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Welcome to my Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden Review! Now, I would like you to Imagine a 2D-Fighter Dragon Ball game for your favorite handheld with over a hundred characters to choose from. However, you can only play with 26 of them, the rest are just support characters. That’s what this game is.
I’ve been a Dragon Ball fan since I was little kid and I was thrilled when I heard that a new Dragon Ball game was to be released for my favorite handheld, the Nintendo 3DS. I tried the Demo for Dragon Ball Z Extreme Butoden and I loved the gameplay! They managed to implement very simple combos that resulted in very fluid gameplay. All this using the limited controls of the system! But, this excitement was short-lived, although the game looked beautiful I could not get past the fact that it only featured a couple of playable characters and no online mode!
This always stopped me from buying it however, after a couple months of its release, there was an update that finally added an online mode to it. I was excited to play this game online and fight the best fighters I could find! But before that, I had to train and I was glad that the game had a few different modes to offer.
Z-STORY MODE
The first mode I tried was the Z-Story Mode. As the name implies it makes you play through the story of Dragon Ball Z. However, it’s done in a very disappointing way. In just ten battles you’ll go from the Sayain Saga to the Buu Saga. This outcome was obvious due to the lack of actually playable characters in the game.
There are also five ”what if” scenarios with ten battles each but I found them very boring. And there’s a last scenario where you play as the villains. It was somewhat enjoyable but only worth playing through to unlock Brolly. If it wasn’t for that I would’ve probably given up.
There are also five ”what if” scenarios with ten battles each but I found them very boring. And there’s a last scenario where you play as the villains. It was somewhat enjoyable but only worth playing through to unlock Brolly. If it wasn’t for that I would’ve probably given up.
ADVENTURE MODE
After this, I went to the Adventure Mode which was far more entertaining than the last one. It features a brand new story which I found enjoyable but generic at the same time. Just like Super Mario you play through levels in a tabletop game scenario. After winning a battle you can go to the next one. However, in each, there are several requirements that you must achieve.
The more requirements you achieve the higher your grade will be. And, If you get the max grade you’ll unlock new Z-Assists characters and items. This is where I spent most of the time. Getting that perfect score might be difficult and frustrating at times but finally getting that Z-Assist character you wanted for so long is very fulfilling.
The more requirements you achieve the higher your grade will be. And, If you get the max grade you’ll unlock new Z-Assists characters and items. This is where I spent most of the time. Getting that perfect score might be difficult and frustrating at times but finally getting that Z-Assist character you wanted for so long is very fulfilling.
EXTREME SURVIVAL
More fulfilling than obtaining a Z-Assist is unlocking an Extreme Character! And what’s an Extreme Character? Well, in this game every fighter has a certain level, being the max seven. Extreme Characters are low-level fighters that get a boost in power making them a level seven as well. There’s no better feeling than beating SSGSS Goku as a regular Vegeta! Now, how do you unlock these fighters? Well by going through the Extreme Survival Mode. An endless wave of battles where the damage you take carries over to the next battle. When you lose you’ll gain points based on how many fights you’ve won and when you get enough points you’ll unlock an Extreme Character.
EXTREME WORLD TOURNAMENT/QUEST MODE
Next is the Extreme World Tournament. This was the mode that I played the least, I only played through it once to unlock Beerus. All you have to do is beat a couple of battles. I found it challenging and fun. Alongside it, there was another mode that I barely touched, the Quest Mode which makes use of the StreetPass.
VERSUS MODE
After all this, I was finally ready. I had all the best Z-Assist, and all the fighters, and I had the perfect team combo to show online. Finally, I entered the Versus Mode, only to find out that this game was dead! No one played it… I was very disappointed. But I understand why it was dead. Releasing a game with so few characters and no online mode at release is unacceptable. Many people got discouraged from buying it and even though the online feature came, it was too late…
FINAL THOUGHTS
I truly believe that the game has potential and I hope we see a Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden 2 in the future. And, if so I want the following to be improved on:
-More fighters
-Different color schemes
-Online Mode at release
-A more engaging story mode
But, should you buy it has it is? Well, if you’re a Dragon Ball fan and if you like 2D-Fighters you’ll most likely enjoy it. Don’t be afraid of giving it a try!
I hope this Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden review has helped you in some way and thanks for reading yet again!