awakened, rivals the power of the Saiyan Raditz himself.

After the fight with Raditz, Piccolo kidnaps Gohan and trains him to be a warrior, in hopes that he might help in the coming battle against the Saiyans Vegeta and Nappa.

Though Gohan is afraid of Piccolo at first, over time, he comes to respect Piccolo as his friend and mentor.

In the Frieza Saga, Gohan travels to Planet Namek, hoping to wish back all of his friends who lost their lives in the battle with Vegeta. When he learns of Frieza’s evil plans, he becomes more determined than ever to find the Dragon Balls.

Gohan is a mild-mannered boy and dislikes fighting, but if it’s to protect his friends or preserve the peace, his powers explode and he becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Gohan Teen
Dragonball Z(Android Saga)
VS Cell, Bojack

This is Gohan as a young boy. After returning from Planet Namek, Gohan applied himself diligently to his studies as he and his mother Chichi awaited Goku’s return.

However, after hearing Trunks’ warning of the looming Android threat, he once again devoted himself to training, along with Goku, Piccolo, and the other Z-fighters.

Though his fighting skills have increased immensely since he was a small child, his quiet personality and general dislike of fighting remain unchanged. It is this inner reservation that prevents him from realizing the fullest potential of his powers.

He continues to share a strong bond with his mentor Piccolo, and they rely on each other for help, even in the most difficult of times.

Teen Gohan (Super Saiyon)
Dragonball Z(Android Saga)
VS Cell, Bojack

This is young Gohan as a Super Saiyan.

Gohan first transformed into a Super Saiyan while training with Goku in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

It was during this time Goku realized that Gohan’s hidden powers had the potential to exceed his own.

But even when Gohan changes into a Super Saiyan, his dislike of fighting makes him reluctant to use his powers to the fullest.

Piccolo
Dragonball
VS Goku, Raditz, Frieza,and others

Piccolo is the offspring of the Great Demon King Piccolo. He sometimes goes by the name Majunior.

For many years, Piccolo was Goku’s sworn enemy. Seeking revenge for his father, Piccolo entered the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, where he faced Goku in the finals.

In the fight with Raditz, however, Piccolo had no choice but to join forces with Goku. The battle is won thanks to Piccolo’s Special Beam Canon.

After the defeat of Raditz, to better confront the Saiyans arriving in one year’s time, Piccolo took Goku’s son Gohan and began training him as a warrior. Though Piccolo treated Gohan cruelly at first, over time he developed a friendship with the boy, and in the battle with Vegeta and Nappa, he gave his own life to save Gohan’s.

Later, during the Android Saga, realizing his powers were not enough to confront Android 17, Piccolo cast aside his reservations and fused with Kami. In this way, he returned to his true form, becoming the nameless Super Namek.

Serious by nature, Piccolo has little patience for jokes. This presented a bit of a problem during his training with the fun- loving King Kai.

Krillin
Dragonball
VS Saibamen, Nappa,Frieza, and others

A highly-skilled fighter of the Turtle Style, and Goku’s closest friend.

Krillin joined Goku as a student of Master Roshi, and the two formed a fast rivalry in their training. It took Krillin some time to warm to Goku, but eventually they became good friends.

Krillin fights valiantly against even the most powerful of enemies, but his efforts often lead to tragedy, beginning with his death at the hands of Tambourine. Even so, he continues to train, and has become the strongest Earthling among the Z-fighters.

Initially, Krillin began training as a fighter in hopes of attracting a girl friend, but that plan never seemed to work out. After years of forced bachelorhood, however, Krillin finally married 18, and the two even had a daughter named Maron. So in the end, Krillin’s plan proved to be a huge success!

Krillin may not be as strong as Goku or some of the other Z-fighters, but he has many unique skills and techniques, such as his signature Destructo Disc.

Yamcha
Dragonball
VS Saibamen, Nappa, Frieza and others

Yamcha was Goku’s first real rival and a dirty fighter. In the early days, he attacked and robbed people crossing the desert, and was known far and wide as “The Desert Bandit”.

He met Goku and the others as they traveled in search of the Dragon Balls. He was hostile toward Goku at first, but over the course of their adventures they became friends, and Yamcha eventually joined Goku as a pupil of Master Roshi.

