Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi

Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi

Rumoured to be the last Dragon Ball Z game Namco Bandai will make. Ultimate Tenkaichi comes with a bunch of interesting features but also comes with certain drawbacks. Boasting an extensive cast of 41 characters and an additional 3 custom characters and most of the Super and Ultimate attacks we all love and know...



Even with all the characters in this game, a lot of the one we would have wanted to play as are excluded which was disappointing. Some of the transformations have been eliminated like Vegeta's Super Saiyan 2 form, Super Buu Gotenks Absorbed, The base form of Vegito and Teen Gohan to mention just a few. Characters I would have liked to see but arent there are: the Super Saiyain 4 versions of Goku and Vegeta, Mater Roshi, Piccolo (Synced with Nail & fused with Kami) and also the adolescent version of Gohan (Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2)

The game was released by Namco Bandai on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles on October 25, 2011, in North America, on October 28, 2011, in European countries, and on December 8, 2011, in Japan. It was re-released in Japan on the Sony PlayStation 3's The Best line on February 21, 2013.

Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi dives into the Dragon Ball universe with brand new content and gameplay, and a comprehensive character line up. It has faithful manga-style graphics, totally destructible battle fields, and refined controls designed to bring the experience closer to the highly acclaimed Budokai Tenkaichi series.

“Impact Break” system allows large scale environment destruction. This includes realistic craters and Kamehameha tracers cutting across the sky, delivering a heightened sensation of realism and dynamic immediacy.


Unlike in previous Dragon Ball Z games, it is not as simple to throw out a Super or an Ultimate attack. This game has a "Spirit Gauge" which has to be at a certain level in order to do a certain Super attack. The level is dependent on the Super attack, each Super attack has its own level. In order to perform an Ultimate attack the Spirit Gauge needs to be flashing silver and you have to achieve what is known as "Spirit High", which is when one players health is in the Red Portion and they are are about to die.  The Spirit Gauge is filled up by chaining together combos, but be careful not to be predictable as you can be countered...

Both Spirit Gauges flashing silver - Ultimates can be performed

The enhanced Story Mode immerses players in the Dragon Ball universe, and included bonus levels from the Dragon Ball Z movies and even one level from theDragon Ball GT series. It includes Free-Roam style gameplay similar to the Story Mode of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2. Fifteen animated scenes with bosses are included. Great Apes and other giant characters, such as Janemba (First Form) and Hirudegarn, up to 15x the size of playable characters are featured in boss fights and/or cinematics. The story mode also features digitally remastered scenes from the anime, making it more true to the Dragon Ball series.

The main drawback of the story mode is that you have to read through seemingly endless lines of text which very quickly gets tedious. Also at certain points, battle we have seen in the manga are skipped so it leaves those players  who have never seen the manga with a lot of questions...

Super Gogeta Super Saiyan 4

Ultimate Tenkaichi includes a special mode, called "Hero Mode", which allows the player to experience a whole different story of Dragon Ball Z. A "Complete Character Creation & Customization" feature. Appearance and attributes can be customized such as model body, hair, attire, type of voice your character will have, and fighting style. Additionally fighting style and special moves can be selected. The created characters can roam the world, battle various enemies from the series and share their characters online. Only male characters can be made.

Hero Mode is a nice touch, first time I've seen customization in a Dragon Ball Z game. You can customize your character with any move within the series. However, in order to acquire the moves you have to play through  tonnes of sparring matches against different types of master. But your hard work will pay off when you finaly get that Goku Sipiit Bomb or Vegeta Final Flash you so richly desire. Also after having played Soul Calibur V, I find that the Create Mode in this game leaves a lot to be desired. In addition,they limited the amount of costumes one can put on their characters. I would particularly have liked to use the Saiyan Armour Vegeta wears in his Super Vegeta Form, but it is not there...

Omega Shenron

All in all, Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi is a great experience with lovely gameplay, impressive graphics and cool new features. Thank you Namco Bandai...

Your VB Kid
Psypher