Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Adam Larck on 11.24.2010

Can this game appeal to anyone except hardcore fans of the series? Find out inside.



Title: Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Spike
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1-16
Rated: T for Teen

I wasn’t a diehard fan of Dragon Ball Z growing up, yet I know enough to know that, the majority of the time, it was about various characters getting more powerful and fighting.

So, I figured the premise of Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 would be simple enough, and easy to capture. And it is, for the most part. There are just a few key problems that will keep many people away from the game.

The first problem is the controls. For a fighting game, this game really shows what it means to be a button masher. X melees, Y shoots Ki blasts, A dashes, RB blocks and down on the D-Pad charges your Ki. However, I can pretty much tell you an entire battle here. Mash the X and Y buttons until the enemy gets launched away, either dash after him or charge your Ki, attack some more, and throw in an occasional super attack.

Another problem you’ll see with the combat is the camera will often lose the enemies, because it doesn’t seem to be able to keep up with them. If an enemy gets above or below you, the camera will just spin in circles trying to find them.

Also, it’s better not to try and block. It seems so inconsistent for the players. 90 percent of the time it didn’t want to block, and the other 10 the AI would just do an attack that instantly broke it. Instead, just concentrate on mindlessly wailing away at the enemy or running away of you need to back off to charge Ki.

Ki can also be used to launch super attacks, ultra attack and rage mode. Super attacks are used with just moving the RS in a direction if you have enough Ki, and can take a good chunk of life away. Also, trying to use these while an enemy is down seems to negate most of the damage for some reason. Ultra attack can only be used if the Ki is overcharged fully blue, and usually comes with a short cutscene and more damage. The overcharge also lets you activate rage mode, which lets your melee attack do more damage, as well as string together longer combos.

There’s also a few other points of combat to touch on. Holding RT can let you power up your character, switch partners or fuse. Sometimes there’s a short QTE if the enemy tries to intercept you while switching partners, but normally there’s not much time during the battle to actually stop and try to use this. There’s also a stick spinning event if two Ki blasts or melees hit, but, since the AI has a specific amount of spins they do compared to their level, it’s pointless as you’ll basically already know if you’ll win or not.

Getting away from the combat, there’s two single player modes to go through: Galaxy and Battle Zone. These modes really have no story, you just constantly fight. I’m guessing this is because the game expects fans to know what the battles mean in context with the series. Both modes also allow you to use characters you customize with super attacks and items that effect attacks and defense.

Galaxy mode offers various battles for all characters in the game, including characters you unlock. The galaxies tie into each other and have multiple battles before fighting a boss character. Beating a character’s entire galaxy, including the boss, will give you a Dragon Ball. Getting seven of them will summon either Shenron, which can give you a new stage, artwork or three moves, or Porunga, which will give you three things at once. This mode will take a lot of time to fully beat with every character, but there are a few problems that will stop anyone but the most diehard fan from beating it.

First, some of the requirements are just downright unfair. Health will constantly decrease, one hit will kill you, etc. You’ll stop playing some characters just because a requirement will stop you.

More importantly, though, is some of the cheapest AI I’ve seen in a while. Once you hit hard or above, they can do combos while in the middle of charging their Ki, they have perfect defense, your attacks will hit them but have no effect and, perhaps worst of all, they can get you in an infinite loop. I lost count of how many battles where I would get hit once and then just got looped into a string I could never get out of, no matter what I tried. The AI instantly turned the game into a chore, one that lost any fun I had experienced when I started off.

The Battle Zone lets you choose any character you want to go through zones to beat enemies and bosses in them. Some zones have hidden paths you can find as well. However, this mode also has some annoying requirements and unforgiving AI later on.

As far as the multiplayer side, there’s the World Tournament, which lets up to 16 people battle in the World Tournament or Cell Games, with the only difference being the stage and announcers. You can also set types of characters used, special rules, etc.

There’s also regular 1 vs. 1 and team battles, as well as Xbox Live battles where you can use characters with customized supers, or fully customized characters. However, like most online fighters, the main people playing it right now are the ones that have mastered the top tier characters and will punish you for trying it out.

As you go through the game, you can unlock pictures, character entries and music. There’s also a half hour movie for fans to watch.

Each of the stages in the game are big, and look pretty good. However, you may not have time to check the stages out as you constantly go after your enemy. The characters also look good, and look like what they did in the series. The voice actors are alright, but the English voices just sound cheesy. I normally skipped through the intros of the fight, when they normally talked, just so I wouldn’t have to listen.

Pros

Basically all of the memorable characters are here for players to use.

Controls are simple enough for younger kids, even if it is a button masher.

Comes with short movie for fans to watch.

Cons

AI is unforgiving and will keep you pinned down with cheap combos.

Block really doesn’t work for the player, you just get pummeled when trying to.

Getting through most of Galaxy Mode is pretty much impossible with lopsided odds and AI.

The 411:

On the easier levels, Raging Blast 2 feels like a game that younger kids can enjoy for simplicity, and older fans can enjoy for the fighting. However, after the first few fights in each level, the AI’s unforgiving nature kicks in, turning off anyone from the game except for diehard fans. With so many other fighter choices out there, I can’t recommend this one to anyone except those looking for a bit more Dragon Ball fighting.

Graphics	7.0	The stages look good, but you’ll often not have time to look while fighting. The characters also look good, and specials are flashy.
Gameplay	5.0	The controls really show what it means to be a button masher, and the AI is there to punish you every step of the way.
Sound	6.0	The voice acting is decent, even if it is a bit cheesy. The background music is also a alright for a fighting game.
Lasting Appeal	5.5	There’s a lot of galaxies to go through, along with the Battle Zone mode. However, most people will never see it due to the AI.
Fun Factor	5.0	During the early fights, I actually had a good time with this. Once the AI kicks in, though, it’ll take a lot of composure not to break the disc.
Overall	5.7   [ Not So Good ]