There was a time when Yamcha was so terrified of pretty girls that he would go into convulsions just looking at them. After traveling with Bulma, however, he managed to get over his fear. Actually, in an ironic turn of events, he turned out to be quite a ladies’ man.

Bulma, who had been dating Yamcha for a long time, was furious at this turn of character, and broke up with Yamcha. Even so, Yamcha was never cured of his philandering ways.

In the TV series, we see that Yamcha spends his time between adventures as a professional baseball player.

And on King Kai’s planet, Yamcha proves he has some serious fighting skills when he defeats Recoome and Guldo.

So in the final analysis, it would seem that Yamcha is actually a pretty cool character… right?

Tien
Dragon Ball
VS Goku, Saibamen NappaCell, and others

Tien is a serious warrior hailing from the Crane School.

Initially, Tien was a pretty bad guy, essentially working as hired muscle. In the World Tournament, he broke Yamcha’s leg during their match, just for the sake of being cruel.

By the end of his match with Goku, however, Tien had learned the error of his ways. He had a falling out with his teacher, the Crane Hermit, Master Shen, and he and Chiaotzu left the Crane School forever.

After that, Tien devoted himself to becoming stronger. To that end, he and Chiaotzu travel the world on various training missions. However, when the Earth is in danger, he will always rush back to join his friends on the battlefield.

In the early days, the wild Launch developed a bit of an infatuation with Tien, and she continues to chase him wherever he goes. This could be one more reason Tien chooses to move from place to place so frequently…

Saibamen
Dragon Ball Z (Saiyan Saga)
VS Tien, Yamcha

The Saibamen are strange half-plant, half-humanoid creatures that can be grown in the ground when needed.

On Earth, they were sprouted from six seeds that Nappa carried and launched into a fierce battle with Yamcha and Tien.

Though each one had about the same power level as Raditz, they were clearly no match for the powered up Z-fighters, fresh from their training at Kami’s lookout. In the face of certain defeat, the Saibamen self-destructed, taking Yamcha out along with them.

Nappa
Dragon Ball Z (Saiyan Saga)
VS Tein, Piccolo, Gohan, Goku and others

Nappa is an elite Saiyan warrior, one of the last survivors of his proud race.

Having come to earth with Vegeta in search of the Dragon Balls, upon his arrival, Nappa blew up an entire city with a single blast, just to say hello. Needless to say, he possesses the ruthlessness and love of destruction typical to a Saiyan.

In the battle with the Z-fighters, Nappa demonstrated his overwhelming power, easily defeating Tien, Chiaotzu, and Piccolo.

Nappa enjoys making sport of his prey, and often treats his victims to a wicked one-liner just before he annihilates them.

Android 16
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Cell

Android 16 was created by Dr. Gero.

Android 16 is 100% mechanical, and his limitless power supply gives him the same fighting strength as first-form Cell. However, Android 16 loves nature and has a gentle disposition, making him reluctant to fight. Thus, Dr. Gero sealed him away as a defective product.

After being revived by Androids 17 and 18, Android 16 accompanies them on their search for Goku. But even as the other Androids launch into battle, 16 can often be found sitting quietly on the sidelines, playing with the birds.In times of great need, however, such as when Cell threatened to absorb Androids 17 and 18, Android 16 will fight to protect the world that he loves.

Android 17
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Trunks, Cell and others

Android 17 was created by Dr. Gero.

Created primarily to kill Goku, Androids 17 and 18 are also the keys necessary to making Cell complete.

He was formerly a delinquent boy, but he was taken against his will and reconstructed into an android along with 18. Naturally, he hates Dr. Gero, and after being activated in the lab, he wasted no time in taking his revenge.

With his limitless power supply, Android 17 is capable of a variety of energy attacks. He can also use his specialty, a powerful barrier, to deflect attacks from his opponents.

Android 18
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Vegeta, Trunks and others

Android 18 was created by Dr. Gero.

Among the androids, she is the only girl-type, but in spite of her delicate appearance, her strength is enough to easily overwhelm the mighty Super Saiyan Vegeta. Fueled by her limitless power supply, she fights relentlessly, never tiring or slowing down.

