Game Review XXIII: Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi

As much as the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series is idolized as one of the best of the DBZ games, I'm somewhat disappointed by Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, a game that didn't quite meet the standard. As much as they put into it, there was nothing "Ultimate" about it to me. Now I'm going to do this review a little differently this time around: By getting to the core of the game, and the pros and cons of the game.

CORE: While I am in distaste about the game, it is visually impressive, as it was upgraded in character and environment from the Dragon Ball Raging Blast games. It still retains the fighting and overworld aspect of games past, features tournament play, and even features online playability complete with replays. The music score is different, and one of the original Dragon Ball Z themes, Cha-La Head Cha-La, can be used in game as a music score to fight with. It also set so each fight plays 3 different songs, with the other selected ones playing in certain situations. As opposed to the life bar in the majority of games, the health is represented by a blue Dragon Ball-like form, with the stars representing the player. There is also a hit point counter, but the same principle for damage works: if hit, it will decrease, and depending on how much damage you take, it will indicate that by changing color until the ball breaks, which is caused for when you're out of hit points. When that happens the match is over. As with Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2, the voices heard come from the Dragon Ball Z Kai series as well as the original series, save for those of Dragon Ball GT. You still fight on a wide area like the Budokai Tenkaichi and Raging Blast games.

PROS: For the first time, there is a DBZ game that allows you to create a character to use, complete with their own story. Reason that is possible is because Ultimate Tenkaichi took the Character Creation aspect from the Data Carddass game: Dragon Ball Heroes, and incorporate it into Hero Mode, where the player creates their fighter, customize the outfit, and play the plot given to them, engaging in training sessions with other DBZ characters, and find out just who is responsible for bringing chaos into the world. Their forms do not go beyond Super Saiyan (for what I understand),You can choose the size of the chatacter, featuring clothes that you can mix and match that are more or less similar to the garbs the regulars wear. Skin and voice can also be customized, as well as moves, which can be learned from various characters you train under, so you have options. After battle, their stats can be increased following each fight, so they can cause more damage. Plus, you can use these characters outside of Hero Mode as well, so you can take them online to show off and throw down. Famous scenes from battles with giant enemies were redone, with a few original events for the others.

CONS: I feel that the cons of this game are enough to make it unplayable for me, but let's get into why. First, the character roster was shortened from Raging Blast 2, and some characters lost their base forms, some omitted entirely, despite forms like Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta making it in. And not that it's a major deal, but for team battles, Super Gogeta and Vegito can't be used on the same side. Given that they are fused by the same people, I can understand this aspect. Those hoping for Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta and Broly should dash their hopes, because they're not in, with the only form of Broly in the game is his Legendary Super Saiyan form. And the base form of Teen Gohan also omitted, among others. Adult Gohan is also gone, but Ultimate Gohan is in the game, who is usually a stand-alone version in the Tenkaichi series anyway. Regardless, because of character and form reductions, there was a drop in characters in general, not drastic, but it did bug me upon looking.

The second area was the most frustrating to me: Gameplay, and I can go on a list as to how much damage was done here. First off, the battle had a Melee Range and a Blast Range, and depending which one you're in, can be a hand-to-hand battle, or a blast shootout, though it was like this prior to this game, but emphasized more here. The special attacks are beautiful, and the destructive impact is retained, though for the majority overly enhanced. One of my issues regarding this, and this even applies to the Ultimates, is the system of defending yourself, made into a quick events. From Budokai Tenkaichi onward, you could block, swat away, dash into (for rush supers) and do struggles for beam supers. In Ultimate Tenkaichi, the fight temporarily stops upon a player unleashing a move or combo. This is not what concerns me, but how one can respond to that. During gameplay, rush attacks can be executed, but it also follows a "who pressed what" kind of quick event called a Defensive Chance. As annoying as it is, this has been done before in the Dragon Ball Z Budokai series, starting from the second game. Putting like that, Defensive Chance is almost like the setting for the Potata Fusion, which you want to press a button, hoping that the opponent doesn't guess right. If your opponent guesses wrong, a pursuit chain happens and he's in a world of hurt. If it ends up being the same, the chain is ceased, and you're getting damaged for it. Beam Struggles are still in, but are limited to a button, and it's performed differently, but I'll get to that in a minute. Even with boss fights, it's one event after the next, but they have high health, and if done right, the events does heavy damage, which is vital to win. A good perk for giant boss battles, sure, but somewhat needless when fighting one on one. The Defensive Chance isn't limited to rush attacks. Supers can be responded to as well, but it is here that maintaining ki is vital. With that, depending on how much ki is charged, you can use one of the 3 options available:

