09.01
style
pull off some of the signature moves from the TV show. The spectacle of the series is here in full force: characters scream as they charge up, pull off absurdly powerful moves, and even transform into various fan-favorite forms.
A decent number of modes are available, but none held my attention for very long. You can recreate individual characters' famous fights from the series, or you can just play random battles against players online either in one versus one showdowns, or in World Tournament mode against up to 16 players. Granted, it's not a bad thing to have a bunch of modes to play, it's just that they all involve using Raging Blast 2's frustrating combat mechanics.
The fighting just isn't well done. It's overly complicated, with characters having an array of attacks, special moves, unique moves, aerial maneuvers, grabs, and more. It's easy enough to pick up the controller and mash your way through fights, but it has a significant learning curve for learning more complex combos. In general, it was simply more rewarding to block and button mash, bumbling my way through my opponents. Button mashing shouldn't be so effective, but the characters feel sluggish in between combos, making it easy for attack spammers to take out people who are trying to pull off the awesome moves. You know, the reason for playing Raging Blast 2 to begin with.
Playing against the AI alleviates some of the frustration of the overly complex and lethargic fighting, but this is only interesting for a few rounds. The characters feel too similar, with some playing almost like the exact same fighter with a slightly altered appearance. I know they wanted to include a huge roster of characters -- and they do -- but what's the point if so many of them feel basically the same? I'll take ten unique, balanced characters over 50 mediocre ones any day.
Raging Blast 2 does nail the Dragon Ball aesthetic, which is a good thing if you're a huge fan of the series. The characters are faithfully recreated, complete with voice actors in both Japanese and English, and are animated quite well. The environments are utterly abysmal in comparison, though, looking as generic as they ever did in the anime's fighting scenes. Sure, you could say that they're being true to the series, but I'd prefer they deviated a little bit than put in such bland-looking worlds.
It wouldn't be such a big deal to me that the environments are so bad looking and the character so same-ish if Raging Blast 2 didn't force me to experience them for hours and hours just to unlock the full roster. A nice amount of characters are available at the start, but if you want to unlock the gigantic list of series favorites then you better be ready to spend hours and hours playing various modes. The argument could be made that you'll be getting motivation to play it and get your money's worth, and in a better game it might not bug me as much, but in Raging Blast 2 it's simply more tedious than it's worth.
Closing Comments
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 has hours and hours of combat that only the most hardcore of fans are going to enjoy. The ability to quickly move between the ground and the air in fights, or to do ultra-powerful super moves will tickle any person's fancy for a moment or two, but ultimately this just isn't a very good fighting game. Overly complicated controls are put into a game where button mashing can win the day with ease, layered on top of no story and a host of unlockable pictures and other trivial things that only the most hardcore of Dragon Ball fans will enjoy. If ever there was a good example of a "strictly for fans" sort of game, Raging Blast 2 is definitely it. AlsoOn: PS3
by: Anthony Gallegos
Posted in: Fighting
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