She was formerly a delinquent girl, taken against her will and reconstructed into one of Dr. Gero’s androids, but she refused to follow the doctor’s orders and was sealed away within his lab. Ultimately, in his effort to escape the pursuing Z-fighters, Dr. Gero was forced to reactivate Android 18.

After the Cell Games, she married Krillin, who had developed a crush on her after their very first meeting. Together, they had a daughter named Maron.

In Dragon Ball GT, to avenge the murder of her husband, she fought with Goku against Super Android 17.

Cell (2nd Form)
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Piccolo, Android 16, Trunks

This is Cell’s second form.

After narrowly escaping Android 16’s attacks, Cell manages to absorb Android 17, and transforming into his second state.

In this form, Cell’s size and strength rise dramatically, and he is able to brush aside Android 16 with a minimum of effort.

Even with the most forgiving eyes, it would be difficult to see Cell as handsome or even remotely attractive in any way. Nonetheless, in his new form, he seems to feel that he is the most beautiful living specimen on the planet. This Narcissistic attitude may have been influenced by Vegeta’s genes…

Cell Perfect Form
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Android 16, Tien, Vegeta and others

This is Cell’s Perfect Form, achieved after he overcame the Z-fighters’ resistance and absorbed Android 18.

His form becomes much more defined, and with his dramatic increase in power, he can indeed be called the Ultimate Android.

Wishing to test the limits of his new powers, he organized an event similar to the World Martial Arts Tournament, dubbed the “Cell Games”.

Despite his dignified manner, Cell is still a ruthless villain, capable of utterly destroying his opponent without a second thought. As soon as he finds himself at a disadvantage, however, Cell loses all composure and will resort to even the most desperate tactics to defeat his attacker.

After the battle with the Z-fighters, Cell was sent into the depths of Other World. There, he teamed up with Frieza, and it fell to Goku and Pikkon to stop their evil rampage.

Perfect Cell
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Vegeta, Gohan

This is Cell in his Perfect Form, powered to his maximum levels.

Though it was thought that Cell was destroyed when he self-destructed on King Kai’s planet, the nucleus in his head survived the blast, and he was able to regenerate.

Thanks to his Saiyan genes, Cell’s recovery from this near-death state has the added effect of increasing his power on a massive scale. Furthermore, Cell has acquired the use of Instant Transmission. He uses this skill to return to Earth, where he will face Gohan in the final confrontation.

Cell Jr.
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and others

The Cell Juniors are the offspring of Perfect Cell. At the Cell Games, seven Cell Juniors appear.

In spite of their diminutive size and almost “cute” appearance, the Cell Juniors are no less lethal. Each one is born with the full powers of Perfect Cell himself.

In an attempt to draw out Gohan’s anger, the Cell Juniors toyed with the Z-fighters, tormenting them with their superior strength.

Gohan (Teen)
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Evil Buu, Broly, Hildegarn and others

This is Gohan as a teenager.

When he turned sixteen, Gohan took the opportunity to end his home schooling and enrolled in Hercule City’s Orange Star High School.

Gohan maintains the image of an average high school student for the benefit of Videl and his other classmates, but after school, he secretly fights evil-doers throughout the city as the defender of justice, Great Saiyaman.

Having neglected his training after the Cell Games, Gohan’s fighting skills have gotten rusty. But when he learns that Goku will be coming back from Other World to participate in the World Martial Arts Tournament, Gohan trains with his younger brother Goten to get back into shape.

After the wizard Babidi appeared, Gohan and the other Z-fighters fought bravely against Dabura and Majin Buu to protect the Earth.

Gohan has developed something of a sense of humor as he’s gotten older, as is evident in his choice of “Great Saiyaman” outfits…

When he appears in Dragon Ball GT, he is wearing glasses. Perhaps his eyes have gotten bad from too much studying.

Gohan (Super Saiyan 2 Teen)
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Dabura

This is teen Gohan in his Super Saiyan 2 transformation.

While participating in the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament as the Great Saiyaman, he performed this transformation in response to Kibito’s taunts.

Afterwards, he never performed this transformation again. The reasons why are unknown.

