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Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2

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Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2
Developer(s)Tose
Publisher(s)Bandai
Director(s)Shinsaku Shimada
Producer(s)Toshihiro Suzuki
Programmer(s)JC Pyjama
Maruko
Maruko Père
Composer(s)Kenji Yamamoto
SeriesDragon Ball
Platform(s)Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
  • JP: December 17, 1993
  • EU: June 1994
  • NA: October 20, 2015[1]
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2[a] is a 1993 fighting video game developed by Tose and published by Bandai for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Based upon Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise, it is the sequel to Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden, which was released earlier in 1993 for SNES. Following the Cell Games arc and a side-story about characters from the films Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan and Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound, its gameplay remains relatively the same as the original Super Butōden, consisting of one-on-one fights using a main six-button configuration, featuring special moves as well as three playable modes.

Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 was developed by most of the same team who previously worked on the first Super Butōden entry shortly after its completion. The team wanted to increase the number of playable stages, implement adventure elements to the tournament mode, as well as feature characters from the Dragon Ball Z films in the project. Super Butōden 2 garnered positive reception from critics; most reviewers praised the presentation, visuals, audio, gameplay and improvements made over its predecessor but others regarded it to be similar to Super Butōden and felt mixed in regards to various design aspects. It was followed by Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 3 in 1994.[2]

Gameplay

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A match between Broly and Zangya.
See also: Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden § Gameplay

As with its predecessor, Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 is a fighting game similar to Street Fighter II: The World Warrior.[3] Players fight against other characters in one-on-one matches and the fighter who manages to deplete the health bar of the opponent wins the bout and becomes the winner of the match.[4] The game features three modes of play and a roster of 8 playable characters and their respective transformations, with two additional characters being unlockable via cheat code.[5] Characters available are Goku (unlockable), Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Piccolo, Cell, Cell Jr., Broly (unlockable), Bojack and Zangya.[6][7]

Super Butōden 2 uses a customizable six-button control scheme.[4] Special moves are present in conventional format, with most commands consisting of button combinations.[4] Characters can also dash back and forth by pressing L and R respectively.[4] Players can also charge their Ki gauge by holding the Y and B buttons to unleash a Ki blast attack.[4] Returning from the first game is the split-screen feature;[6] the view is split to keep fighters that are far away in the playfield shown in a single screen, while their positions are kept via an improved on-screen radar.[6] New to the sequel are the introduction of water-based arenas, the ability to counterattack special moves, as well as meteor combos to perform consecutive attacks for most characters (only Goku had one such move in the previous game).[5][7][8]

Development and release

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Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 was created by most of the same team who previously worked on the original Super Butōden, with producer Toshihiro Suzuki and Shinsaku Shimada returning to helm its production and direction respectively.[9][10] Members under the pseudonyms "JC Pyjama", "Maruko" and "Maruko Père" assisted as programmers.[9] Both music and sound design were handled by Akihito "Switch•E" Suita, Kenji Yamamoto and Yuki "Kumatarou" Sabakuma.[9][11] The French translation was written by Sylvie Bomstein and Takeshi Yasukawa.[9] Other people also assisted with its development.[9] According to Suzuki, development of the sequel began after completion of the original Super Butōden, with most of the staff reuniting again after a one-week vacation.[10] The team decided to increase the number of stages while introducing adventure elements to the martial arts tournament mode, in addition to pushing characters from the Dragon Ball Z films into the game.[10] The underwater stage was commissioned to Toei Animation.[10]

Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 was first released by Bandai in Japan on December 17, 1993.[12] The game was first slated to be released across Europe in April 1994 before being published in June 1994 by Bandai under the title Dragon Ball Z: La Légende Saien.[6][3][7][13] On December 21, 1993, an album was published exclusively in Japan by Columbia, featuring arranged songs composed by Yamamoto.[11][14][15] A translated English version for the Latin American market titled Dragon Ball was previewed in 1996 but never released.[16] In 2015, the Japanese version of Super Butōden 2 was included as a pre-order bonus for Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden on Nintendo 3DS for those who pre-ordered in the United Kingdom through retailer GAME or in the United States through online retailer Amazon using an email with a code to download the title, marking its first appearance in North American regions.[17][18][19]

