Console Fighting Games of 1995 - Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22
A second Dragon Ball Z title released in 1995 was Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22, releasing exclusively on the PlayStation in Japan. releases outside of Japan would follow in over the next couple of years.
The Android / Cell Saga is the best story arc in Dragon Ball Z, if not all of Dragon Ball.
Having been revisiting the series lately due to Akira Toriyama's shocking and untimely death, and comparing the story arcs of DBZ in their manga, original anime and Kai forms, I feel like despite the Saiyan / Vegeta and Namek / Freeza Sagas being far more iconic worldwide, it's the Android / Cell Saga that came out best in all incarnations. First off, there's the pacing:
In all versions, this is the longest arc, and yet it's paced much better than the previous two.
The Saiyan / Vegeta Saga spent 30 of its 48 manga chapters dealing with Nappa and Vegeta on Earth; Raditz lasted just 10 and then only 8 were spent in preparation for Nappa and Vegeta's arrival. The original anime gave Raditz 5 episodes, 16 episodes for preparation, and 14 episodes for the big battle. For the former, it felt like the middle portion ran far too short which caused the end to drag on, whereas in the latter it's the reverse: the middle lasted far longer than it needed to as several episodes were spent on filler bullshit like a bug planet, a second Oozaru transformation for Gohan, fighting phony Saiyans inside a simulation room, or a backstory for the Saiyans and the destruction of their planet that ends up at complete odds with actual canon. Only Kai got it down right, with the first half (Raditz + preparation) and the second half (Nappa and Vegeta) both lasting 8 episodes, making it the ideal version.
The Namek / Freeza Saga has 27 chapters at the beginning where everyone goes to Namek and hunts for the Dragon Balls, 22 chapters at the middle where the Ginyu Force is the focal point, and finally 38 chapters at the end where we get the battle with Freeza. So yeah, the end section dragged on longer than it probably needed to. The anime is much worse: 23 episodes beginning, 16 episodes middle, and 33 episodes end, with a fair amount in each section being pure filler such as Fake Namek, zany Bulma shenanigans, or diversion after diversion during Goku's fight with Freeza. Once again, Kai is the most preferable version, as it again combines the beginning and middle into a first half and the end into a second half, both lasting 19 episodes, dividing the arc into pre-Porunga and post-Porunga sections.
Then we have the Android / Cell Saga. 30 chapters at the beginning where Dr. Gero and his androids are the central threat, 30 chapters at the middle where Cell emerges as the true villain and goes through his transformations, and 31 chapters at the end centered around the Cell Games....and the last of those two can essentially be considered one elongated epilogue chapter starring Future Trunks, meaning it's more like 30/30/30. The original anime's equivalent is 23 episodes, 25 episodes, and 29 episodes respectively - it's almost perfect, with the only flaw being the end section needlessly being dragged out by two episodes more than is needed (one where Hercule and two anime-exclusive students of his hog the spotlight even when the ultimate outcome of their antics is obvious and one where Cell inexplicably spends the entire length charging up his final Kamehameha). Kai makes the pace perfect again, with 14 episodes at the beginning, 14 at the middle, and 16 at the end, with the last two being the wrap-up and epilogue respectively following the main action against Cell.
Beyond the pacing, there's the content. Not only does this arc hold some of the most interesting and influential ideas (the existence of alternate timelines, Dr. Gero's scientific genius, Vegeta's character development, Piccolo and Kami becoming one again, the depths of Gohan's power, etc.) and not only did Toriyama and his editors fluke their way into a remarkable degree of consistency despite nothing having been pre-planned, but almost every character gets something important to do. In the previous arcs, you could count the important heroes on one hand: Goku, Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, and the helpful comic relief (Yajirobe in the former, Bulma in the latter). They and the villains carried the arcs while everyone else were either a plot device (hi, King Kai!), sidelined, or made into cannon fodder. But here, in addition to now also having Vegeta and Future Trunks among the heroes, you get important and useful roles for not just those aforementioned characters but also Tien, Yamcha, Roshi, Dr. Brief, Kami, Dende, and even newcomer Hercule (poor Chi Chi and Chiaotzu, though).
