DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2: Bigger Than Ever Before Company: Atari The continuously growing DBZ Budokai line adds another title to its lineup with Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 where you will have access to more playable characters than ever before. For Tenkaichi 2, the developers not only delved into the DBZ and Dragon Ball GT mythos, but also went back in time to the classic Dragon Ball show and pulled up old favorites from there. Building on the previous games, Tenkaichi 2 not only gives you more characters, but also a wide variety of options that look like they will keep any hardcore DBZ fan entertained. Not only does this game have old favorites like Tournament Mode, Training, Versus and Dragon Adventure, but other options like the Data Center and Dragon Library give you the ability to interact with the game and universe in a different way. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2's Dragon Library lets you step back from the action-packed fighting and examine the game's assets in a different way. In this mode, you will not only be able to view character sketches and bios of the 100+ playables in the game, but you will also be able to listen to the music and re-read the chapters of the game's stories that you have progressed through. The Data Center is the other interesting addition to the game. Here, you can select any of your customized characters and generate a password for it. Once you have that password, you can pass it on to anyone else who has the game (or post it online). With that password, other players can load up your character and try their hand against it. This gets around a long-standing issue where players want to get together for a tournament of some sort (or even just some one-on-one action), but the visiting opponent doesn't have his customized character. Of course, it wouldn't be a Budokai game with out a Story mode that is huge and covers as much of the franchise as possible. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 not only covers battles found in the TV show, but it also pulls characters and events from the movies and manga comics. The Dragon Adventure scenario builds upon the structure originally introduced in Budokai 3 and allows you to fly all over the various planets in the universe and go after the classic battles as well as letting you play through "what-if" events. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2's customization system seems to have also gotten a revamp. Sure you will still have to buy items from the shop or win them in battles, but now you can also combine certain items to create even more powerful abilities and skills. With over 120 playable characters in the game, Budokai Tenkaichi 2 promises to be the biggest and most comprehensive Dragon Ball title to come out to date. Look for it to hit the stores November 7th. -J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer Related Links: Atari