Reception

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In Japan, the game topped the Famitsu sales chart in December 1993.[30] It proved to be a commercial success, with lifetime sales between 1.15 million and, according to Famitsu, 1.2 million units in Japan alone.[10][31] Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 received positive reception from critics and players.[20][32] Fan reception was positive: in a poll taken by Family Computer Magazine, the title received a score of 23.5 out of 30, indicating a large popular following.[33] The 2016 mook, Perfect Guide of Nostalgic Super Famicom, listed it as the second best fighting game for the Super Famicom.[34]

Grégoire Hellot and Olivier Prézeau of Joypad [fr] praised the colorful anime-like visual presentation, character roster and controls but criticized the single-player mode for being repetitive and the lack of music from the Dragon Ball Z anime.[21][22] Super Play's Dave Golder commended the graphics, gameplay and longevity but felt mixed in regards to the sound, while noting that the game was similar to Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden.[27] Likewise, Mega Fun's Philip Noak also felt mixed about the audiovisual presentation and gameplay.[23] Spanish magazine Nintendo Acción gave high remarks to the graphical and audio presentations, number of stages, speed and playability.[28]

In a similar manner, Christophe Delpierre of Nintendo Player [fr] and Player One [fr] also gave positive remarks to the title's character designs and animations, sound design and gameplay, stating that the sequel corrects most of the flaws from the first game.[29][25] Bruno Sol of Superjuegos [es] praised the counterattack mechanic, stylized character designs, secrets and visuals, stating that "Dragon Ball Z 2 not only surpasses the previous 16-bit release from Nintendo, but we are also facing one of the most original, agile and fun beat'em up in recent years."[26] Jeuxvideo.com's Rroyd-Y and Nintendo Life's Gonçalo Lopes noted the overall improvements made over its predecessor.[13][24]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: ドラゴンボールZ: 超武闘伝 2(ドラゴンボールゼット: スーパーぶとうでん 2), Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Zetto: Sūpā Butōden 2, lit. "Dragon Ball Z: Super Fighting Legend 2", also known as Dragon Ball Z: La Légende Saien in Europe

