Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 first-look

If going portable with your DBZ isn’t a priority (as in, PSP’s imminent Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team which we also did a recent preview of, which you can findhere), or if for some reason you just MUST own every DBZ game around, Raging Blast 2 will soon satisfy those cravings on PS3 and 360. With such a massive universe to mine, it’s nice to see the latest game sucking in even more characters, powers, and modes from the canon and digitizing them into glistening, aura-emanating nuggets of DBZ love.

Raging Blast 2 seeks to give more of just about everything. It sports an absolutely staggering cast of characters – roughly twenty more than the first Raging Blast, putting the total up to somewhere around ninety characters. It also sports a character encyclopedia in case fans need to brush up on their lore or just enjoy reminiscing on favorite fighters. In order to magnify the focus on characters, the art style has been changed slightly – it has a semi-cel-shaded look, but with sharp black outlines to make the characters really “pop” visually. We noticed the difference – it made the battles look just that much better. If that isn’t enough of a feast for eyeballs to devour, the game is also going to include a thirty minute movie that fans have never seen before – it’s been nearly impossible to locate outside of Japan, so that’s quite a treat to throw in as a bonus.

Above: KNEEEE PUUUUUNCH

The new Galaxy mode lays out interconnecting pathways across galaxies, allowing you to plan out a storyline by choosing which galaxies to travel to and which characters to fight. Each galaxy has a unique set of challenges, making every encounter different. For versus combat, the World Tournament is the way to go, where you’ll fight against every other DBZ fan and climb the ranks and try for the coveted number one rank in the world.

Above: Okay, who hasn't wanted to punch someone so hard they fly into a wall and create a crater of shattered stone (or ice, as in this case)?

The new abilities that rev-up the fights to absurd degrees are the High Tension and Raging Soul effects, which get built up during combat and allow you to activate super powers, transformations, and all manner of badassery. During these super-charged moments, environmental effects amplify the feeling of power – wind and rocks fly up from the earth and of course crazy stylized backgrounds will make you want to scream “WAAAAAGH!”

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 is set to release on November 2.

Above: A closer look at the sharply defined new character art. Looking snappy!

Oct 8, 2010