Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi

 PlayStation 3
User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 108 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 108
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 108
  3. Negative: 44 out of 108
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  1. VotableDread
    Mar 4, 2012
    3
    Just execute chain after chain after chain after chain after chain after chain after chain after chain after chain after chain after chain after chain...
  2. natsad11
    Apr 4, 2012
    0
    this is the game most nullllllllllllllllll I've never played better dbz BT3, BT2, BT.
    fighting are not as spectacular despite graphisement succeeded, still 2D.
  3. MJBB
    Nov 17, 2012
    3
    As a huge DBZ fan this is one of the games that made me jump for joy when being announced and disappointed me so much when playing. The first DBZ which I stopped playing after not only a month ...
    Normally DBZ game lasts me the whole year till a new comes out .. pity Graphics is a true orgasm: OUTSTANDING 11/10
    Gameplay: -1/10 (Which is one of the most important aspects of the game, has    As a huge DBZ fan this is one of the games that made me jump for joy when being announced and disappointed me so much when playing. The first DBZ which I stopped playing after not only a month ...
    Normally DBZ game lasts me the whole year till a new comes out .. pity Graphics is a true orgasm: OUTSTANDING 11/10
    Gameplay: -1/10 (Which is one of the most important aspects of the game, has always been)

    NO THANKS !    … Expand
  4. ilovegames32
    Jun 24, 2012
    3
    Ok where to begin.....I got it:remember those ps2 classic DB games? You know those classic DB games you enjoyed with friends whether you played the 2D/3D version those past games let you do what this game don't not...use ACTUAL skill when playing...sigh...sadly matches(whether fight against a person or CPU) is SOLELY BASED ON LUCK....sigh...its a button smashers dream where matches areOk where to begin.....I got it:remember those ps2 classic DB games? You know those classic DB games you enjoyed with friends whether you played the 2D/3D version those past games let you do what this game don't not...use ACTUAL skill when playing...sigh...sadly matches(whether fight against a person or CPU) is SOLELY BASED ON LUCK....sigh...its a button smashers dream where matches are based on quick punches and hoping your opponents never press the same button when a special attack/wave is initiated...sigh...you want to launch ki attacks of any kind while up close & personal? Sorry but u must first initiate a scene first & pray your opponent isn't pressing the same button...oh but wait you can freely use any ki attacks but ONLY if your inside a blast zone?why do I have to be a mile away to freely use ki attacks without initiating a scene? Kind lots of characters were blasted in the face from atleast 3 feet away in the show but not here...sign...I like the giant ape battles but the where left without the essence of what made those battles intense...being able to get up close & personal but you can only use weak ki blast until you stun them then your free to assault a giant finger?...sigh...battles are EXTREMELY REPETITIVE after at least 20
    Minutes of spamming uninteresting moves until u realize that one press of a button easily leads up to a thirty hit combo...matches can end very quickly & you soon realize special attacks are pointless...but my main gripe about the combat was the fact that you can ONLY use your finisher attacks( I.e sport bomb)when your opponent's has 10,000 or less damage!?...sigh...most fights end with you accidentally beating your opponent's instead of the way you want...the graphics are very impressive & the characters looks are faithful to the show I also liked hero mode which lets you create a character which is a first in the series but clothing customizing is limited but well worth using! All in all its to flawed a game with repetitive fighting,boring gameplay coupled with an inability to actually guard(certain areas you can block but still take 2,000 plus damage defeats the purpose of using it)makes this a broken & terribly flawed game! Burst limit may have few characters but at least its entertaining even DB raging blast is better..AVOID AT ALL COST!!!    … Expand
  5. DarkAlmasy
    Nov 27, 2012
    1
    1. As far as I can tell, the only race you can play as is (Human?) or a Saiyan without a tail. (In Hero Mode) Note that I haven't gotten very far, but all of the unlockable items I've found are clothing, hair, and emblems for your uniform.

    2. The Boss fights are a bit hairy, they're based on Quick-Time button presses, and dodging something that can hit about half of the field of view.    1. As far as I can tell, the only race you can play as is (Human?) or a Saiyan without a tail. (In Hero Mode) Note that I haven't gotten very far, but all of the unlockable items I've found are clothing, hair, and emblems for your uniform.

    2. The Boss fights are a bit hairy, they're based on Quick-Time button presses, and dodging something that can hit about half of the field of view.

