This is a freakin’ Dragon Ball Z game. Strikes me, all things being equal, as “Perfectly

Reasonable Anime License Friday.” You’ve got an astoundingly-popular franchise, you

make games. But consider that this game, released in 1993 in Japan, already details the Cell

Games and subsequent events. Heck, back here we were watching the same pre-Namek episodes

over and over again, because that’s all they translated until Toonami happened. Looking

at this game through 1993 TJ’s eyes, the immediate questions would be, “Why the heck

is everyone blond?” and “Who the hell names a guy ‘Trunks?’” and “Why can’t

Cell only move diagonally?” (Awright, maybe I still ponder that last one.)

One of the problems I tend to have with ridiculously long-running anime is that, barring the occasional

full reset (a la Pokémon), they inevitably Shonen Jump the shark and become just painful

to watch, padding out the time between manga releases by shouting a lot and extending one

three-minute battle for a month and a half. But if you make a video game version, you

can’t really do any of those things that annoy me so. You get very active fights, minimal,

skippable text in between, and the occasional series of options that allow you to travel

the world and interact with the now-familiar cast of characters (and the occasional horrifying

racial stereotype). But it’s mostly 2D fighting, featuring the kind of high-flying, energy-projectile-throwing,

sometimes split-screen action that, frankly, feels a world ahead of other Strange Anime

Licenses I’ve played before. (First two Ranma ½ games, I’m looking at you.)

So, yes. It is kind of a crime that we got the second Ranma game - which, for all intents

and purposes, sucked - and not something like this. But despite the decent mechanics, branching

story mode, and... wait. FRENCH AND SPANISH RELEASES? Man. I don’t even think Europe

can complain anymore. Oh yeah, downsides. Um... This win animation is a bit ridiculous,

what with magically-appearing clothes. Despite my not really liking Dragon Ball - anymore,

anyway - I could play this game for hours, based solely on its existence as a decent,

if unorthodox, fighter. Naturally, there’s a two-player head-to-head mode, featuring

the eight combatants of the main cast (plus two hidden characters) and a bevy of customization

options. Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden 2 sets a fairly high mark in the world of pugilism,

especially as far as Super Famicom games go. But for the real conclusion to this review,

you’ll have to wait for another three weeks, while I grunt at Derek between bouts of expository

dialogue.