The unimaginatively titled Marvel Trading Card Game is based on Upper Deck's Vs.

But with more than 26 different games based on the Dragonball series, including the almost identical original Shin Budokai, it's difficult not to feel that this is a Dragonball too far. So there's certainly more here than most Dragonballers will be able to shake a senzu shaped stick at. But it's super quick, and super stylish, and it looks pretty when you're winding up one of your wide array of over-the-top special moves, and that, really, is what Dragonball fans will be looking for.Ī card-based power-up system ought to add a lot of depth, though it all feels a bit superficial in practice, and there are all sorts of multiple paths, alternative endings, and various different play modes (including arcade mode, ad hoc multiplayer, and Z trials).

And the real action takes quite a while to start, because there's so much story to get through, which, if you're not a Dragonball fan, will just be a lot of rudimentary waffle involving senzu beans, time travel and about a million characters who won't mean anything to you.īut then, if you're not a Dragonball fan, why would you want to play Shin Budokai 2 at all? The game's alternative vision of the Dragonball canon is clearly designed for diehard devotees, as is the flashy but superficial beat 'em up that forms the heart of the game: it acquits itself reasonably well without ever reaching the sophistication of a proper beat 'em up, and it's particularly susceptible to button-bashing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the sequel to Shin Budokai provides more of the same: sumptuously cel-shaded one-on-one beat 'em up battles, though this time they're wrapped up in an adventure mode which sees you flying around above rudimentary cities chasing enemies before the real action starts.

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