    3. The Ultimate Attack cannot be used unless either you or the enemy is in the red for health, and your "spirit" gauge doesn't unlock the final 2 charges (which you have to charge up after they unlock) until that requirement is met. 4. There is no skill to launching your finishers, no button combinations, no special attack spamming like the old games. It's pretty much just shooting energy blasts at the opponent when you're out of Melee range, and getting back into Melee range when you hit a combo, which teleports you in and you choose either Melee combo, or Energy combo at that point.

    5. The movement is clunky, slow, and drags fights down, you can't charge your opponent in Melee range, and the movements are far from smooth.

    6. Every online match I've attempted to complete ends in a connection time-out.

    They essentially just made it melee/energy ball spam turning them into combos, by the time you get to see your "Finisher" you've likely finished off the enemy anyway.    … Expand
  6. morbeo
    Oct 30, 2013
    1
    This "game" is a technical demo at best. I don't know how the testers passed this game as playable and entertaining, but the interactivity is less than in Sumotori. As the other sane and genuinely disappointed fans I can only put up a good word for the graphics and visual effects. Everything else about this game, and I do mean everything, is blatant insult to the players, the genre and theThis "game" is a technical demo at best. I don't know how the testers passed this game as playable and entertaining, but the interactivity is less than in Sumotori. As the other sane and genuinely disappointed fans I can only put up a good word for the graphics and visual effects. Everything else about this game, and I do mean everything, is blatant insult to the players, the genre and the franchise. No redeemable qualities whatsoever. I'd give an arm an a leg for cutscenes like in Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and the fighting system from Tenkaichi Budokai 3.… Expand
  7. trojanz
    Dec 6, 2013
    1
    its sad how they try to improve game quality but there's nothing like the classic budokai tenkaichi 3 for ps2.
    In this i click on 10 buttons max until combat is over chain ,chain chain etc.
  8. bigboss1964
    Oct 21, 2014
    4
    Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi

    Game-play:At the start the game play is good but it is very repetitive that you are going to hate it there are some good ideas the all of them are executed poorly. Story:The classic DBZ story. Graphics:The graphics for some reason look worst that older game of the series. Notes:The Hero mode is the best thing about this game with a short but    Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi

    Game-play:At the start the game play is good but it is very repetitive that you are going to hate it there are some good ideas the all of them are executed poorly.

    Story:The classic DBZ story.

    Graphics:The graphics for some reason look worst that older game of the series.

    Notes:The Hero mode is the best thing about this game with a short but good story,rent the game only to play the hero mode.    … Expand
  9. JamieB
    Dec 9, 2011
    2
    This has to be one of the worst Dragonball Z games i have ever played, and i have played most of them since i was so willing to buy this despite the £38 price tag (Buyers remorse)
    Positives first, the graphics are nice, good scenery, good models, good effects on the ki charging and the power ups and the energy attacks, but that is it.
    The negatives, well lets just say    This has to be one of the worst Dragonball Z games i have ever played, and i have played most of them since i was so willing to buy this despite the £38 price tag (Buyers remorse)
    Positives first, the graphics are nice, good scenery, good models, good effects on the ki charging and the power ups and the energy attacks, but that is it.
    The negatives, well lets just say everything else is a negative.
    There is no freedom in the fighting, you are almost forced to continuously use combo attacks which initiate themselves after the shorts amount of punching (3) this is the only was to gather enough energy to fire up a Kamehameha wave, which is sad because the amount of damage the punches do means the fight is almost over after 2 Kamehameha waves.
    the camera is shoddy and the story is horrendously boring, don't get me wrong i love DBZ and the story, but something is missing here.

    the world travelling system is boring too, and pointless. The fights are always the same no matter who you are and you are always forced to do the same horrible combo's (watching goku chase after a number of different enemies he has just punched becomes boring even before the end of the saiyan saga.

    All in all, a boring game unfortunatly, DBZ raging blast series was better, and burst limit was better than that.    … Expand
  10. John_Muller
    Sep 10, 2012
    3
    It was such the disapointment I had with this game that I had to create my account in Metacritic only to tell other people to stay away from this thing. I am a fan of DBZ and I loved the Budokai Tenkaichi series, it is hard to believe that there are companies that doesn't strive for improvement, that once they had accomplish a good game (Budokai Tenckaichi series) they are happy with thisIt was such the disapointment I had with this game that I had to create my account in Metacritic only to tell other people to stay away from this thing. I am a fan of DBZ and I loved the Budokai Tenkaichi series, it is hard to believe that there are companies that doesn't strive for improvement, that once they had accomplish a good game (Budokai Tenckaichi series) they are happy with this kind of garbage.

