Dragon Ball Raging Blast (PS3) Review

Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 12.22.2009

Raging Blast has excellent production values and is faithful to the series. However, a weak combat system and a troublesome camera keep it as a product that only the hardcore DBZ fan will enjoy.



Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Spike
Genre: Fighting
Number of Players: 1-8
Rated T for Teen

Dragon Ball Raging Blast takes the formula from the Budokai Tenkaichi games and brings it over to the next generation. Is Raging Blast a good fighting game or just a quick cash in? Read on to find out.

Gameplay

Dragon Ball Raging Blast offers enough options to keep fighting game fans happy. Besides the standard fighting game modes, like Arcade, Time Trial and Survival, we get what is absolutely the best mode of all: Dragon Battle Collection. Here you will find every saga from the Dragon Ball Z series, several of the DBZ movies and even some “what if” scenarios.



If you are a fan of Dragon Ball Z, you will adore Dragon Battle Collection. The presentation is fantastic is this mode as you follow every key battle in the saga (and some surprising choices, like the fight between the Earth Warriors and the Ginyu Force after they all die and invade King Kai’s Planet) complete with the dialogue and cut-scenes from the actual show. I had a tear in my eye relieving some of the key battles and this mode is the next best thing to watching the series on TV. Every bit of dialogue sounds just like on TV and sometimes during the fight the action will pause to introduce a key scene, such as some trash talking or transformation. Fights are not your standard one on one fare, as sometimes you will have to fight 2 or 3 opponents at once, or gang up 3 on 1 on someone. However, you can only fight one on one at all times. On every mode (except Dragon Battle Collection) you can switch among your teammates by pressing a button, but on Dragon Battle Collection they happen automatically after you trigger a certain event, usually after dealing enough damage to the opponent. After you beat a saga, you unlock Mission Mode for that Saga.
Mission Mode allows you to replay all the fights to complete goals and earn stars.

Stars allow you to purchase costumes and hidden saga battles, among other things. Each battle has 3 stars available: You get one star for beating the battle on Hard Difficulty and one star from completing several side goals, like hitting 3 signature attacks or taking very few damage. Although you unlock the great majority of characters, skills and special attacks just by playing through Dragon Battle Collection, the majority of extra costumes can only be acquired by using stars.



The ability to customize your character with skills from capsules is back and largely unchanged from previous titles. The other modes are standard fighting game fare: Time Attack challenges to beat opponents fast; Survival is all about seeing how far you get on one bar and so on.
However, Raging Blast is held back from being a great fighting game by the same design decisions that plagued the Budokai Tenkaichi series. You fight from a behind-the-back third-person view, which makes losing sight of your opponent very easy. Since there is no auto-targeting feature (which would have turned the game into a shooting game of sorts) there is no way to properly track where your opponent went and half the battle is spent fighting the camera to try and see what is going on. Also you can get pinned against the camera sometimes and there is nothing more infuriating than getting your ass kicked because the camera was stuck and you could not see anything. The large battlefields always end with invisible walls and yes, you can get pinned against those too. There are plenty of objects that can be broken by tossing your opponents into them (trees, houses, big rocks) but there is no way to manually aim a throw, so it is a matter of luck. Plus, there is no damage bonus that I could see, so all of this is just for show. On Planet Namek you can fight underwater, but again, this is for show. If they want to make such large, interactive battlefields, they should find ways in which the interaction counts for something. Multiplayer is horrible. On a single system, you play on a split-screen, which makes the camera problems worse and makes it impossible to hide behind objects and such, since, well; the guy you are fighting is right next to you. Online is pretty much the same deal, but plagued by lag and cheap players who disconnect when they are about to lose.

Another low point is that even with 70 characters (if you count all the transformations) they all feel and play pretty much the same.

Graphics:

The graphics are nothing special when compared to other next generation fighting games, but they are a big improvement from Budokai Tenkaichi and look really good overall. They are still cel-shaded, but they look better than ever as the jagged edges from previous titles is gone and they are more colorful and animate better. The special effects look fantastic as the many kamehameha waves and other special attacks are unleashed.



The low point is the camera, which hides the action most of the time. In this game, you will fight the camera as much as your opponent.

Sound:

The sound is one of the game’s greatest assets. The music is mostly energetic (if a bit generic) rock, but the voice acting steals the show. Every character is voiced by the same actor who voiced them on TV and the dialogue is faithfully reproduced. This gives the game a level of immersion that other licensed fighting games lack. The sound effects are very well done as well, but they seem to repeat and lack variety. For example, when you put your opponent through an object, be it a tree, rock or house, they all sound alike.

Lasting Appeal:

If you can put up with the camera, this game will last you a long time. You need to play the Dragon Battle Collection at least twice to unlock all the stars, a feat that could take you well over 20 hours. The ability to play online and the other supplementary modes add replay value. The trophies are also challenging and time consuming. Overall, there is a ton of stuff packed into this game.



Fun Factor:

Unfortunately, not everybody will have fun with this game. Your enjoyment factor will be determined by a combination of factors: How much you like Dragon Ball? Can you stomach the troublesome camera? Can you put up with the simple fighting system?

Fans of Dragon Ball Z will love the Dragon Battle Collection for its faithful reproduction of the sagas and high presentation values. However, this title does not lend itself to a good multiplayer game. Split-screen is pretty much unplayable unless you have a huge TV (and even then the camera is worse than in single player) and online is too laggy and full of cheap players who disconnect when they are about to lose, issues that detract from the overall experience. Fighting game fans who don’t know anything about DBZ will feel lost and will likely hate the simplistic combat system, the behind-the-back viewpoint and the fact that all characters play pretty much the same.

The 411:

Dragon Ball Raging Blast feels like a missed opportunity. I think it’s about time we forget about the Budokai Tenkaichi series and their horrible viewpoint and camera issues and move into a format that is friendlier. As much as I loved the Dragon Battle Collection and the tons of stuff there is to do on this game, the fighting overall felt weak and uninspired and for a fighting game, well, the fighting should be the best part, not the production values. For hardcore DBZ fans, Raging Blast is a good pickup. For everyone else, steer clear.

Graphics	7.8	Presentation Values are through the roof, but the camera is troublesome enough to destroy your fun.
Gameplay	6.5	The fighting is simplistic and uninteresting. The camera is a serious problem, making you lose sight of your opponents too easily. The camera is a tougher opponent than the A.I.
Sound	8.0	The voice acting is superb and the music and sound effects are adequate. Everyone from the TV series is on-board to reprise their roles.
Lasting Appeal	7.8	There is a ton of stuff to do in this game, but you have to stomach the camera to enjoy anything. Dragon Battle Collection is long and involving.
Fun Factor	6.5	I found it hard to have much fun with this game. I enjoyed the Dragon Battle Collection mode because it is a faithful reproduction of the series, but the troublesome camera and simple fighting system left a lot to be desired.
Overall	7.2   [ Good ]