• Guard: As per the name, you guard in the duration of the attack. While you are taking damage, you're not taking the full extent of it. While it's on the bottom, it's the first thing avaiable after a small charge.
• Evade: There's a button timing event that happens when you choose this option. If successful, you avoid taking any damage from the attack.
• Intercept: This is mainly how most beam struggles start, but this can be applied to counter rush supers as well. Inputting this option starts a beam struggle, or a physical clash with your opponents attack. During this, you must gain momentum by pressing the Triangle button (Y button for X360 owners) before the timer depletes. Whoever has more will win the struggle, and the opponent suffers damage as a result.

The Ultimates work differently too. Unlike the Budokai Tenkaichi and Raging Blast games, you can't use it as freely as normal. Ultimates in Raging Blast works under a condition: the opponent has to be in the red, unlocking the rest of the spirit gauge. This would make the Ultimate Move match enders. I'm unsure whether or not it can be defended, evaded, etc, as the player wears down the ki meter using the Strike Booster, and if attacked by such a thing, most of the time, they have no choice but to take it full on. This also happens if the other player is in Strike Booster mode, where the pursuits become unblockable. Not a game killer, but it's kind of much.

Lastly, as opposed to those on the Tenkaichi and Raging Blast roster, they have characters that are gifted in blast and physical attacks, tossing out characters like Videl and Hercule. Another aspect that didn't bug me too much, but variety couldn't hurt. Saibamen and Cell Jr. returns, however. And Janemba's final form as well, while his giant base form is an NPC boss in Story Mode.

Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, despite what players feel, failed to please with some critics, as well as myself. This game gets a 4 of 10. Don't get me wrong, effort was definitely put in, but it took a good amount out, in favor of some needless battle dynamics. Even so, it's decent game at best.

Game Review XXII: Melty Blood Actress Again: Current Code

A while back, I did a general review of the series, and graded Melty Blood Actress Again an 8 of 10. Now that there IS a PC version out, which I have, I can dissect this one. Melty Blood Actress Again: Current Code is the PC port of what could be considered the sequel to the Melty Blood Re-ACT: MB Actress Again. As with the previous titles, there is no universal Story Mode, instead focusing on individual characters under Arcade Mode.

The character count features 31 playable characters, adding in some fresh faces and a few other traits. As before, Current Code features 3 styles of gameplay, named after different moons: Full, Half, and Crescent. Half Moon and Crescent Moon style respectively represents Simple and Speed gameplay, and is best used by veterans of Act Cadenza, as the play style falls similar to it. That said, Full Moon style is essentially the Power gameplay aspect, which follows gameplay with similarities to mostly Melty Blood Re-Act. Depending on which style chosen, characters can have access to different moves, such as Shiki Tohno using one of Shiki Nanaya's moves (technically one of Shiki's original moves from the initial Melty Blood.) The interface has changed a bit from the console version, but that doesn't take away from the gameplay itself. In this game, visual effects of Heat and Blood Heat modes are advanced, and even at Max mode, the character is slightly outlined in a certain color. Aerial sparks are also added, but only for certain Moon styles. There is also a guard meter, Which premiered since the initial Actress Again, making it the only game to feature one. When depleted, a Guard Crash state leaves the player more or less vulnerable. There is also alternate air throws used during aerial combos. Even within Actress Again itself, various tweaks were made between each version, even going as far as the story for certain characters. More stages were also made, including alternates of those featured in Re-Act, complete with stage animations. Though minor, the voices for the characters, aside from retaining the seiyuus from the original onward, are also redone.