    The good part are the visuals, they are great, but the gameplay is incredibly, and I repeat, INCREDIBLY BORING, nothing compared with the agility and the fast pace of the BT series, it is repetitive, it is slow, if you only push one button continuously it is enough to win battles; also, to win a battle you don't need skill, you need luck because the game forces you into clashes and the clashes are won by luck.

    I dream to play another great DBZ game, I hope Ban Dai steps away from these horrible series and finally bring us something worth the money, wouldn't it be good for their business? It would be as simple as taking DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and make it have the visuals of the current generation consoles, that's it, even if that game wasn't perfect, it is better in 95% of its content than this one.    … Expand
  11. Bce127
    Jan 23, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm just gonna start by saying more needs to be added to the dbz series I'm tired of the same battles with the same villains. This was a terrible game the game play is limited and the fighting is boring, I hate the fact that I wasted my money. The only good part was the fact that I could create my own fighter but fighting with any character was dreadful this is just a modified game of "rock,paper,scissors" and is based all on luck. The fact that I didn't even know how to use my ultimate moves at first is terrible and should never happen. This game was so bad it makes you think that the newer ones coming out in the future will be just as bad because of that reason I cannot see myself buying another dbz game. Nice graphics by the way, the gameplay just really threw me off and pissed me off.… Expand
  12. Fastakira
    Oct 25, 2011
    4
    Ultimate disappointment, ultimate letdown. I have played all dragon Ball fighting games, including SuperNinendo, PlayStation 1, 2, and 3, Saturn, Xbox360 even Arcade editions- This is the most boring and horrible of all times. Gameplay is terrible, almost depressing. It is not fan like Budokai 2 and 3, it has not the freedom and depth of tenkaichi 3. The only good thing about this game areUltimate disappointment, ultimate letdown. I have played all dragon Ball fighting games, including SuperNinendo, PlayStation 1, 2, and 3, Saturn, Xbox360 even Arcade editions- This is the most boring and horrible of all times. Gameplay is terrible, almost depressing. It is not fan like Budokai 2 and 3, it has not the freedom and depth of tenkaichi 3. The only good thing about this game are the visuals, and even this is arguable. The story mode is as boring as counting clouds, repetitive, slow... What the **** is this, seriously. Please give us a Tenkaichi 3 in HD. I want my money back.… Expand
  13. masuraofire
    Jun 6, 2013
    3
    A real hit and miss. The expectation was another simple and fun fighting game for the Tenkaichi series... but the game is really based on strategy instead of basic fighting which DBZ is known for. The gameplay is stiff and a bore, customization is very limited, creating a custom character is also limited. Pretty much the worse DBZ game ever made in the Tenkaichi series. Only good thingA real hit and miss. The expectation was another simple and fun fighting game for the Tenkaichi series... but the game is really based on strategy instead of basic fighting which DBZ is known for. The gameplay is stiff and a bore, customization is very limited, creating a custom character is also limited. Pretty much the worse DBZ game ever made in the Tenkaichi series. Only good thing about the game is the music... that's it.… Expand
  14. CHEESEDBEEF
    Mar 2, 2015
    4
    I was looking forward to a new DBZ game. budokai 2 + 3 are my personal favourites, followed by tenkaichi, so I was ecstatic when I heard there was an ULTIMATE Tenkaichi that I hadn't played.
    What a let down it was. The only thing I can compare it to is... nothing actually. gameplay reminded me mostly of tenkaichi with much better graphics, but there isn't really any skill involved. press    I was looking forward to a new DBZ game. budokai 2 + 3 are my personal favourites, followed by tenkaichi, so I was ecstatic when I heard there was an ULTIMATE Tenkaichi that I hadn't played.
    What a let down it was. The only thing I can compare it to is... nothing actually. gameplay reminded me mostly of tenkaichi with much better graphics, but there isn't really any skill involved. press melee attack and watch an animation similar to VIDEL RUSH! which only hits half the time. Ki blasts are cool and the counter system works well, but it doesn't feel challenging or fun at all. everything you do leads to an animation, and doesn't feel like your playing much. want to see your favourite character fight? press a button and watch a cutscene its that simple. simple and boring. flick the right analog in any direction to use a super and press it in for your ultimate. some might find this a nice intro to the DBZ gaming universe, but they would have to be easily pleased by repetitive animations. ill give it a 4 for the nice graphics overhaul and ki blast mechanics.    … Expand
