It’s Over 9,000!
There’s something to be said about a franchise that never seems to lose the desire to retell the same story over and over. It’s no surprise Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World handles the story mode the same way other DBZ games have in the past, by telling the adventures of the Z Fighters from the beginning of the Saiyan Saga all the way through the “epic” GT story arcs and beyond. Infinite World really offers no surprises for fans of the series. While most might find this a bit cumbersome, I, on the other hand, love when a great story is retold in different ways.
- Compatible across virtually all gaming platforms and devices
- An unmatched, immersive gameplay experience (THX 7.1 surround sound capable, detachable mic, and more)
- Gel padding is incredibly comfortable across a wide range of head sizes
This is one way that Infinite World delivers in spades. Even though there are strong similarities to the first entry in the Budokai series, it really seems fresh after missing the past six Dragon Ball Z games on the PS2. Instead of just monotonous fights one after another, sometimes you will be faced with tasks you have to complete in order to progress the story mode. For example, fans know that Goku traveled Snake Way after his “death” during the battle with his brother Radditz, and here you can relive that part of the show, minus the journey to H.E.L.L. or the brief stop at Princess Snake’s, and it doesn’t take nearly as long as it did during the show. So, you won’t find yourself cursing the television telling Goku to hurry up before all his friends die.
In addition to Snake Way, there are other memorable moments from the show that you can relive. Goku’s training aboard the Capsule Corp ship on his way to Namek, chasing Bubbles on King Kai’s Planet, and even playing as Krillin trying to hold off Frezia as long as you can. While most of these are great for the fans of the show, it’s definitely possible that if someone new to the series picked up this obvious fighter, they would be more annoyed than gracious for the fan service. There are also some “memorable moments” that you are forced to relive that some might think are pointless and bothersome, like the inspired moment when Videl first learned to control her Ki to fly.
I do have one other gripe about the story mode to make. When you first begin, you play strictly as Goku. After you complete this extremely short aspect of the story, you have to go back through and play as various characters in specific moments of the story in order to move along. This becomes an extreme pain when you aren’t used to playing with certain characters and then have to visit the Warrior’s Room to upgrade their skills to even have a chance; it almost always seemed a pointless use of Zeni that I could have put towards something else.
In an attempt to balance this out, certain items can be used by all the characters. Fighter’s Body is one of the ability capsules you can get and level up throughout the game until it is maxed. Before each fight, you have the option to edit your skills and place this ability on whomever you have to control in that certain fight. This was a great way to level the playing field when using characters you would normally not use. The only time you have to worry about the characters is when it comes to their special abilities and tray slots. The tray slots are more for enabling extra abilities, but they are definitely something to be mindful of. The special abilities, however, are character specific, and once you have one ability leveled up to the max, you don’t have to worry about it again for that character. But, it does take at least one fight of getting your senzu bean handed to you to figure out that a 100 point damage Kamehamea Wave doesn’t stack up to a 1000 point damage Kamehamea Wave.
- Compatible across virtually all gaming platforms and devices
- An unmatched, immersive gameplay experience (THX 7.1 surround sound capable, detachable mic, and more)
- Gel padding is incredibly comfortable across a wide range of head sizes
Speaking of the skill shop and various capsules, there is one thing that I adored, the lack of having to mix and match certain capsules together in order to unlock a specific character. Instead of this annoying system, you have to purchase the characters you want, the cool battleground’s (personal favorite: Grandpa Gohan’s House), and even various costumes for the characters. There’s also an extra difficulty setting you can obtain, though I must mention a few hardcore Z fighters I know had some difficulty on even the regular setting. So, this is strictly for the quick-thumbed with an impressive memory for combos. One final thing you can purchase in the shop is Fighter’s Road.
Fighter’s Road is the mystery mode that is at first hidden by a row of question marks on the main screen. At first glance, you might think this was a traditional mix of the tournament modes of the past with a tower mode. However, in each of those traditional modes, once defeated, you return to the bottom or lose altogether.
Here, however, you just restart the fight, with no real consequence for losing and just another way to increase the longevity of the game. Unfortunately, there is a slight annoyance with obtaining this mode of the game: you have to complete the story of the game in order to unlock it for purchase. Not just Goku’s part of the saga either, this would seem the obvious way, since after you complete Goku’s part, you restart with various characters to get the rest of the story. Nearly every main fight and various objectives must be completed before tackling Fighter’s Road. To some, this could become tedious, especially if they are apt to scream “No fair,” “This sucks,” or “This game cheats!”
The camera will also create occasional moments when you want to break your controller. After performing a devastating attack on either side, sometimes the camera will swing behind one of the characters, and you will have to fight in that perspective until it decides to swing back around to the correct way. Thankfully, this is not as tedious as it could be considering they kept the same general formula of past DBZ games and made every character similar to control. That also seems to bring along the same frustration of the controls not being as responsive as you’d like them to be in some cases. They still work great, but if you are planning a big attack with several well-executed button presses, occasionally one or two of those buttons may not register.
Graphically, I have to admit I did a double take after the initial load movie. The graphics are crisp, vibrant, and gloriously represent the DBZ world, very closely rivaling the next-gen Burst Limit in representation. Dimps seems to have perfected the visuals of the DBZ universe on the PS2, and it is wonderful to look at. Unfortunately, the sounds are not that great. Don’t get me wrong, the voice work is from most of the voice actors and that is great. However, hearing the same repeated catch phrases, grunts, and cries of pain does get a little annoying, and you will turn down the volume just to save your ears.
Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World is a game for the fans that have yet to move up to the next-gen experience. It also delivers on a few fan requests of returning the fighting to the original Budokai format, without neglecting the fans of the Budokai Tenkaichi games. It doesn’t over promise nor does it under deliver. You won’t be disappointed even with the annoyances and objectionable ways you have to obtain certain things. It’s Dragon Ball Z the way you remember it and the way you love it.
RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.3 Graphics
The best presentation on the PlayStation 2. 3.8 Control
The sometimes unresponsive controls can add a level of frustration that is unnecessary. 3.9 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Great voice work from the actors, but may have to turn the volume down from the repetition. 4.0 Play Value
Traditional DBZ fighter. Includes story mode, arcade mode, training modes, and a new Fighter’s Road to keep you locked into it long after you broke your first controller. 4.2 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.
Game Features:
- Compatible across virtually all gaming platforms and devices
- An unmatched, immersive gameplay experience (THX 7.1 surround sound capable, detachable mic, and more)
- Gel padding is incredibly comfortable across a wide range of head sizes