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Dragon Ball is everywhere. Over the past 10 years, the license has made itself a household name. Love it or loath it, Dragon Ball isn’t going anywhere. What seems like countless video games later, we have Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2. Wow, that’s a mouth full. By this point, you’ve already made your decision on your tolerance level toward the brand, and it’s by that decision that you should judge how you move forward playing the latest (we’ll call it BT2 for short) iteration in the franchise.

Right out of the gate, I can admit that I’m not the largest of DBZ fans. Years ago I was right in the mix with every other fan in the lot, but the formula grew tired for me very quickly and I lost interest in the series. It is even despite this outlook on the franchise that it surprises me to say that I had a blast playing BT2. This is largely thanks to the fact  that under the anime series surface lay one of the most fun fighting games to come out in the last while.

For those unfamiliar with any of the previous DBZ adventures to spring up on the PS2 in years prior, the formula is simple: You control the heroes and villains of the popular series in epically scaled battles. The story mode, at least in BT2, takes place along the entire Dragon Ball lineage, starting at the original Dragon Ball and going right through Z and to GT. The story covers every major plot point and battle that fans of the series have been enjoying for years, and being able to take part in some of the shows major moments is pretty entertaining. Each fight comes complete with small story points and voice overs, giving the game an authentic feel. However, the greatest (and most important part) of any fighting game is: the battle system.

120 playable characters. Holy. Crap. While the numbers may be a slight cheat (of the selection, 70 are unique characters, while the remainder are variations and alternate forms), the sheer scale of the games roster cannot be ignored. Though while the roster may have seen a major leap in size from the last BT title, the overall gameplay remains largely unchanged for the most part, but considering how good was, who’s to complain? Thankfully enough, though, there have been some slight additions to the game that make this version worth your while, even if you have the first BT.

Included this time around is the addition of vanish attacks, counters, 5 on 5 tag battles and a count of 16 areas to fight in. The game lacks online play, but the Evolution Z mode can be used to create a password that lets you trade codes to fight your created fighter from system to system. It’s a cop out for not having online fighting, but at least they thought of something.

If you pick up BT2, you’ll be treated to one of the best uses of cel-shading ever. The game looks completely genuine and spares no expense at giving you a legit Dragon Ball experience. Be it the games many characters or the backgrounds, everything oozes DBZ through and through. The animations are lightning fast and smooth as can be, and I didn’t experience any slowdown, despite the quickness of the battles.

Thankfully the game sounds just as good as it looks, with hours of voice over work to accompany the games many menus, cut scenes and training modes. As a bonus for purists, the original Japanese voice track is available in the options. The 34 song track list  covers the action very well, setting the mood for some epic battles.

Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is the defining DBZ experience. For fans of the series, this game is a no brainer. The surprising part is that it’s also worth a look even if you don’t have much interest in the franchise, as the gameplay is solid, the battles are lightning quick, and the game is just plain fun. Give it a look.