Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai

Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, released as Dragon Ball Z: True Tournament (ドラゴンボールZ 真武道会, Doragon Bōru Zetto Shin Budôkai) in Japan, is a fighting video game part of the Dragon Ball Z franchise, and was released on March 7 2006. It was developed by Dimps. Scenario story mode is based on the events of the Dragon Ball Z movie Fusion Reborn. The players follow the events of the story in which you choose Goku and friends, including enemy characters, along the way. The choices that you make determine how the story evolves.

Another mode is the Arcade mode, a single player mode that lets you brawl against the CPU in order to fight and gain the Dragon Balls. Next is the Z trial mode, which consists of two different types of play: survival, where you fight against CPU-controlled opponents for as long as you can, and time attack, where you see how fast you can make it through a predetermined set of opponents.

Finally, there’s the Profile Card mode in which the players will have their in-game character profile cards that lists their name and power level. The player can design their own card and customize them with the items from the game's item store.

Gameplay[]

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This game was developed by the producer of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi and Dimps , making this game have elements of both the Budokai series and the Sparking/Tenkaichi series. The game included a brand new technique known as the "Aura Burst" which allowed your character to move across the screen at high speed toward the opponent. When Bursting and pressing an attack button, you could dish out fast combos or blows that stun your opponent. Making long chain combos similar to the ones from Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 was much more difficult, but blocking was made slightly easier by using the Aura Burst as a canceler. Despite most criticism, Shin Budokai's fighting system was deeper than initially expected.

Dragon Road[]

This is the name of the story mode in Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai. It's based on the movie "Fusion Reborn". As you move along in the story, you'll find yourself in fights, just for friendly competition (such a fight between Goku and Krillin) or a showdown against evil. The Dragon Road mode takes you on a trip to see the Fusion Reborn in a totally revamped way. Things that were in the movie are different in the game. It starts off with Goku and his friends going out on a camping trip, but it is interrupted when a portal to Earth from hell is opened, and the dead are being brought back to life. Goku and his friends have to fight their way through, from the plains of Earth, to the ruins of hell. The Dragon Road consists of 5 chapters. Unlike its sequel it is basically based on the present.

Training Mode[]

In this mode, the player can practice battles with the CPU. You have to pick two characters to fight with, choose the battlefield, and set your health, starting ki, and check energy.

• Health: The amount of health you wish to begin the fight with, which you can also set for the CPU. (They don't have to be the same.) There are 7 bars of health, each a different color.
• Starting Ki: How much energy you want to begin the battle with. You can give yourself an advantage by setting the CPU's Ki energy to low. There are 7 bars of Ki.
• Check Energy: The amount of Ki needed to teleport behind the enemy to dodge his/her attack. For example, the original ki consumption for teleporting is 3 ki bars. The higher you make it, the more ki it consumes. The lower, the less ki it takes.

Network Battle Mode[]

This is the mode were you can have wireless multiplayer battles with your friends. Here, you can also add friends to your Profile Card, and view theirs as well. Every battle you win will raise your power level. (Shown on the main menu, on the dragon radar.) It will also increase your Victory Ratio, which is displayed on your Profile Card.

Arcade[]

In this mode, you select your character, and head out to battle. The objective of this mode is to collect all the dragon balls. Although, you don't get any wishes of your own, the characters ask the eternal dragon for something they want. You'll fight 10 opponents in a row, and at certain points in the Arcade Mode, you'll come across an opponent you'll have a dialog scene with, this happens when a character is confronted with another that it has a relationship with from the anime or manga ex.(Goku and Vegeta's long time rivalry)

Time Attack[]

In this mode, located in Z trial, you'll be asked to fight certain enemies as fast as possible. There are seven courses in total.

Survival[]

This is a mode where you pick your character, and fight non-stop enemies, until you lose. After a certain amount of wins, your health will not regenerate fully.

Profile Card[]

Here, you can create a special ID card that is used during Network Battles. It records your data, battles won, battles lost, Survival Records, Time Attacks, Rankings in Dragon Road, Power Level, Friends, Money, and your Victory Ratio. You can also buy stamps from the shop to customize it to your liking.

Playable characters[]

Reception[]

The game received generally good reviews, with most praising its graphics, especially for the handheld, but criticizing the lack of some game modes.

External links[]

• Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai at IGN.com
• Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai at Gamespot.com

References[]