Great Saiyaman
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Frieza, Hildegarn, and others

It’s the mysterious super hero that suddenly appears in Hercule City! His true identity, believe it or not, is the mild-mannered high school student Gohan!

The Saiyaman transformation suit is one of Bulma’s special inventions.

In order to help maintain peace in the city, Great Saiyaman flies around battling evil-doers and the like. But everyone except Goten and Chichi thinks he has a stupid-looking costume! What’s a super hero gotta do to earn a little respect?!

To complement his heroic deeds, Great Saiyaman performs various awe-inspiring poses. If he’s out battling crime with Great Saiyaman II, you might see the pair performing these poses together.

In the DBZ movies, he is called upon to battle Frieza, Hildegarn, and a host of evil villains called back from Other World.

Don’t give up Great Saiyaman!

Super Saiyan 4 Goku
Dragon Ball GT
VS Baby Vegeta, Super 17, Shenron and others

This is Goku’s ultimate Super Saiyan form, Super Saiyan 4.

After transforming into a giant ape in the battle with Baby Vegeta, Goku lost his reason and went on a blind rampage. However, after seeing Pan’s tears, his reason returned and he transformed into Super Saiyan 4.

This state has the most drastic outward changes of the various Super Saiyan forms. Goku’s hair is black, his upper body is covered with red fur, and his nature becomes wild.

In addition to the techniques of Dragon Fist and Instant Transmission, he can now use a new finishing move, the “10x
Kamehameha”.

Goku Son (boyhood)
Dragon Ball
Vs. Krillin, Master Roshi, Piccolo, Yajrobe, etc.

This is Goku as a small boy.

After his foster parent Grandpa Gohan’s death, Goku lived alone in the mountain wilderness. When he meets Bulma, he sets off on a great adventure in search of the Dragon Balls.

Over the course of his adventures, Goku makes many new friends and enemies, and puts his skills to the test in the World Martial Arts Tournament. Little by little, he grows stronger with each passing day.

Presently, Goku excels at many of the Turtle School techniques, but his signature moves are his Grandpa’s rock-paper-scissors punch various Power Pole attacks.

Goku’s weak point is his tail: if it’s grabbed, he is rendered powerless. Goku also consumes vast quantities of food, and if he gets hungry, he can’t move.

When he was a kid, he promised Chichi that he would marry her, but it’s just like Goku to promise without knowing what marriage is…

Super Garlic Jr. (post-transformation)
Dead Zone
Vs. Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, etc.

This is Garlic Jr.’s giant, powered up form. Frustrated by the Z-fighters’ interference with his plans, he transforms in an effort to finish them off.

In this giant form, his power level is significantly increased. In combination with this overwhelming strength, his powers of immortality allow him fight with reckless abandon, using his body as a weapon.

His finishing move allows him to open up a dimensional vortex known as the Dead Zone.

Frieza (1st Form)
Dragon Ball Z (Frieza Saga)
VS Vegeta, Bardock

An alien with the ability to transform, Frieza has put his fearsome powers to use as a galactic planet broker.

He has conquered many planets throughout the galaxy, employing the Saiyans, the Ginyu Force, and other powerful warriors to do his dirty work.

Frieza does what he wants with the planets he holds, turning them into villas or selling them to the highest bidder. It was he who destroyed Planet Vegeta, virtually wiping out the Saiyan race in the process.

To fulfill his wish for immortality, Frieza takes his band of henchmen to Planet Namek in search of the Dragon Balls. Once there, he is annoyed to discover that Vegeta has turned against him.

One after the other, Frieza’s top henchmen were defeated by Vegeta and the Z-fighters. In the end, his dreams of achieving immortality crushed, Frieza unleashed the full force of his rage upon all those who dared defy him.

In answer to Vegeta’s boast that he had become a Super Saiyan, Frieza reveals his terrible transformations, one after another.

Despite his ruthless tactics in battle, Frieza maintains a refined, almost regal, composure.

Frieza (2nd Form)
Dragon Ball Z (Frieza Saga)
VS Krillin, Piccolo

This is Frieza’s second form.

Thinking that his powers had become equal to Frieza’s, Vegeta made the mistake of taunting the tyrant, prompting his transformation into this form.

