Game Reviews

We've been doing this videogame reviewer racket for quite some time now, so we figure that makes us pretty qualified… as psychologists. And Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2, well, it's having an identity crisis if we've ever seen one. (We haven't). On one hand, it's undeniably Dragon Ball. You've got big men, bigger hair, and high-flying fisticuffs that make wire-fu films look downright plausible. However – probably in response to the super saiyan beating the first Raging Blast took from critics – Raging Blast 2 has opted to tone down its cutscene-heavy fan service, resulting in a game that's neither a perfume-scented love letter to fans nor a balanced, responsive option for fighting game nuts.

This time around, the game's single-player story – known as Galaxy Mode – cuts out cutscenes altogether, essentially reducing the plot down to “Man/robot/alien 1 is angry. So is man/robot/alien 2. Punching ensues.” And no, we're not asking for a tear-jerking, thought-provoking masterwork from friggin' Dragon Ball, but the series has always thrived as much on build up as it has face-smashing, and without that, fights lose the epic, climactic feel that inspired so much rabid fandom in the first place. Instead of an actual plot, all Raging Blast 2 gives us is pre and post-fight trash talk, much of which doesn't even make any sense (Super Saiyan Trunks: “Hah! I didn't even need to go super saiyan to beat you!”).In the end, Galaxy Mode boils down to a series of challenges – for instance, smash this guy until his body is composed of over 9000 bone fragments in under 60 seconds