Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 Review (SNES)

When is the new 3ds general release coming.

I tried this as a preorder bonus for Extreme Butoden, but my lack of knowledge in Japanese somewhat hindered my enjoyment

"but the fact the game was offered as a digital 3DS download, teasing us that the 3DS is fully capable of emulating SNES games many months before Nintendo officially announced other Virtual Console titles on the system (which are exclusive to the New 3DS)."

@Shiryu
Is it needed in the review?

Owned this game when younger. Loved it but now I would give it a 5/10. Visually it's great. The sprites and artworks are beautiful. But the gameplay is too poor and boring. It lacks pacing, especially compared to the Capcom/SNK games from this era and even Killer Instinct. Arksys did a great job at refreshing the series with the 3DS episode.

"Just Siayan"

I hope they put this up for download on the eShop....

@Shiryu Ouch, that subtitle is painfully cheesy...
@arronishere You might want to switch the i and the a there...

Owned this one twenty years ago, but traded it in so I can get one of the Ranma fighting games (the 2nd one IIRC). So nostalgic to own it again as per the preorder deal. The art on this is great, the ki blast defense/counter system is one-of-a-kind. The thing is the gameplay's novelty relies on the projectile game, fighting up close reveals how basic the hand-to-hand combat is. Not only that, but there's not that much animation to the characters' moves, only 2-3 frames per attack. Combine that with less than 30FPS general framerate and very limited use of the SNES' special effects (the flying screencap above and the split-screen effect), Budoten 2's emulation is would hardly tax the 3DS and any performance issue is effectvely masked. Extreme Budoten is pretty good, just need to find someone to play against because the AI is too easy.

I want some of the Japanese RPGs of Dragon Ball Z games to come to Wii U Virtual Console...

@TheRealThanos Like this...Just Saayin?

@arronishere You forgot the smiley.
Just Saiyan...

"it is clearly the best offering on the SNES"

Maybe I'm misinterpreting this, but as far as snes DBZ games go Hyper Dimension was waaaaaay better.

This might be my ego talking, but I couldn't help but notice how this article popped up one day after I mentioned Super Butoden 2 in the "here's why only New 3DSes can pull off SNES emulation" article. I'm positively amused.

That game is part of my history ...

@Splatburst Perfect, perfect!

@chard5000 Graphics wise, yes it was. Gameplay wise... a step backwards if you don't mind my opinion (and yes, I played both extensively).

@AlexSora89 I finished writing this review hours prior to the Nintendo Direct hit. I had to rewrite that whole paragraph. Freelancer Journalist life ain't all roses.

8 outta 10, eh?! I played this on my PSP forever ago and yeah, I was kinda frustrated with it. With that said, I've played the heck out of it on my 3ds like crazy. A pretty good fighter fur sure.

@shard5000 I kinda agree with you. Like most games, there are differences between them. Each has their pros and cons but they are both great games.

@TheRealThanos And @Damo removed the other corny bit which was "(ki)Blast from the Past". We should always be grateful he always has the better judgement in these matters.

@Shiryu
Wait, so you write for NL? Awesome! (I noticed just now the identical profile pics...) I'd like to do something for the site myself, but for the time being my only contributions to the site are my lengthy comments as seen in the aforementioned https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/03/heres_why_snes_vc_games_can_only_be_played_on_a_new_3ds article, were said comments eventually got constructive. I've still got a lot to work on.

@AlexSora89 @damo gave me a shot last year and I took it. This year the challenge is bringing Japan only game reviews from the past to the ever growing games database of NL so here I am, soldiering it.

@Shiryu
You're doing a great job so far. In case some more staffers are needed, I'd like to give reviewing a try.

I am not entirely convinced that the pre order bonus is an emulation. Can anyone confirm that is has the VC menu functions?
As I noted yesterday, the game does not include the original soundtrack, which could mean that it's some sort of port.

I'd like to see this game as a stand alone download in the e-shop

@-KwB- Makes sense since your proflie pic is Goku.