Now we'll get into the different characters appearing in game. To start off, I'll speak of those appearing as premier playable characters in Actress Again Current Code. Powered Ciel, who's usually seen during the use of Ciel's Arc Drive, is made playable. Initially, she appeared as a boss character in Re-ACT, in which she couldn't flinch upon receiving damage, giving her a Super Armor trait. In Current Code, that aspect is removed, making her flinch like the majority of characters. As with some others, this could be considered an alternate version of Ciel, a slightly more sadistic one at that. Another alternate version comes for Arcueid in the form of ArcheType Earth. A form of her before the drastic cut of hair into the one we all know and love, ArcheType-Earth is a princess version of Arcueid, said to be her at full power. In her boss form, she uses the exclusive Eclipse Moon style, which gives her a gradually refilling Magic Circuit, which makes her a threat. In the original Actress Again, she was playable, but unlockable, and she was pretty unbalanced. Aside from using Eclipse Moon style, her Last Arc was an instant kill for most characters, Shiki Tohno being the only exception. I say this, because as with Arcueid originally, her Last Arc featured a difference in appearance as well as damage, pending on character. Ironically, she was also a mere sprite swap of Arcueid, retaining a majority of the latter's moves. In Current Code, she returns as a complete new character with her own sprites and attacks. Compared to her PS2 appearance, she is rebalanced, and can use Full, Half, and Crescent Moon styles regularly, though her Eclipse Moon version remains a hidden character. Unlike before, she has her own story, and can be selected right off the bat in Current Code. Michael Roa Valdamjong is the central antagonist of Tsukihime, and is given his first in-game appearance as a character. Appearing in his Near Side form, he appears as a capable fighter, with use of Magecraft, especially that of the thunder element. His role plotwise is nothing short of a standing joke, though he does have a special pre-battle standoff with Shiki, and with Arcueid, a special scenario in her 8th stage, with different post-battle picture and dialogue after she wins (her post battle picture is that of Red Arcueid.) Riesbyfe Stridberg also debuts, while she initially appeared as part of Sion TATARI's Last Arc. Friend and savior of Sion, she is revealed to be alive in Sion's story, as well as Sastuki Yumizuka's. Like Ciel, she has an overbearing weapon, with destructive powers. The appearance of her weapon is shaped like a string instrument, lime a large bass or guitar, as opposed to the brutal gun-like appearance of Seven, Ciel's handheld cannon with the spike added. While not new in the Type Moon works over all, Ryougi Shiki, the heroine of Kara no Kyoukai, appears as a playable character in Actress Again. Like Shiki Tohno, she fights with a knife as well, her Arc Drive being a different take of both Nanaya and Tohno's Arc Drives, though it hears movements from Shiki's Last Arc.

Other characters playable are either other alternates, or different tag-team characters, not to take away from the recurring Hisui and Kohaku entry. Mech Hisui and Kohaku is a character and creation tag-team, with Mech-Hisui obviously being a mechanical replacement of her twin sister. Mech-Hisui also pairs with Neco-Arc, the comical small parody of Arcueid. Nrvnsqr Chaos's parody, Neco-Arc Chaos, is no longer selectable by secret means, being a legitimate character selectable in Actress Again. Then there's Akiha Tohno, who's recent alternate features her in sailor uniform school clothing. She features the same moveset with variants, and unlike her normal and Vermilion forms, does not have the red claw-like animation for her regular hits. G-Akiha returns as a boss rush character, after her initial appearance in Re-ACT, though in here, her difficulty is increased and features new moves. Like before, she isn't useable, save for cheating means. The last boss, and the antagonist stirring the events of Actress Again into motion is Dust of Osiris, a potential future variation of Sion composed of TATARI's remnants, succeeding Night of Wallachia (who is the disembodied TATARI, and the one who made Sion one of his kind) as the Thirteenth Dead Apostle Ancestor. She, too, is a giant character, but her form is still small, using a gigantic being named Hermes as another means of attack. In spite of her role, some players don't face her, or they do so, prior to Stage 9. Outside of Actress Again, she also appears in the Carnival Phantasm OVA series, the 3rd volume of which this game was released as part of.

Tweaked here and there in some areas, it retains the gameplay aspects of Actress Again, as I said before. There was even a netplay demo of Current Code 1.07 released prior to December of 2011, when the PC game was officially released. The character portraits, and in some areas, the sprites were enhanced, thanks to an enhanced graphics engine used. Used on Windows XP, Vista and 7, this is more or less the complete package, suitable for doujin game lovers. Melty Blood Actress Again: Current Code gets an upgrade in score from me. Not perfect, but a 9 of 10 comes pretty damn close, as it's easily the best of the Melty Blood series.