And while the villains collectively don't quite measure up to the Freeza Empire in iconic status, they are still superbly designed and characterized, making them highly memorable. Cell himself has got to be the standout, being as good if not better a foe than Freeza. Let's just put it this way: once Goku went Super Saiyan, Freeza was done for, and his destructive tantrum that blew up Namek ultimately claimed no victims. With Cell, it looks like things are going the same way once Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2, but then his destructive tantrum that risks blowing up Earth actually does come at the cost of Goku's life! And then, Cell comes back, now as powerful as Super Saiyan 2 Gohan as he insta-kills Trunks, curb-stomps Vegeta, and breaks Gohan's arm before preparing to blow up Earth again, this time at no cost to himself! This was hands-down the biggest "Oh my God; holy shit; Game Over, man; there's no way out of this" situation in all of Dragon Ball, making the ensuing Kamehameha beam struggle where Gohan is guided by Goku's spirit all the more epic and satisfying. The anime and Kai made it even better, allowing Piccolo, Krillin, Tien and Yamcha to keep on trying to help against Cell despite how futile it was, inspiring a despondent Vegeta to get back into the fray and providing his crucial assist blast. It takes all of the Z-Fighters to save the world.
So that's my take. This story arc is just....well, perfect.
This one’s kind of a grab bag, like Episode 85 was, but the random stuff is better, so I guess it works out.
Let’s start with Piccolo training Gohan. They only have about a day to prepare, but Piccolo thinks he can get more out of Gohan. For one thing, he manages to get Gohan to use his “Ultimate/Mystic/Potential Unleashed” form that he used against Super Buu. Throughout this series, it’s been implied that Gohan just lost that ability, or forgot how to do it, but this time Piccolo just tells him to go ham and he does it on the first try.
Piccolo also tells Gohan he has two major weaknesses holding him back. First, Gohan uses his emotions to drive himself, which is fine to a certain point, but it can be dangerous to tie your power to your emotions. If he keeps thinking about his need to protect his family, it can make him afraid, or desperate, which can make him prone to mistakes, no matter how strong he gets.
Second, Gohan tends to get careless when he’s winning. Piccolo cites the Majin Buu fight, but I think we all know he’s only choosing that battle because the Cell Games are too painful an example. Of course, we’ve already seen a more recent instance of this when Gohan sparred with Krillin in episode 83. Krillin proved that he could outmanuever Gohan and score a ring-out, despite Gohan’s superior power.
This is best illustrated in the scene where Gohan manages to chop off Piccolo’s forearm, kind of like how Tagoma ripped it off back in Episode 22. That pretty much took Piccolo out of the fight back then, but Gohan doesn’t follow through with another attack the way Tagoma did. He just assumes he’s done, which gives Piccolo a chance to show off his new trick of firing ki blasts from severed limbs.
So Gohan is still making the same mistakes he did as a kid, while Piccolo is continuously adapting. He won’t be beaten the same way again.
Anyway, they plan to keep pushing to see if they can get Gohan to an even higher level before the Tournament, and Gohan suggests they work on some combo moves while they’re at it.
Meanwhile, in Universe 6, Cabba seeks out his old mentor from the Sadala Defense Force, Captain Renso. He asks him to join Team Universe 6, but Renso’s got a bum leg, and feels he would only slow the team down. Instead, he suggests that Cabba recruit his sister, Caulifla.
Cabba’s not too keen on that idea. While he’s confident in her fighting ability, they’ve never gotten along too well, mainly because Caulifla is the leader of a bunch of punks on the mean streets of Planet Sadala. Considering how shitty the U6 team was in the Destroyer Tournament, I’d say anything is an improvement. All I know is that Caulifla only makes a brief appearance in this episode, and she immediately became my favorite U6 character.
