If you loved last year’s Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast, then I have some good news for all of the fighting games fans in the gaming community. Namco Bandai has released the demo for Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast 2 which makes waiting until the full release in November that much easier. Dragon Ball Z is considered to be one of the most successful and iconic anime of all time, and it’s popularity has only risen in North America over the years. Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast 2 will let players experience the entire Dragon Ball Z storyline along with many of the fights that took place within not only the series, but the movies that followed.
The 3D fighter will feature over 90 DBZ characters, some of which have never appeared previously within a DBZ game. Whether gamers want to take control of Goku and the other ‘Z-Fighters’ or they want to instill fear and despair in your enemy as a villain, there is a character to suite any gamers’ taste.
The demo gives players a taste of the Versus Mode in the game and it comes with a selection of four very popular characters from the classic anime: Goku (Super Saiyan), Kid Buu, King Dabura, and Ultimate Gohan. There are 2 stages to choose from, both of which not are not only destructible but also insanely spacious and great for a variety of fighting styles. Each character has several of their signature moves, like the Instant Transmission Kamehameha, and with many characters that can transform a whole slew of fighting techniques open to use as players see fit.
One of the greatest features about the demo is that the fighting in the game almost perfectly mirrors that of the anime. Battles are very fast-paced and if players slip up even for a second, your opponent can destroy you with ease. This gives Raging Blast 2 a great competitive edge, and gamers who have played the previous Raging Blast should be pretty familiar with the battle system, since it has mostly remained the same. Namco Bandai decided to go with a more CG look for the characters instead of the cell-shaded design that has been used in the past several DBZ games.
An issue that I have after playing the demo is that like with previous DBZ fighting games, Raging Blast 2 seems so much like the first game in the series that some gamers may find it hard to justify purchasing this title. Even after playing with all the characters included in the demo, it felt that each character’s fighting style seemed a bit too similar to each other. The voice acting in the game has improved significantly and the music featured in the game has gotten more tolerable, which overall has improved the experience vastly.
There will be a ton of new characters in the game this time around and one of the most-awaited features included in the game is a 30-minute animated special. Titles ‘The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans’, this special has been completely redrawn and remastered. Overall, this could turn out to be a great buy for DBZ fans, but for more ‘hardcore’ gamers there is a chance that they will not feel the need to pick up this title.
With the upcoming releases of Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, as well as next year’s Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Namco Bandai shouldn’t have any trouble pleasing all types of fighting-game fans.
The Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast 2 demo is available for download now on Xbox Live and will be available soon on the PSN. Be on the lookout for when the game is released for the Ps3 and Xbox 360 on November 2, 2010.
