Over the past few years, Atari's Dragon Ball Z games have been steadily improving with each update; Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 was a well respected fighting game that really did justice to the animé universe. However, Japanese publisher Bandai decided to hand the development duties over to new team Spike, whose first attempt Dragon Ball Z: Sagas was a less than stellar debut that never even got a release in Europe. Can Spike rectify the problems of Sagas in their second release, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi?

If you are a Dragon Ball Z fan there is definitely a lot to like here. Spike have plundered the rich background to the universe, including nearly every major character from Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and the Dragon Ball movies, with fan favourites such as Bojak and Janemba now making an appearance. The graphics have retained the cel-shading of Budokai 3, though they look more filled out and solid. Facial animations have improved greatly, with a decent effort to lip-sync with the original actors' voices too. Also of note are the fantastic and destructible arenas, which are bright, solid and instantly recognisable to fans. The single player game takes the form of a series of missions that roughly follows the plot of the TV series; however, things unfortunately go downhill from there.

The first disappointment is the introduction. Unlike previous games, which started with excellent Toriyama style anime, Tenkaichi starts with a frankly dull and uninspiring full 3D intro. The charm of the previous titles was that the games never tried to be Tekken or Virtua Fighter; they were just fun, enjoyable and made for the fans. The second thing that hits you is that the soundtrack is exactly the same as the last game and I mean exactly: expect nothing new here audio-wise, which strikes me as exceptionally lazy.

However these are minor problems - the major problem with Tenkaichi is the fighting engine. A fighting game lives or dies on how good the actual fighting is; it's what separates the Tobals and Battle Arena Toshindens from the Tekkens and Street Fighters. In attempting to make a "proper" 3D Dragon Ball game, Spike have decided to completely simplify the control system, leaving the gamer with only one attack button and that means no combos at all. There is nothing to learn here, no combination attack structure, and special moves are performed with simple key presses. The game simply revolves around gathering energy, dodging attacks and chucking the biggest fireball you can at the enemy. The boredom sets in so fast that it's quite frankly unbelievable. The difficulty level is also massively off putting, with some of the hardest missions happening at the beginning of the campaign mode and some of the later levels being so easy that it's laughable.

Another change in this game is the absence of transformation moves. In Budokai 3 fights were fast and frantic, with players able to physically transform their characters mid-fight. This has now gone and to many fans seeing a character transform to their super form was a real thrill and also an ingenious addition to the combo system. Also gone are the clever capsule customisation options, meaning that players have to choose fighters of the same power level or it will be a one-sided fight. This means that most of the fun in the multiplayer game has now also been lost, as in previous titles no two characters had to be the same. Fighting game fans love to practice with their favourite characters to become the best they can be. The fighting engine of Tenkaichi is actually more similar to Pong than to Soul Calibur; yes, there are counter moves to learn and special burst attacks, but it's fighting that people want out of a Dragon Ball game and there is very little of that here.

There is an old saying that goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and this game is a case in point. Atari and Bandai were onto a good thing with the Budokai franchise and I can't help but feel that they have dropped the ball with this title. Dragon Ball Z fans are a loyal bunch, but this may be a step too far. Simply sticking a beloved franchise with a lacklustre game engine just isn't acceptable any more, Tenkaichi should have never been put through Q&A testing. I just can't imagine the testers at Spike turning to each other and saying, "WOW, this is great fun!" because I certainly didn't have any.

So the single player game is boring and the multiplayer is mundane and bland. What is left to enjoy about Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi then? Not much at all I'm afraid; this is yet another disappointing Dragon Ball Z title and makes me wonder what the original developers, Dimps, could have made if they were left in charge of the franchise. Spike needs to return Dragon Ball Z to its fighting game roots or come up with a whole new engine for the inevitable sequel. And Spike, that new engine needs to include more than one attack button!

Reviewed by Ashley Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).