These battles occur across a wide variety of modes available to the players in the game. The game boasts an impressive variety of modes and options including single player variations, tournament options, and online play. The single player modes focuses on two specific game types: Galaxy Mode and Battle Zone. Galaxy Mode is insanely extensive and provides progressive challenges for a large number of the character included in the game. These challenges span across an ever-branching “galaxy chart” which will lead to new characters and challenges along your way. This mode is also key to unlocking a lot of the content in the game, including additional playable characters and a ton of customization options for existing characters. Each Dragon Ball personality has their own path in the galaxy and can be played by gamers. The Battle Zone on the other hand requires players to defeat an onslaught of opponents and defend assigned zones. This mode is also very helpful for getting acquainted with the game and it is often complicated control scheme, but we will discuss that later. As I mentioned earlier, the game also boasts a slew of online multiplayer options as well. Players have the option to face randomly matched players in matches or enter into structured tournaments for up to 16 combatants. The online interaction can be tweaked and altered according to players wishes by either limiting games to the stock characters in the game or allowing gamers to use completely customized and powered up characters online. The choice is up to you.
The control and gameplay mechanics used in Raging Blast are surprisingly deep. There are a ton of options for players who take the time to learn and master all that it has to offer, including incredible counters, impressive super moves, and an extremely well done ground-to-air battle system that shifts between the plains seamlessly. I found my jaw dropping to the floor when I would run into an opponent online who knew the ins and outs of the system and could pull off insanely impressive combinations that seemed to never end… it was as if I was actually watching the anime itself. The same thing happened when the computer would do the same thing offline and I was often left with the feeling of “wow, I want to do that”. As deep as the system is, it walks a very fine line and almost crosses over to being a button masher. Sadly, both experienced, masterful players and button mashers will find success in Raging Blast 2, the only difference between the two will be the finesse in which they display on the screen. Not being familiar with the series, I found myself relying on button smashing a lot early on and was met with quite a bit of success. I found it pretty easy to string together long and incredibly damaging combinations against the computer on the medium to lower difficulty levels, but the visual display that accompanied them left a lot to be desired. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective. It wasn’t until I practiced and learn to hone my skills and put all of the mechanics to use that the glory of the game shined through. That glory lies solely in the visual representation I spoke about earlier. The game plays out and looks like the source material when it is played correctly and as the developers intended. If you take the time to learn how to play it in that manner, you will be rewarded with an incredibly intense and cinematic experience.
All of the things that will make this game incredibly good in the eyes of a Dragon Ball fan will likely turn off would-be gamers who aren’t necessarily fond of the series. This is a huge universe and I felt very lost in it when I first played the game. I didn't know who these characters were and found it hard to care in the long run. As I became more familiar with them, by reading about them as I unlocked their profiles and even watched the full length feature animation included on the disc, I felt more comfortable and found the experience infinitely more enjoyable. Raging Blast 2 is a deep and extensive experience which caters to the fans and doesn’t apologize for doing so in the process, which is perhaps its biggest detriment. The fighting and action of the game is as furious and over the top as the anime itself, which is great for fans but may be a put off to those unfamiliar with the series. I wasn’t a fan of the anime coming into the experience but have found myself pushed towards investigating my curiosity after my time with Raging Blast 2. That won’t happen with everyone. When you consider that plus the insane amount of content and unlockables that are packed into this game, the package value of this game for the Dragon Ball die hard is almost immeasurable. I highly recommend the game if you are a fan of the series, but not so much for everyone else.
* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company for review.
B | Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 is what many would call a love letter to fans. The game is fast, furious, and filled to the brim with bonus content and unlockables. There is a ton to do and fans will be playing it for a long, long time in order to access everything hidden throughout the game. There isn’t a ton of draw for non-fans, but they may be pleasantly surprised if they check it out too. |
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