In terms of a story mode, Extreme Butoden’s initially available story mode sees you playing through a truncated version of the events of Dragon Ball Z. It is worth noting that with 3D on the system switched on, some of the special attacks do look rather spectacular, with a lot of work clearly put into effective 3D layering. Sprites are crisp, expressive, and fluid in their animations, which leaves little room for complaint. While not the peak of 2D sprite work, they certainly hold their own with some of the better examples of 2D sprites on the system. Visually, Extreme Butoden has turned out pretty nicely. There’s nothing about the combat that feels particularly new for fighting game fans, or particularly exciting for Dragon Ball Z fans. It’s by no means an incompetent fighting game, far from it, but it just plays everything too close to the chest. If all this sounds a bit dry and by the numbers, it’s because that’s how it feels in game. Characters mainly vary in terms of plot-specific special attacks, power, and speed. You fight each match with a team of characters, built up of mains and non-playable assists, with the player able to switch between team fighters at any time. Dashes double as teleports into counter positions if timed correctly, while characters string together basic combo strings, ranged projectiles, and launchers. where the inputs don’t vary, but the moves produced do. All playable characters have the same core controls, similar to games like Smash Bros. Extreme Butoden is a 2D sprite brawler for 3DS set in the world of Dragon Ball Z. Released: Octo(Europe), Octo(North America) It’s a competent, responsive fighter, but it plays everything a little too safe and bland. What I want is to control a bunch of super powerful fighters, blast my enemies into visually spectacular dust, and recapture some of the childhood excitement that coursed through my veins when I first watched the show growing up.ĭragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden on 3DS is a solid fighting game, but somewhat unimpressive in this regard. I know when a fighting game feels responsive and plays nicely, but the technical nitty gritty isn’t a huge factor in my love of the game. When it comes to Dragon Ball Z fighting games, I am one of those people who loves them for the over-the-top spectacle more than the technical fighting specifics involved.