Good but not great
Super Dragon Ball Z is the DBZ game to end all DBZ games. It's nothing like that Tenkaichi series. This is a game for the true blooded fighting fans. What I found most interesting is that the game plays more towards a fighter. Some of the more powerful villans like Freeza and Cell are not inhumanly over powered. All characters can take down any other character with some skill and practice.

Only a few things hold this game back:
1 - Not enough modes of play
Give me a mission mode or something extra to tide me over
2 - Not enough characters
I don't need those silly OVA/Movie/filler type characters(i.e Cell Juniors, Cultivars etc.) but where the is yamcha, tien, nappa? You can use their moves in editing a character but it would be nice
3 - Unlocking stuff is a pain
I like to unlock stuff but having to gather all seven dragon balls over...and over....and over............and over again gets old very fast.

Get it if you want a decent fighter or want to try something new.

AWESOME
just perfect. with street fighter engine, they created a perfect dbz game. each character has diferent moves and each one can change by evoluting. perfect

one of the most fun and unique dbz games i've ever played...
i thought nothing would ever surpass budokai 3, nothing in the world, i thought it was the "perfect" dbz games (it's a good game generally speaking, but its flawed as well, i call it perfect from a fan's point of view.) although B3 had tremendous eye candy, and better fighting mechanics, it still retained that sort of, ping-pong button mashing feel that the older budokai games had, it had a lot more depth than most dbz games as well.

but enough of that, let's get on with the review....

this game is basically "capcom's" dbz game (nortiaka funamizu, who used to work for capcom :-P) and we've all been asking for a capcom-styled dbz game for ages now, and now the looooooooooonnng wait is over.

this is a "true" dbz fighting game, it's not a button masher, it's not overstuffed fanservice, it's just a raw, bare-bones fighter, and it surely seperates men from the masters.

it's a perfect blend of 2-d and 3-d fighting mechanics, a blend that hasn't been seen/used since the rival schools series...

you have that 3-d feel-of-movement, while you have 2-d fighting game commands all thrown in the mix. quarter circle motions, Z motions, it's all their and the controls will feel familiar (after you get used to them that is).

IGT's are in the game, but they're only used/activated for a short amount of time, in a super state, you're attack power is greatly increased, and if you burst at the right time, you can break a combo, or a super move, depending on your skill level.

z survival is the meat and potatoes of the game, you can fight your way through 10 fighters, while gaining experience and dragon balls in the process.

soon, with enough experience, you can purchase new attacks, advanced movements, and super moves, as well as secret characters.

the vs. mode is still a hoot. just grab a friend and fight your ass off.

the level designs are nice, wide, and destructible. there are also obstacles in certain levels.

the music sounds really soothing (IMO i dunno why...). theres also liscensed stuff in there too.

the battle sounds are pure anime at its finest, the voice work is superb (what else can ya expect from the japanese cast?).

i really dig the small selection of characters, not too many is a good thing in fighting games because it would perserve the balance of damage throughout the fights. i really don't like 100+ fighters in my fighting games, they'll end up playing similar in the end, and that's a big no-no. in this game, every character plays different, with their own unique moves and abilities. also, each character has certain stats, you have your weak from balanced, to strong fighters in here.

the visuals are vibrant and pastel colored, very snazzy for a dbz game. looks just like the manga, along with the onomatopias(sp?) as well.

overall, this game just does all the right things, especially for a solid dbz fighting game.

i could care less for a story mode, i mean come on, doe we really wanna play through the same story for the 1232426795705768457345687878958th time? we need a little diversity in dbz games, and this is it.

as a fan of the series, it a great game, but as a hardcore fighting game freak, this game is awesome.

fans of the series should check this out, but i highly reccommend this to fighting gamers more, due to the fact that we finally have an awesome capcom-styled dbz fighter.

best dbz game ever
i played this at game center.
it's different from other dbz games.
it's high quality action system, great and amazing
combos. it's as powerful good as tekken or virtua fighter!
graphics are based on comics, it's very unique!!
don't miss this amazing game, made by legendary creater funamizu noritaka who creat street fighter.

the reason why i did not give 5 is it does not have
story mode. very sad about this.