Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden (3DS) Review

When I first heard about Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden, it piqued my interest. I’ve wanted an actual really great fighter set in the Dragon Ball universe for a while now, and while some past entries have been okay, none have been good enough to stand up next to the titans of fighting like Street Fighter and the more recent Mortal Kombat games. This time, things were looking promising. Development was done by Arc System Works, who have earned a good reputation among fans of anime-styled fighters with the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series. The thought of an Arc take on the Dragon Ball franchise was exciting, to say the least. It’s a real shame that, while Extreme Butoden is probably among the top Dragon Ball Z themed fighting games, it really doesn’t live up the the legacy of past Arc System Works fighters.

The fighting system in Extreme Butoden is different from most fighters I have played before. Somewhat reminiscent of Super Smash Bros, each character shares the same general set of inputs to pull off moves. The same series of button inputs will create the same kind of combo for each character. For example, a combo of Y, Y, Y, Y, X will pull off a ‘Meteor Combo’ which will knock your opponent into the air. Similarly, each character’s signature super powerful moves (such as Goku’s Kamehameha) will be pulled off with the same inputs regardless of character choice. Using a common input set across all characters means you’ll spend less time learning each character, which could be seen as an advantage or not depending on your experience and taste. Directional inputs generally don’t come into play for attack inputs either, and this further helps keep the game friendly for button mashing players.

Having common input sets for characters though means that the subtle differences between characters feel almost redundant. The same kind of inputs will give the same kind of results for every character, leading to none of them really feeling unique. Characters have a DP rating, which affects how much damage they dish out and take during a fight, but every character’s versions of combo animations and effects feel near identical, so your choice really comes down to the character’s DP rating and your own preference. This works well for a game where you can simply pick up and play with friends since there is a very gentle learning curve if people want to use their favourite characters, but I found that it led to the game becoming uninteresting much quicker than most fighters. It’s a real bummer too, especially since you’ll need two 3DS systems and two copies of the game to play with friends – there’s no online or download play support at all. The game begs for friendly casual sessions, but unless you can convince friends to buy their own copies as well, it’s just not going to happen.

For the lone player, there is a fair amount of game here to work through. To begin with, you’ll have the Z Story mode, the Adventure Mode, and Extreme World Tournament modes. Z Story follows the story arcs of the Dragon Ball Z show, through to the Buu saga. You’d better be familiar with the story ahead of time though, since the story is told almost entirely through static character portraits and text, glossing over major plot points. Don’t expect to gain any understanding of the series’ plot through the Z Story mode – in reality, this mode just serves as an excuse to set up the battles the series is known for. You can set your own challenge level to a degree by choosing to play characters with low DP ratings, but the Z Story will likely end up a tedious mash to the next story cut scene and the next fight until you reach later matches and character specific storylines. Adventure Mode changes things up slightly, giving you a basic world map to traverse (over set paths, no open world here) which lead you to fighting and conversational encounters. The narrative here doesn’t follow any arc from the series, but sets up an excuse for characters from all over the place to suddenly come back for a fight. There are items you can use in this mode to help you or hinder your opponent, which can come in handy when things get a bit much. All said though, the overall single player experience in Extreme Butoden could be summed up in one word: tedious. Like the Z Story, fights become more challenging as you work your way through, but there will be lots of tapping through conversations and mashing through basic opponents before you get there.

So, while the fighting system and story modes aren’t terribly exciting, Extreme Butoden’s overall presentation helps to at least make the fights interesting to watch play out. Each character is illustrated with attractive 2D sprite artwork, as is to be expected from an Arc System Works title. Fighting environments look nice, and there are many backdrops to choose from. If there’s been a major event in the Dragon Ball Z series, you’ll probably be able to fight there in Extreme Butoden. Each character’s unique moves animate well, and it is genuinely thrilling to watch a character pull off these moves. So, while the gameplay didn’t keep me hooked for long, the fights were at least stylish.

I was optimistic about Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden. Dragon Ball Z has familiar characters, it was developed by a team who many consider masters of 2D fighters, everything was looking good. That’s why it’s hard not to feel disappointed in Extreme Butoden. It’s a game that offers little compelling gameplay for lone players, and puts up so many barriers to multiplayer that casual matches with friends will be rare, if they happen at all. It’s a game that I feel might have been more at home on a home console, where the limitations of wireless multiplayer aren’t there. I’d love to boot up a Dragon Ball Z fighter with this fighting system on the Wii U and play with a buddy on the couch, but on 3DS so many stars need to align to play with another human that it’s likely many people won’t even get to try.

For all these reasons, I find it hard to recommend Extreme Butoden. If you’re desperate for a Dragon Ball Z fighter, and you have friends in a similar situation who are also willing to buy their own copies, you might have some fun in multiplayer, but if you’re someone looking for just an interesting fighter that could keep you engaged while playing alone, you might not find Extreme Butoden holding your attention for long.