In his second transformed state, Frieza’s appearance is similar to that of his father, King Cold. However, the refinement he displayed in his previous form is gone, replaced by a wild, almost blood-thirsty attitude.

Frieza fights Piccolo while in this form, after Piccolo had powered up by fusing with Nail.

Frieza (3rd Form)
Dragon Ball Z (Frieza Saga)
VS Piccolo, Gohan

This is Frieza’s third form.

After Piccolo demonstrated that his powers were an even match for Frieza’s second form, Frieza transformed once again in order to instill terror in the Namek warrior’s heart.

Though this is an even more hideous form than his second, in spite of appearances, Frieza’s cool demeanor returns. This sharp contrast only serves to intensify the eeriness of this form.

In his third form, Frieza’s strength and speed increase dramatically, and he is able to make quick work of the powered-up Piccolo.

Frieza (Final Form)
Dragon Ball Z (Frieza Saga)
VS Vegeta, Goku and others

This is Frieza’s finaltransformation.

Frieza takes this form, that his enemies might know the true meaning of terror before they die.

In contrast to his previous monstrous transformations, Frieza takes on a smaller, sleeker shape in this form. Despite his reduced size, however, his power level rises to unimaginable levels, proving his claims of being the most powerful fighter in the universe.

After his ultimate defeat at the hands of the Super Saiyans, he falls into the depths of Other World. Even so, his desire for revenge lives on…

Goku and his friends have not seen the last of the mighty Frieza!

Frieza (Full Power)
Dragon Ball Z (Frieza Saga)
VS Goku

This is Frieza’s final transformation, after reaching 100% maximum power.

Having achieved this form, Frieza’s strength and speed equal that of Super Saiyan Goku, but at a great price. Frieza’s energy slowly diminishes as a result of drawing out all of his power, and he cannot endure a prolonged battle.

Realizing this, Frieza fires a massive energy blast at Planet Namek’s core, hoping to destroy the planet and Goku along with it.

Cyborg Frieza
Dragonball Z (Android Saga)
VS Trunks

This is Frieza’s mechanized form.

After the destruction of Planet Namek, Frieza floated through space on the verge of death until he was revived by a team of scientists working for his father, King Cold.

Frieza’s mechanized body parts also serve to boost his power. Otherwise, his techniques and fighting style are virtually unchanged from his final form.

Hungry for revenge, Frieza and King Cold travel to Earth in search of Goku and the other surviving Saiyans. Upon their arrival, however, they are greeted by a mysterious youth from the future, Trunks, who quickly puts an end to their schemes.

Trunks (Sword)
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Frieza, Android 13 and others

Trunks is the son of Vegeta and Bulma.

In order to change his shattered future, a world where most of the Z-fighters have been killed by the merciless androids, he travels to the past in a time machine.

In his own time, Gohan, the last surviving Z-fighter, had been Trunks’ friend and mentor. Trunks looks forward to seeing Gohan again, and to meeting his father, Vegeta, for the first time.

His final objective in his mission to the past is to deliver a cure for the fatal heart virus that, in Trunks’ time, took Goku’s life before the androids even arrived.

Super Saiyan Trunks (Sword)
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Frieza, Android 13, and others

This is Trunks in his Super Saiyan form. He transforms for the first time after seeing his mentor Gohan killed at the hands of the Androids.

After traveling to the past in his time machine to meet Goku and the others, Trunks takes this form once again in order to defeat Mecha-Frieza and King Cold.

In Super Android 13, the three Super Saiyans, Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks, fight side-by-side for the first time.

Trunks (Super)
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
VS Cell

This is Trunks as an ascended Saiyan, a level between Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2.

After their defeat at the hands of Android 18, he and Vegeta underwent severe training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where Trunks achieved this transformation.

As “Super Trunks”, he fought bravely against Cell, after the monster had absorbed Android 18 and achieved his perfect form.

In this state, Trunks’ size and strength increase beyond Vegeta’s ascended levels, but at a cost of diminished speed. Because of the massive energy required to maintain this form, it is not sustainable for long periods of time.

Hercule
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Cell, Android 18, Trunks and others

Hercule is Videl’s father and the reigning World Martial Arts Champion. In the year that Goku and the other Z-fighters did not participate in the World Tournament, Hercule claimed the title. Unlike past champions, he lives for the worldwide fame the title has brought him.

