Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 is the latest entry in a short list of DBZ fighters for the Xbox 360, and while it is pretty and it does have a different take on the the Story Mode, it doesn't really seem to offer anything new above and beyond last year's Raging Blast. This really begs a few questions, like 1) why put the effort into making the game, and 2) which fans who didn't buy the first one might want to get the sequel?

I have to say, one aspect of Raging Blast 2 that really stands out are the visuals. While most games stick with cel-shaded techniques, this game seems to go by a slightly different approach that gives the look a bit more depth. The environments seem more realistic, well, if you don't consider the outlandish style of the various landscapes that come from the series, that is. Even the fighters themselves tend to have a bit more definition than most DBZ games.

Sound is okay, but is far from anything to write home about. The music is the standard Dragon Ball Z fare, and the voiceovers sound right, but are restricted to the one or two lines spoken at the beginning and ends of fights. Since the game doesn't follow the series' story, a blessed change really, there isn't really a lot of need for exposition, though I do have to say, I enjoyed the play-by-play commentary during the World Tournament Modes.

I'm a big Dragon Ball Z fan, and have been for many years. You can just look at the list of DBZ games I've reviewed over the years and learn that simple fact. Unfortunately, even I am starting to get a bit annoyed at the regular fighting games to come out of the license. It seems more often than not, the games just don't add anything new to the series, which is understandable since the show has been off the air for seven years.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 actually breaks away from the mold a bit by not simply having you run through the show's massive story and just letting you take a character through a few fights against a variety of enemies. While the fights seemed to be pairings from the show, there is no attempt to force the player to tackle them in any kind of order.

Raging Blast 2's story mode is called Galaxy Mode, and you are presented with a universe of worlds that represent your unlocked characters. Selecting a character presents a series of fights that not only unlock new abilities, customizations and extras like artwork, but also new characters. Like I said, most of these fights are easily pulled from the show, but there are also a few that are simply amusing matchups.

Raging Blast 2 also boasts an enormous lineup, but like the previous version, it counts the characters' different forms as different fighters instead of a transformation option like in the Budokai series. As a result, characters like Goku or Gohan are counted several times. That isn't to say there aren't a lot of other characters to unlock and fight as, but some of the ones chosen are a bit obscure. These are characters like Cui and Nail, who have very minor parts in the overall show; heck, in their particular arc within the show.

While Galaxy Mode tries to be different, it really feels like the developers decided to throw out the story altogether and provide no real excuse for the various fights, so those players who don't know the show's storyline (though why you would get Raging Blast if that was the case is beyond me) will find the lack of any kind of cohesion between the many fights a bit confusing.

Raging Blast 2 also comes with the standard fare of Versus modes, both online and local, as well as the ever-present World Tournament Mode, both standard and Cell Games versions. A real gem is buried a bit in the Museum option where you can not only view the art that you've unlocked, but also a remake of one of the earliest DBZ movies, Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans. It's a nice little extra that adds a bit of value to the overall package.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 starts off pretty hard, and doesn't really get easy. A part of that is the game's unusual controls, at least when it comes to pulling off some of the more spectacular signature moves. The other is the simple fact that the opposing A.I. is pretty good and pretty much every enemy has enough health to keep the fights going for a while.

Each fight in Galaxy Mode has its difficulty setting marked in plain sight so you know what to expect going into the battle, and for the most part, they make sense; at least, if you are familiar with the show. If your character pulled off an easy victory in the show, then you will find that particular fight marked at a lower difficulty setting. If, on the other hand, it was a tough match or one the character actually lost in, then you can expect the fight to be a tough one.

Given all that though, even the fights marked Easy are far from a cake walk. I found that there were few fights I felt like I dominated the arena in, and more often than not, felt like I had gotten past by the skin of my teeth. I guess the developers felt that any DBZ fan playing these games at this point has got a pretty good grasp on the genre and doesn't try to pull any punches ... so to speak.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2's most difficult to handle controller difference from most fighting games is the use of the Right Analog Stick to perform your major attacks. Like most fighting games, your basic attacks are pulled off by tapping the face buttons, but in order to use your more powerful attacks, Raging Blast 2 has you tilting the Right Stick in the direction designated for the attack. Even though this was the case in the previous Raging Blast game, it is still a tough change to get used to and requires a bit of work. Needless to say, some time in the game's Tutorial Mode might be required, at least before jumping online with people who have gotten used to the controls.

Because of Raging Blast 2's marked up difficulty, I would only really recommend the game to existing fans of the license's fighting games, and even then, only to those who haven't felt a bit of burnout over the sheer number of fighting games to hold the Dragon Ball name. While I am still growing tired with the same game over and over again, it's nice to see a little bit of difference with this game's Galaxy Mode. But these days, I find myself looking at the non-fighting games like Dragon Ball Origins more than ones like Raging Blast.