References

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  1. ^ "Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 Is The Most Unique Pre-order Bonus". Siliconera. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  2. ^ Sánchez-Migallón, Antonio (January 21, 2018). "El pasado de Dragon Ball FighterZ - La era de Super Nintendo y Mega Drive". HobbyConsolas (in Spanish). Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  3. ^ a b "Preview: Goku, el incombustible - Dragon Ball Z 2". Hobby Consolas (in Spanish). No. 30. Hobby Press. March 1994. pp. 40–43.
  4. ^ a b c d e Dragon Ball Z (ドラゴンボールZ) 超武勇伝２. V Jump Game Books Series (in Japanese). Shueisha. January 1, 1994. ASIN B00CG2QKC2.
  5. ^ a b "Super Previews: Dragon Ball Z 3 - Bandai (Japon)". Superjuegos [es] (in Spanish). No. 22. Grupo Zeta. February 1994. pp. 12–13.
  6. ^ a b c d "Japón Japón: Dragon Ball Z 2: Vuelve El Héroe Dispuesto A Romper - Todo Cambia, Goku Se Queda". Nintendo Acción (in Spanish). No. 15. Hobby Press. February 1994. pp. 14–17.
  7. ^ a b c "Preview: Dragon Ball Z II: Leyend Of Sayen - Bola de Dragón dinamitará en junio las Super españolas". Nintendo Acción (in Spanish). No. 18. Hobby Press. May 1994. pp. 28–29.
  8. ^ Dragon Ball Z: La Légende Saien Mode D'Emploi (Super Nintendo Entertainment System, FRA)
  9. ^ a b c d e Tose (June 1994). Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) (in French). Bandai. Level/area: Staff roll.
  10. ^ a b c d e "「VIDEOGAME SELECTION 【02】『ドラゴンボールZ 超武闘伝』シリーズ シリーズプロデューサー 鈴木敏弘」; DRAGON BALL スーパーデータ DRAGON BALL VIDEO GAME DATA". 30th Anniversary Dragon Ball 超史集 - Super History Book - (in Japanese). Shueisha. 21 January 2016. pp. 184, 216. ISBN 978-4087925050.
  11. ^ a b "FMCC-5011 | DRAGON BALL Z Super Butouden 2". vgmdb.net. VGMdb. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  12. ^ "Line Up". Dragon Ball Game Portal (in Japanese). Bandai Namco Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2020-08-31. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  13. ^ a b c Rroyd-Y (September 30, 2010). "Test de Dragon Ball Z 2 : La Légende Saien sur SNES par jeuxvideo.com". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  14. ^ "ドラゴンボールＺ／超武闘伝２・ミュージック". Oricon. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  15. ^ Fuentes, Edgar S. (January 24, 2018). "Vandal Game Music: Dragon Ball Z. Los arreglos de Kenji Yamamoto - Dedicamos un repaso a las bandas sonoras de los juegos a cargo del ex músico de Toei Animation". Vandal (in Spanish). El Español. Archived from the original on 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  16. ^ "Nuestra Portada - Dragon Ball". Club Nintendo (in Spanish). Vol. 5, no. 3. Editorial Televisa [es]. March 1996. pp. 11–14.
  17. ^ Moore, Josuha (July 8, 2015). "American Pre-Orders Include Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2". Siliconera. Curse LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-12-25. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  18. ^ Zamorano, Luis López (October 10, 2015). "Dragon Ball Z Extreme Butoden, tráiler de Dragon Ball Z Super Butoden 2". HobbyConsolas. Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on 2020-12-25. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  19. ^ Lada, Jenny (October 27, 2015). "Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 Is The Most Unique Pre-order Bonus". Siliconera. Curse LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-12-25. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  20. ^ a b "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: ドラゴンボールZ 超武闘伝 2". Famitsu (in Japanese). ASCII Corporation. 1993. Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  21. ^ a b Hellot, Grégoire (February 1994). "Import Super Famicom (Version Japonaise): Cha-La, Head Cha-La! - Dragon Ball Z II Action Game". Joypad [fr] (in French). No. 28. Yellow Media [fr]. p. 128.
  22. ^ a b Prézeau, Olivier; Hellot, Grégoire (May 1994). "Import Super Famicom (Version Japonaise): Cha-La... Euh Non, Pardon "We Gotta Power!" - Dragon Ball Z 2: La Legende De Saiya". Joypad [fr] (in French). No. 31. Yellow Media [fr]. pp. 42–43.
  23. ^ a b Noak, Philip (April 1994). "Test Super Nintendo: Dragon Ball Z 2 (Import Game)". Mega Fun (in German). No. 19. Computec. p. 42. Archived from the original on 2020-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  24. ^ a b Lopes, Gonçalo (March 11, 2016). "Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 Review (SNES) - Just Saiyan". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived from the original on 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  25. ^ a b Delpierre, Christophe (June 1994). "Tests - Super Nintendo: Dragon Ball Z 2 - La Legende De Saien". Player One [fr] (in French). No. 43. Média Système Édition [fr]. pp. 34–35.
  26. ^ a b Sol, Bruno (June 1994). "Super Nintendo: Dragon Ball Z 2 - La Victoria Final". Superjuegos [es] (in Spanish). No. 26. Grupo Zeta. pp. 75–81.
  27. ^ a b Golder, Dave (March 1994). "Import Review: Dragon Ball Z 2". Super Play. No. 17. Future Publishing. pp. 38–39.
  28. ^ a b "Super Stars - Super Nintendo: La Lucha Ya Tiene Forma De "Manga" - Dragon Ball Z: La Leyenda De Saien". Nintendo Acción (in Spanish). No. 19. Hobby Press. June 1994. pp. 56–59.
  29. ^ a b Delpierre, Christophe (June 1994). "Selection - Super Nintendo - Dragon Ball Z 2". Nintendo Player [fr] (in French). No. 21. Média Système Édition [fr]. pp. 28–31.
  30. ^ "Weekly Top 30 (12月13日〜12月19日)". Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 266. 21 January 1994. pp. 14 to 15.
  31. ^ "Game Search". Game Data Library. Archived from the original on 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  32. ^ Walter, Joseph (April 24, 2019). "25 Classic 90s Dragon Ball Z Games That Only Super Fans Knew About - Dragon Ball came to the west rather late, meaning that fans missed out on some of the best DBZ games from the 90s". TheGamer. Archived from the original on 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  33. ^ "超絶 大技林 '98年春版: スーパーファミコン - ドラゴンボールZ 超武闘伝 2". PlayStation Magazine [ja] (Special) (in Japanese). Vol. 42. Tokuma Shoten Intermedia. 15 April 1998. p. 341. ASIN B00J16900U.
  34. ^ "ドラゴンボールZ 超武闘伝 2". 懐かしスーパーファミコンパーフェクトガイド [Perfect Guide of Nostalgic Super Famicom]. Perfect Guide (in Japanese). Vol. 2. Magazine Box. September 2016. p. 19. ISBN 9784866400082.
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