Hercule’s first appearance was during the Cell Games. As the world watched, Hercule recklessly stepped into the ring to challenge the monstrous Cell. Needless to say, he was easily brushed aside. In the confused aftermath of the Cell Games, however, Hercule was named as the one who defeated Cell, and the grateful people of Earth worshipped him as the World’s Hero.

After that, he lived like a king in Hercule City. But when Majin Buu appeared, the citizens of Earth once again called upon their hero to save the day. Reluctantly, Hercule went to face the monster…

Though he always puts on a good show for the crowd, his fighting skills are nowhere near those of Goku and the other Z-fighters. Nonetheless, in order to preserve his reputation, he must often place himself harm’s way, relying on clever tricks and tough talk to get him out of tough spots.

In Dragon Ball GT, Hercule teams up with Buu, and as usual, continues to defend his championship title and hero status by cheating…

Goten
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Trunks, Broly and others

This is Goku’s second son, Goten as a boy. He looks a lot like Goku did when he was a boy.

Unlike his older brother Gohan, Goten was raised in a carefree environment, and spent most of his days playing with his best friend Trunks.

Similar to his brother, however, Goten has a great fighting potential. When Goten and Gohan trained together, Gohan was surprised at Goten’s ability to transform into a Super Saiyan so easily.

Goten and Trunks later used the Fusion Technique taught to them by Goku and Piccolo to stand against the monster Majin Buu as the world’s last great hope.

As he got older, Goten gave up fighting and became much more interested in dating girls…

Super Saiyan Goten
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Trunks, Broly and others

This is the boy Goten transformed into a Super Saiyan.

He did not have to train to become a Super Saiyan like his brother did. While practicing karate one day with Chichi, he transformed spontaneously.

At the time, Chichi scolded him and told him never to transform again. But while training with Gohan, he could not resist surprising his brother with his Super Saiyan abilities.

Goten’s outward appearance changes significantly when he transforms into a Super Saiyan, but his personality remains the same. Even in the heat of battle, he maintains his childish innocence.

In the DBZ movies, Goten jumps into action with Trunks many times while in this form, and he fights Broly twice.

Trunks (Kid)
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Vegeta, Goten, Broly and others

This is Trunks as a child. He is the son of Vegeta and Bulma.

As the heir apparent to the Capsule Corporation fortune, Trunks was spoiled in his upbringing, and turned out to be very different from the Trunks of the future. This Trunks is brash and obstinate, and can be something of a practical joker at times.

Most days, Trunks passes his time playing with Goten, who is just one year younger than he is. Whenever he can, he also trains with Vegeta.

He has a tremendous amount of potential power, and is able to transform into a Super Saiyan without really trying.

Trunks and Goten later used the Fusion Technique taught to them by Goku and Piccolo to stand against the monster Majin Buu as the world’s last great hope.

It seems that Trunks does indeed love his father Vegeta, though he is often disappointed that Vegeta will not spend time with him outside of training.

Super Saiyan Trunks (Kid)
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Vegeta, Goten, Broly and others

This is young Trunks (the boy raised in the present peaceful world) after transforming into a Super Saiyan.

Trunks did not train to become a Super Saiyan. Rather, he transformed spontaneously one day while training with Vegeta. This was enough to prompt a little smile from his father.

While transformed into a Super Saiyan, Trunks’ already impressive power is raised even further. He shows a strength far beyond his years, to the point that Vegeta sometimes forgets to hold back during training.

Though his outward appearance changes significantly when he transforms into a Super Saiyan, his brash and obstinate personality remains the same. Even in the heat of battle, Trunks can’t resist smarting off to his opponents, no matter how fearsome they may be.

In the DBZ movies, Trunks jumps into action many times while in this form, though in the fight with Broly he had wet his pants.

Gotenks
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Majin Buu, Hildegarn and others

Gotenks is the super fighter created by the fusion between Goten and Trunks.

Thanks to Goku and Piccolo’s exhaustive teaching, Goten and Trunks were able to learn the Fusion Technique in a short period of time, and after many abortive attempts, Gotenks was finally born.

