Despite the variety of fighters-which includes ruthless alien warriors, murderous androids, demon kings, sword-wielding teens from the future, and put-upon housewives-the fighters have mostly comparable abilities, and everything balances out pretty well. In another authentic Dragon Ball Z touch, certain characters, specifically the Saiyans, are able to transform into more powerful versions of themselves mid-fight, which drains their special power meter, but gives them a big performance boost for a short time. Leaving the ground and meeting another character for some aerial combat feels kind of clunky, and the characters look more like they're just standing in the air rather than actually flying. A limited angle of attack means that when one character is standing underneath another, neither one is really able to attack the other. Plus, you can tap the jump button twice to make your character simply hang in the air, though the flying in Super Dragon Ball Z doesn't seem particularly well thought out. Since this is Dragon Ball Z, there are plenty of giant energy attacks being tossed around, as well as characters being knocked through walls and buildings. There's a move list on tap for each character, though it doesn't take much feeling around to get the hang of things, especially since each character starts off with around eight moves, a lot of which are shared between different characters. The face buttons on the PS2 controller give you two attacks, a block and a jump, and you can also use the shoulder buttons to pull off throws and dash attacks, though those are basically just shortcuts for moves that are accessible with certain face-button combos. It shouldn't take long to get accustomed to the fighting mechanics, especially if you've played any other modern, conventional fighting games, though Super Dragon Ball Z isn't without a few unique twists. On its own, the selection of gameplay modes available would feel a little too standard for its own good, but the implementation of unique character cards, while not the deepest we've seen, certainly makes it more appealing to keep coming back. Once you collect all seven Dragon Balls on your character card, you can summon the dragon Shenron, who will grant you a wish, which can range from giving you an additional color palette for your character to unlocking a whole new character. Additionally, playing through the original arcade mode, as well as the survival mode, can net you Dragon Balls. Accruing enough battle points will give you access to a skill tree, where you can enhance certain character properties and assign new moves to your character. Every time you finish a fight, regardless of which mode you're playing in, you're awarded battle points. The character cards add a persistent character-building element to the game. Here you'll select a character from one of the 18 playables, give it a custom name, and choose from a few sets of unique color palettes. You can jump into any of the game's modes of play right from the get-go, but if you want to get the most out of Super Dragon Ball Z, you'll first want to create your own unique character card. A versus mode lets you and a friend go at it in a one-off fight, and a training mode is provided to help you get familiar with each character's unique set of moves.
DEMON PS2 DRAGON BALL SUPER SERIES
There's an original arcade mode that pits you against a series of seven increasingly tough artificial intelligence opponents, and a survival mode that also pits you against a series of seven increasingly tough AI opponents, though the survival mode only gives you a single life bar to do it with. Super Dragon Ball Z's arcade roots are apparent from the main menu, which features a stock set of fairly standard features. Now Playing: Super Dragon Ball Z Video Review
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