  15. sapuramura
    May 30, 2014
    3
    One of the worst DBZ games ever made, one of the worst anime games ever made and one of the worst this gen games.
    Whole game consists of interactive cutscenes, this is not something anyone would like to see in FIGHTING game.
  16. Chris1
    Jun 22, 2015
    2
    This game is **** This game is just Rock,Paper,Scissor Simulator 2011. They left out so many characters like why can i play as ssj gohan but not as regular gohan?. They also left out many things in the story mode like the fight against super 17. There is also this hero mode which is just **** You don't have many choices to customize your Character.
  17. Ragnamaxima
    Oct 16, 2017
    3
    The biggest aspect that Ultimate Tenkaichi has going for is it´s ambition to try something really different for the fighting formula established in the Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi, but at the end it falls apart. The combat barely has a significant strategy, the cutscenes animations are awful and hero mode is so under developed that they might as well hadn´t implemented at all. It´s notThe biggest aspect that Ultimate Tenkaichi has going for is it´s ambition to try something really different for the fighting formula established in the Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi, but at the end it falls apart. The combat barely has a significant strategy, the cutscenes animations are awful and hero mode is so under developed that they might as well hadn´t implemented at all. It´s not all bad though, the graphics themselves are great and the OST is solid, though repetitive. However these are minor good things in an otherwise disappointing experience for DBZ fans… Expand
  18. Bigboss1993
    Jul 7, 2020
    3
    Juego bastante mediocre en todos los sentidos la verdad. Gráficamente es bastante bueno y tiene buenas animaciones. El modo historia es bastante interesante como tal y tiene partes que se muestran de una manera diferente de como nos tenían acostumbrados. Pero por todo lo demás...el juego es un insulto a los aficionados de los tenkaichi o los budokai. Es un juego que no se puede decir bienJuego bastante mediocre en todos los sentidos la verdad. Gráficamente es bastante bueno y tiene buenas animaciones. El modo historia es bastante interesante como tal y tiene partes que se muestran de una manera diferente de como nos tenían acostumbrados. Pero por todo lo demás...el juego es un insulto a los aficionados de los tenkaichi o los budokai. Es un juego que no se puede decir bien de que género se trata ya que a esto no se le puede llamar juego de lucha, se parecería más casi a una aventura gráfica. Ese es su gran problema, la forma de combatir es extremadamente simple y basada en una especie de cara y cruz. Parece más un juego de móviles que un juego sucesor de los tenkaichi...una autentica decepción. Nos encontramos con diferentes personajes pero evidentemente sin diferencias palpables entre si debido a su "sistema de combate".
    Un juego muy mediocre y de los peores basados en el gran manganime creado por akira toriyama. Aquí no pueden haber opiniones las cuales a este juego se le de un 10. Es algo totalmente estúpido y demuestra que quien pusiera una nota así solo quiere inflar la nota y que en ningún momento ha intentado ser objetivo.    … Expand
  19. hongquanco
    Jul 22, 2020
    0
    You need to forget about the title of this game because it was not a sequel of Budokai Tenkaichi. This game is not a fighting game it was a QTE simulator. Too much QTE and QTE all the time, you defeat a boss but you die but QTE. The worst game ever.

Awards & Rankings

40
#40 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2011
9
#9 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 26
  3. Negative: 4 out of 26
  1. Impulsegamer
    Dec 3, 2012
    70
    At the end of the day, Dragonball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi is an interesting game that provides plenty of fan service. If you have never played the series before, you might be confused by the over the top battles that for me is reminiscent of the excellent TV series Monkey Magic. Unfortunately like most Dragonball Z games, Ultimate Tenkaichi is a little like rock paper scissors when it comes to combat that focuses more on luck opposed to skill. Nonetheless, it's a fun romp through the Dragonball Z universe!
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  2. Armchair Empire
    Mar 21, 2012
    65
    In the end, I found myself sticking to the story mode more than anything (which was short, but decent enough), but I just couldn't get into the game. I have to commend Spike on replicating the look of the anime, but I felt I was left with a shallow experience. Hardcore DBZ fans will probably find it the game worth it and battling fellow fans online might be a good way to pass the time.
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  3. Worth Playing
    Dec 28, 2011
    50
    Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi is a beautiful-looking game on the outside but downright ugly on the inside.
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