In Gotenks, only the worst traits from Goten and Trunks’ personalities seemed to appear. He is selfish, rude, and extremely overconfident, and he causes Piccolo endless headaches with his antics. Even so, the incredible powers Gotenks displays more than make up for his sour attitude.

At his first appearance, Gotenks immediately raced off to challenge Majin Buu. For his foolhardy efforts, he was rewarded with a sound beating.

Afterwards, he trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Piccolo, powering up even more in preparation for his rematch against Buu.

Super Gotenks
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Majin Buu, Hidegarn, and others

This is Gotenks transformed into a Super Saiyan.

As expected, Gotenks easily transforms into a Super Saiyan. To Piccolo’s dismay, however, it seems his annoying personality is intensified along with his powers.

During his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Gotenks developed an arsenal of super attacks, which made for an interesting (and somewhat silly) battle with Majin Buu.

The energy consumed in this form greatly reduces the amount of time Gotenks can maintain the fusion. Coupled with Gotenks’ tendency to become easily distracted, this can be a somewhat serious liability.

One of Gotenks’ signature moves in this form is the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack, in which he sends a host of exploding ghosts after his opponent.

Super Gotenks 3
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Majin Buu, Hidlegarn and others

This is Gotenks in his Super Saiyan 3 transformation.

Gotenks first made this transformation in order to escape the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Then, calling himself the “Grim Reaper of Justice”, Gotenks proceeded to overwhelm Majin Buu with his amazing powers.

In this form, Gotenks adds a whole new set of wacky moves to his arsenal, including the “Ultra Buu-Buu Volleyball”.

With his awesome fighting abilities and his numerous original finishing moves, one might think that Gotenks had become invincible. Once again, however, his great weakness is the short amount of time the Fusion can be maintained.

Trunks (Fighting Teen)
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
Vs. Cell, Android 17, Android 18, etc.

This is future Trunks as a teenager. He no longer has his sword on his back, having lost it in the battle with the Androids.

After training with Vegeta for a whole year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Trunks seems to have matured a bit. His hair had also grown quite long during this time, but his mother Bulma offered to cut it for him.

Trunks’ has become substantially more powerful thanks to his training, even discovering a transformation beyond a Super Saiyan.

At the conclusion of the Cell Games, he returns to his future in the time machine and uses his new powers to make a stand against Cell and the androids.

At first, Trunks was worried that he would never truly know his father, but after a year of training in the time chamber, he came to understand Vegeta for the man he is.

Super Saiyan Trunks (Fighting Teen)
Dragon Ball Z (Android Saga)
Vs. Cell, Android 17, Android 18, etc.

This is the form teenage Trunks takes as a Super Saiyan.

Thanks to his training with Vegeta in the Hyperbolic Time hamber, he has grown substantially more powerful.

At the conclusion of the Cell Games, he returned to his shattered future and used this form to take on Cell and the Androids.

Master Roshi
Dragon Ball
Vs. Goku, Krillin, Tien, etc.

Master Roshi is Goku and Krillin’s martial arts teacher. His trademark is his outfit, which consists of sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt, and a turtle shell on his back.

Master Roshi created the Turtle Style of fighting, as well as the Kamehameha and many other techniques.

Although his skills have become legendary, Roshi is such a dirty old man that few would suspect him to be a martial arts master.

These days, he spends most of his time thinking about pretty girls and telling bad jokes, but he becomes very serious when he fights, and is very protective of his students.

Since Krillin and Android 18 got married and moved in to Kame House, Master Roshi has made a hobby of flirting with 18.

Pikkon
Dragon Ball Z (Post-Cell Games Original Story)
Vs. Goku, Cell, Janemba

Pikkon was trained by the West Kai for the Other World Tournament.

In life, he was the West Galaxy’s strongest fighter, and after his heroic death he continued training in Other World. He is now one of the top fighters in all of the galaxies, and when Cell and Frieza rampaged through Other World, he was easily able to defeat them on his own.

He entered the Other World Tournament representing the West Galaxy, and fought his way into the final round against Goku.

Later, when Janemba was unleashed upon Other World, he and Goku worked together to eliminate the threat.

