Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World

As the final installment of the Dimps-flavour Dragon Ball Z fighting games on the Playstation 2, Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World aims to take the best features and elements from each of the previous games and create one last definitive entry in the Budokai series. This included parts taken from the original Budokai series, the PSP Shin Budokai series and the more recent Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit released on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The fighting mechanics work like a hybrid between Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 and the Shin Budokai games, taking the combo system from

 Budokai 3 and the aura dashing and deathmove canceling from the PSP releases. Also returning is the capsule system from past games in the series, though much simpler than before, with all capsules being purchased with in-game currency rather than hidden throughout the story mode. Additionally, brand new cutscenes like the ones seen in the original Budokai and Burst Limit are strewn throughout the story mode, which ranges from the beginning of Dragon Ball Z through Dragon Ball GT.

Graphically the game is quite possibly the best looking DBZ game yet, with the obvious exception of Burst Limit. It has lots of great effects and looks like it has had quite a tune-up since the last PS2 Budokai game.
         

List of Characters

Characters are listed with their available transformations/fusions in parentheses.
    

• Goku (Kaioken, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan 3, Super Saiyan 4, Vegito, Gogeta, Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta)
• GT Goku (Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 3, Super Saiyan 4)
• Kid Gohan (Unlock Potential) 
• Teen Gohan (Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2) 
• Gohan (Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Elder Kai Unlock Ability) 
• Great Saiyaman 
• Goten (Super Saiyan, Gotenks) 
• Vegeta (Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Majin Vegeta, Super Saiyan 4, Vegito, Gogeta, Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta) 
• Trunks (Super Saiyan) 
• Kid Trunks (Super Saiyan, Gotenks) 
• Krillin (Unlock Potential) 
• Piccolo (Fusion with Nail, Fusion with Kami) 
• Tien 
• Yamcha 
• Hercule (High Tension) 
• Videl 
• Great Saiyaman 2 
• Pan 
• Raditz 
• Nappa 
• Captain Ginyu
• Recoome 
• Frieza (2nd Form, 3rd Form, Final Form, 100% Full Power, Metal Frieza) 
• Android #16 
• Android #17 
• Android #18 
• Android #20 
• Cell (#17 Absorption, Perfect Form, Super Perfect Form) 
• Majin Buu 
• Super Buu (Absorption) 
• Kid Buu 
• Dabura 
• Cooler (Final Form, Metal Cooler) 
• Bardock 
• Broly (Legendary Super Saiyan) 
• Syn Shenron (Omega Shenron) 
• Saibaman
• Super Baby 2
• Super #17
• Janemba 
• Pikkon

    
Infinite World also has far more unlockable costumes than previous games, such as an angel halo for Goku and various styles of clothes for most of the cast.
  

Stages

Infinite World has battle locations from across the entire series, but it doesn't have every single one. The stages included in this release are:
  

• World Tournament Stage
• Hyperbolic Time Chamber
• Archipelago
• Urban Area
• Mountains
• Plains
• Planet Namek
• Cell Games Arena
• Supreme Kai's World
• Grandpa Gohan's House
• Inside Buu
• Red Ribbon Base

 
As with the previous games, most of these stages can be destroyed by ultimate techniques like Frieza's Death Ball or Vegeta's Big Bang Attack. 
 

Fighting System

 
The Budokai series has always had a very different battle system, growing progressively more refined as the years went on, finally culminating in Infinite World. 
  

Offense

The game uses two physical attack buttons (punch and kick), an energy blast button which handles death moves, ultimates, and ki blasts, and a guard button to handle defensive maneuvers. Different characters in the game can string together different combinations of punches and kicks for easy-to-execute combo strings. 
 
Certain punches or kicks in a given combo can be charged. If a fully charged punch or kick hits a blocking opponent, their guard will be broken and the offense can continue from there. Additionally, pressing the guard button while charging an attack will instantly return the character to a neutral state, allowing skilled players to string two completely different combos into a single series. This is the core of the game's fighting system. 
  

Ki and Defense

Players are also tasked with managing their ki while they battle, which is represented by seven yellow bars under the health meter. Ki is what allows players to execute deathmoves like the Kamehameha and various other high damage techniques, and it also affects the player's ability to use defensive abilities like dodging, aura guarding, and afterimage. Ki recovers to a certain point automatically, but can also be gained by landing punches and kicks, or by charging it manually. 
  
  Dodging allows players to negate chip damage and stop guard breaking attacks by pressing the guard button with good timing just before their opponent hits them. Aura guarding burns ki quickly, but makes the player completely impervious to everything except throws. Afterimage is a powerful defensive maneuver similar to a combo breaker that almost instantly moves players behind their opponent, allowing them to either knock them away or start a combo of their own. It takes three full ki bars to do this though, and if the opposing player has good reflexes, they can counter it with an afterimage of their own. If players get caught in a combo without enough energy to perform afterimage, they're completely defenseless, so much of the game's strategy revolves around managing ki relative to the opposing player. 
 

Deathmoves, Ultimates, and Transformations

The energy button handles all of these techniques. Pressing forward or backward in combination with the energy button will initiate one of two possible deathmoves. Each character has different deathmoves, and some characters have more than two at their disposal, so the player will have to choose two to fight with before entering the battle. Krillin, for example, has a Kamehameha, a Distructo Disc, and a Solar Flare that he can use, but players who select him will only get to use two in a single match. 
 
Certain characters can also transform by pressing down in combination with the energy button. With Vegeta, for example, in order to turn into a Super Saiyan, players would have to have at least four bars of ki and then press down with the energy button. In order to transform into a Super Saiyan 2, players would need at least 5 bars, and so forth. Transforming can greatly increase the amount of damage dealt, as well as make it easier to gain ki. It can even briefly stun opponents if used skillfully. 
 

Lastly, ultimates return once again to Infinite World as a sort of hybrid between Budokai 3 and Shin Budokai. Like in Budokai 3, certain characters (like Vegeta with his Big Bang Attack) have ultimates that trigger short cutscenes where a minigame takes place to determine how much damage will be inflicted on the defender. Some characters though -- particularly the new ones -- do their ultimates entirely in game, like Teen Gohan's Father-Son Kamehameha. No cutscene is engaged and the defender is given no opportunity to reduce damage. This is all on a character by character basis. Like in the previous games, ultimates often cause the camera to zoom to outer space so players can see the size of the massive fireball for dramatic effect.

Tier List

The following is the most recent tier list as of May 2010. It was taken from the Dragon Ball Competitive forum, and it can be viewed and discussed here.

Top

Yamcha  
Goku/GT Goku 
Pikkon 
Dabura 

High

GT Vegeta
Syn Shenron
Super Buu
Cell
Gohan
Janemba
Teen Gohan
Fusion Vegeta

Upper

Kid Buu
Fat Buu
Goten
Frieza
Super Baby
Bardok
Broly
Vegeta
Kid Trunks

Mid

Android 20 [In the air]
Cooler
Fusion Goku
Android 16
Krillin
Videl
Trunks
Recoome
Kid Gohan
Raditz
Ginyu
Nappa
Android 20 [Grounded]

Low

Great Saiyaman
Great Saiyaman 2
Piccolo
Pan
Super 17
Tien
Android 18
Android 17 
Recoome/Nappa
Saibaman
Mr. Satan