Meanwhile, Krillin and 18 are sparring in their backyard. 18 keeps whoopin’ his ass, and she’s already decided to claim his share of the nonexistent prize money.
Meanwhile, Trunks doesn’t know how to work a diaper.
But Vegeta does! Seriously, when did he get so good at this? I’m pretty sure he had Gohan give him lessons or something.
Beerus is annoyed that everyone is so care free about things, so he considers telling them about their universe possibly getting erased, if only so he won’t have to worry alone. But Whis warns him that Bulma will give him shit for it. And he’s right, she would. I mean, Beerus can blame Goku all he wants but Beerus could have stopped him if he gave a shit.
Meanwhile, Yamcha continues to fantasize about playing hard-to-get when Goku asks him to join the team. He’s starting to wonder why Goku hasn’t approached him already, but you kind of need to speak up if you want in this thing, man.
Anyway, fans complained about the terrible state of Yamcha’s apartment when this episode first aired, and I think the bigger issue is that the artists just blew off drawing his apartment. Like, this doesn’t look like there was any conscious decision to make it look fancy or crummy. There’s simply no aesthetic whatsoever. The furniture looks like it came from a motel, the chair looks like a child’s car seat, the bed looks like something out of a 1940′s cartoon, and there’s no door leading to the patio.
It’s the same problem we saw in Future Trunks’ bedroom at Capsule Corp. They just slapped some stuff together and called it done.
0:00 Pre-Stream Jams (Zone of the Enders: Fist of Mars music)
5:30 Advance Guardian Heroes
35:00 Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II
1:00:50 Ultimate Card Games
1:47:30 Virtua Tennis
2:22:00 Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack
2:42:10 Jet Grind Radio
2:56:10 ChuChu Rocket!
3:03:30 Sonic Battle
3:24:20 Astro Boy: Omega Factor
3:59:30 Mega Man Battle Network
4:28:40 Iridion 3D
4:57:30 Intermission
5:13:00 Mega Man Zero 2
5:39:50 Metroid Fusion
6:02:20 Sigma Star Saga
6:22:50 Scurge: Hive
6:31:20 Metalgun Slinger
6:41:30 Iridion II
6:57:00 Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars
7:34:00 End of Stream Jam
That alone is already hurting the game pretty badly, but then you also have to deal with the annoying gimmick this game added for fights. This leads to the game being more frustrating than fun. I will often try to pull off special moves, and fail about half the time. That inconsistency is found throughout the game. Trying the same move in Shin Butoden will often not lead to the same result, even though Shin Butoden politely tells you the commands for moves as each fight is being loaded. If I were to play, say, DBZ Super Butoden 2 on the SNES, I could pull off some Kamehamehas with Goku or Gohan just fine. The controls don't feel like they consistently respond well. Satan trying to rig fights in the tournament, and the rather poor AI you'll have to deal with in general, but let's get down to the essentials: how is the fighting?įor me: it's not good. I could go on about the goofy mode with Mr. It didn't have to be the deepest fighting game, after all, the earlier Butoden games on the SNES got by on their basic gameplay just well enough for me.Įventually, I got around to actually playing it, and.it's not quite what I had in mind. A fighting game with proper 2D stages, instead of dreadfully empty 3D backgrounds, and some damn ki blasts with proper explosions. I was basically hooked after seeing those, because the game looked like what Ultimate Battle 22 should have been. Years went by and some gameplay clips made it into Youtube. Granted, it was a similar intro to DBZ Ultimate Battle 22, just with some different editing. I don't remember there being a lot of footage of this game back then, but the intro fascinated me. And I got very curious about this game called Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butoden for the Sega Saturn. In light of the negative reactions DBZ Ultimate Battle 22 got, I remember searching looking up other DBZ video games.
Compilation of console fighting games released in 1995 and features Battle Arena Toshinden, Battle Arena Toshinden 2, Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22, Samurai Showdown III Blades of Blood, Virtua Fighter and more
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