Because of his impressive power, he was assigned the duty of keeping the villains in the depths of Other World under control. In this capacity, he by Goku’s side once again when Broly escaped.

Videl
Dragon Ball Z (Majin Buu Saga)
VS Brolly and others

I’m the only daughter of the World Champion Hercule, and in addition to being a star student at my high school, I also use my martial arts skills to moonlight as a super hero. The bad guys of Hercule city don’t have a chance against me!

Lately, though, this weird guy called the Great Saiyaman has been popping up all over town, causing all sorts of trouble! Well, actually, he’s helped me out a bunch of times, but still…

At any rate, I WILL figure out his identity! That new student Gohan is kind of suspicious, isn’t he?

That’s all… This was a personal introduction from Videl.

Super 17
Dragon Ball GT
Vs. Vegeta, Trunks, Uub, Goku, etc.

This is the ultimate android formed by the fusion of the two Android 17’s.

After his defeat, the mad scientist Dr. Gero fell to the depths of Other World. There, he teamed up with Dr. Myuu to create a new Android 17, intended to fuse with the Android 17 still on Earth.

The result of the fusion is the virtually indestructible Super 17. With his energy absorption system, he is able to absorb any energy-based attack, including Goku’s 10x Kamehameha.

In this form, Android 17 has become a ruthless killing machine, and all aspects of his original personality are lost. Nonetheless, he hesitated before attacking Android 18, which may mean he retains at least a small portion of his memories.

While absorbing energy, he must dedicate himself exclusively to the task, leaving him defenseless for a short time. This is his only weak point.

Cui
Dragon Ball Z (Frieza Saga)
Vs. Vegeta

Cui is one of Frieza’s henchmen.

Considered an elite among Frieza’s soldiers, Cui’s power is roughly equal to Vegeta’s pre-Earth levels.Apparently, he and Vegeta have quarreled in the past, and he considers himself Vegeta’s rival.

Vegeta sees things differently.

When Vegeta betrays Frieza on Planet Namek, Cui is the first to fight him.

Usually displaying a cruel, cocky attitude, when backed into a corner he turns into a raving coward and fights dirty in order to save himself.

Turles
Tree of Might
Vs. Goku, Piccolo, etc.

Turles is a low-class Saiyan warrior and former servant of Frieza. He leads a small group of renegade warriors across the universe on a spree of destruction.

Whenever they attack a planet, they plant the seed of the Tree of Might, then eat its fruit to gain more power. Ultimately, Turles hopes to amass enough power to conquer the universe.

Having discovered that the environment on Earth was suitable for cultivating the Tree of Might, he and his henchmen invaded the planet. Upon their arrival, Goku and the Z-fighters stood ready to meet them, and a battle ensued.

Turles may look strikingly similar to Goku, but his personality is the exact opposite. He is the very definition of evil.

When in trouble, he prefers to hide until he can eat more of the tree’s fruit and power up. Also, he can create an “artificial moon” that allows him to transform into a giant ape at any
time.

Android 13
Super Android 13
Vs. Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, etc.

Yet another android created by the ever- tenacious Dr. Gero.

Working with Androids 14 and 15, Android 13 seeks out Goku in order to enact Dr. Gero’s revenge.

Android 13 was created by the computer in Dr. Gero’s laboratory and programmed to destroy Goku. With the substantial data on Goku the computer provided him, Android 13 can actually predict Goku’s movements.

Android 13 was also programmed to destroy anyone or anything that stands in the way of his main objective.

Of the three androids, 13 is clearly the leader. As such, he is both more knowledgeable and more powerful than the other two.

He can fire a special finishing blast called the “S.S. Deadly Bomber”, which relentlessly pursues its target.

Grandpa Gohan
Dragon Ball
Vs. Goku

This is the kind old man who raised Goku. At one time, he was the greatest student of Master Roshi.

He raised Goku as his own grandson, but one night during a full moon, Goku transformed into a giant ape and accidentally crushed him.

He shares Master Roshi’s fascination with women. In Other World, he leads a pleasant existence with several girls, but when Goku visited Baba, he was brought back for a day to fight his grandson.

He makes very few appearances in the series, but in the final scene of the Bardock special, we see the moment where Gohan finds the baby Goku in his Saiyan spaceship.