@Gex91 I wonder if they were unable to secure the rights from the original composer...

@chard5000 agreed. Loved Hyper Dimension

As Discostew explained on the other article regarding SNES emulation on the N3DS, this game is not emulated, it's a port.

People were trying to see if they could find the game ROM file, so it would be possible to inject other games, but they came empty-handed, whereas if it was emulated, we would have had custom SNES titles back when this was released.

@Gridatttack Thank you for that info.

@Shiryu

I believe they changed the soundtrack because the original composer was accused of plagiarism. At least one of the tracks from this game and also track from other dbz games/series were believed to be plagiarised.

Thanks Gridattack and Discostew for clearing this up!

Ha. I was only thinking yesterday the site needs @Shiryu Super Butoden 2 review, so it was a surprise to come on today and find one up for reading.
I got the 3DS bonus freebie, but I've not played it much yet. Will have a proper go at some point.

@Other_Dave Life is just awesome like that.... Nintendo Life I man.

@Gex91 Ah, the plot thickens...

@Splatburst sigh.....when I first saw this on the front page, I knew there was going to be something about that. Maybe it's just coincidence, but it could really look like it was pulled out after the 400+ comments from the last article about SNES emulation on o3DS.

Thanks @Gridatttack for restating what I mentioned in the other article's comment so I wouldn't have to repeat it myself.

We need a Dragon Ball Z Budokai 4!

SNES, PS1 and 2 were my DBZ import destinations.
Being relatively cheap imports, at one point I had 8-10.
Both RPGs and fighters, since then everything gets localized.
It's just too bad Xenoverse's overworld handicaps the experience (and the customization is severely lacking).
Bandai Namco has rarely ever produced either a great overworld or a meaningful character creator, so I'm hardly shocked.
Compared to SAO: Lost Song though?
I never thought about how terrible their character creators were until now. Wow, they are horrible!

@Shiryu are you going to review Neon Genesis Evangelion 64?

@ItalianBaptist I am not, sticking to Super Famicom only. There are literally hundreds of titles that are worthy to be featured on NL database, with "Eva 64" being one of such titles.

What a pretty decent review! I remember how much impact this game had for me when it was released back when I was in high school. "Wow the arena is huge!", "Wow I can shoot a fireball with one button!", "Wow the super fireballs are massive!". Pretty innovative out-of-the-box fighter format thinking, when compared to the massive pop culture impact Street Fighter II had on every gamer.

This one would have stood out in the West if it had been released on the SNES. The problem is that NO ONE knew what DBZ was, since it was only available on manga, untranslated, and the cartoons weren't subbed fast enough, and only available in Japanese niche supermarkets!

I have a lot of memories of fun with other players despite the frame rates. To me back then, this game was very much the cream of the fighting crop! DBZ 3 and DBZ Hyper Dimension would follow, but this one was the "Mega Man 2" of this series. Of course, Extreme Butoden was just released to mimic these glory days.

The biggest disappointment of the port to the 3DS was the replacement of the original music! That's another thing that, coupled with the playability, was fun to listen to and matched the battle on the screen. Very techno-JPOP-ish to an American audience like me, who was used to SFII battle music. Nostalgic to me, like most game soundtracks, so it was actually difficult for me to enjoy playing the port. Guess sometimes we can't always get what we want.........even though the reason for the omission was understood.

@Magrane Indeed, this was such a breath of fresh air and decent alternative to "Street Fighter II".

@Magrane The problem with the music is that it revolves around a plagiarism case.

They have been changing the music overseas since the PS2/gamecube games, which sucks.

I had to mod Budokai Tenkaichi 3 on the wii to have its japanese music on the US game because I simply couldn't bear the weird techno ones. Things like Solid State Scouter (Dynamite Battle in-game name) is pretty awesome to hear when the battle is close.

The DBZ Extreme Butoden for 3DS is loads better, in my humble opinion. Also, like others have said, the Japanese only text for the 3DS download is a turn-off.