It's been a while since we've had a traditional 2D Dragon Ball Z fighting game. But now Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden is available now in stores and on the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS. And it was developed by Arc System Works, makers of Guilty Gear and Blazblue! You can really see their contribution by the well-drawn and animated 2D character sprites.

Like every other Dragon Ball Z fighting game, the main story mode is a retelling of the DBZ storyline, from the Saiyan saga to the Majin Boo saga, with some nods to Dragon Ball GT and even the recent movies like Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. There is also an Adventure Mode where you can unlock assist characters that can be summoned when tapped on the bottom screen, although the methods of obtaining them aren't as easy and straightforward as they seem. Finish Adventure Mode to unlock Extreme Tournament Mode, which is a straight arcade mode for those looking for a true challenger.

There isn't much to do after that except fighting one-on-one matches with the CPU or with friends. Unfortunately, there isn't an online mode so you'll have to find local friends to play with. Anyway, you can select anywhere from one to three fighters you can switch back and forth with and anywhere from one to four assist fighters to summon during your fight, with the quantity of each being dependent on how much space is left to allocate on the character select screen. Once you find a stage to compete in, it's time to fight.

Gameplay is simple enough: you fight your opponent until one of you loses all of your life and the other is crowned the winner. It plays like your standard fighting game, although there's a dedicated ki blast button and holding R charges your ki so you can perform more moves. If you've played any of the Japanese Super Butoden games for the Super Famicom, then it's like those but prettier. As I've mentioned earlier, there are assist characters can be unlocked and used, with each character having a different effect such as offensive attacks, defensive maneuvers and healing. Assists aside, it is basic stuff. The action isn't terribly fast, but it is fluid and different characters have different sizes so choosing a mix of a small fighter, a large fighter and two assists is your best option. The game also ignores power scaling: while a character like Broly may have more life than Kuririn, Kuririn can defeat Broly if the player isn't good. Mindless button mashing won't do you any favors in this game.

The graphics are the best part of Extreme Butoden, bar none. Arc System Works did a nice job making the fighters look like they're straight out of the show and the size differences between the characters makes the presentation a lot more believable. I believe the graphics are definitely the biggest draw of the game. Audio-wise, the voice acting is in Japanese, which I didn't mind but I'm sure will annoy others and the music is okay. I did really enjoy some of the victory animations, especially Beerus' nonchalant walk out of the arena.

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden is a straightforward game that really shines when playing against human opponents. And Bandai Namco Games promises there will be an online mode patch forthcoming to add to the game. The controls are solid and the graphics are quite nice. I'd recommend Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden to serious Dragon Ball fans.

Hint: Enter this code on the title screen to play as Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku!
Up, X, Down, B, A, A, Left, A, A, Up, X, Down, B, A, A, Left, A, A, Right, A

by Ray n.