[GameSpot] - After 15 Years, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi Is Finally Being Revived

[343iBot]

After more than 15 years, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi is getting a revival. Announced at the Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2023 event, Bandai Namco's reveal for the game started with a highlight reel of previous games in the series and culminated with a brief glimpse of Dragon Ball protagonist Goku preparing for battle and powering up to Super Saiyan Blue.

Beyond that, Bandai Namco is keeping a tight lid on any other details, such as release date, platforms, or which one of its studios is handling development duties. While there have been a lot of Dragon Ball Z games over the years, the Budokai Tenkaichi series has been a cult-classic thanks to its intense 3D action gameplay and groundbreaking visuals at the time. Developer Spike Chunsoft was responsible for producing the series, which had infamously stacked and broken rosters, and the first game arrived in 2005 for the PS2.

Two more sequels would quickly follow, and spin-offs included Ultimate Tenkaichi for Xbox 360 and PS3, Tenkaichi Tag Team for the PlayStation Portable, and even a Kinect game that most Dragon Ball fans would like to forget about. While Dragon Ball fighting games of the 2010s received a more mixed reception, the 2020s have mostly seen a drastic improvement in quality. Dragon Ball FighterZ from Arc System Works is widely regarded as the best fighting game in the entire franchise, while Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is an action-RPG that chronicles the entire history of Goku.

The game recently received a current-gen upgrade on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and a second season of DLC was announced for it. The fourth DLC expansion focuses on Goku's father Bardock and his desperate race against time to save planet Vegeta from being destroyed by Frieza--and spoilers for a 33-year-old anime special--this doesn't end well for him or his entire species.

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