
	Platform Xbox 360 Genre Fighting Publisher Namco Bandai Developer Spike ESRB T (Teen) Released November 10, 2009

- Lots of characters and modes to choose from - Recreates the feel of the series faithfully

- Combat lacks depth - Repetition sets in quickly unless you love the series

Review: Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (PS3) Review: God of War III (PS3) Review: Tekken 6 (PS3)
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Dragon Ball: Raging Blast

Score: 6.0 / 10

I actually sat down with higher hopes for this game than what I walked away with. I have played various other Dragonball games in the last few years and none have really managed to capture my attention fully and somehow the box art made me believe. Made me believe that I was in for something new, something incredible,

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- Xbox 360 Game Reviews
- Fighting Game Reviews
- Games Published by Namco Bandai

something that held the promise beyond the spiky blonde hair. Stupid box art.

The opening cinematics are well done. You can tell the game has polish. The modes are plenty and the more you dig, the more you’ll find. With seventy characters to uncover and use, you’re sure not to get bored right? Well maybe. The characters all feel the same after a while and the combat

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(while complex on the surface) does not end up being particularly deep in the end. A Button Masher can frustrate you and your well timed execution.

It’s not that there is anything particularly bad about this game. As a fighter, it just feels generic. Sure, the three dimensional fighting environments are interesting at times and fighting underwater is cool (almost as interesting as shooting back out of the water) but you can’t help but feel there’s something missing.

There are lots of options and you might find yourself enjoying some of the new features like the Super Battle Trial mode. It’s perfect for the casual gamer or for times when you have a limited amount of time available. You can do things like play a survival mode or try to beat someone down in a limited amount of time. You’ll also enjoy the World Tournament mode where 16 players compete. Artificial Intelligence players fill in the gap wherever you are missing people and this is before you even go online.

You can play the World Tournament online or make things a little more intimate with straight versus play. I did have some communication issues but I’m not sure if it was the game or my setup. Hopefully you don’t experience the same.

Overall the graphics are very good and are probably what I enjoyed most about the game. However, they get marred by the ever present bad camera, which sometimes turns so you can't even see your character.

I guess what surprised me most about this game is that the controls are not as tight as they should be for a fighter. Delayed responses with an often wacky camera, is in active contrast to a game that should have those in sharp focus.

I guess what they say about judging a book by its cover is true. Or a game by its sleeve.

- Syd Bolton

(March 25, 2010)

Syd Bolton is the curator of the Personal Computer Museum and has a collection of over 6,500 video games. To say he loves video games is an understatement.