I wasn't really looking forward to another fighting game for the PSP...at least, not for awhile. I know that somewhere out there, Tekken: Dark Resurrection is lurking about and demanding attention for a pre-order somewhere down the road. But I was satisfied plenty with Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max (which, by the way, I am getting used to, even with the limited D-pad). However, Atari's decided to shake things up a bit with yet another Budokai release, this one for the PSP and titled Shin Budokai (and I was thinking, "Budokai for shins?!"), so I decided to pace myself and give it a fair shot. After all, if I could sit through the likes of Budokai Tenkaichi (slight ugh) and Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (major ugh), I could handle this. Right?

But, believe it or not, Dimps has done a nice thing here. Instead of trying to take the series to new heights that it didn't need to be taken to or stretching the credibility of the fighting engine to the point that it's shot all to hell, they've done something really surprising. They've kept it simple, sticking to the basics that the series was introduced upon in the first place. That means you've got a lot of fighting to do. And more fighting. And even more fighting. Yup, no flying around or scavenging through underwater environments or (thank God) unmercilessly trying to handle brawling six guys throwing things at you at once.

Of course, some may question this approach, but not to worry. There is an adjustable difficulty level that forces you to concentrate, either running around on the ground or floating in the air, as you dodge your opponent's counter-attacks and prep a few of your own. So I shouldn't exactly say the game is simple, by any means. Rather, it's simple in nature. You've got your punches, your kicks, your fireball attacks (which, with fireball and reverse fireball motions, become something even more powerful), as well as defensive moves such as charging-up and dodging incoming fire so you can set one all your own.

Don't be disappointed, though. This is exactly what the DBZ games need to be in nature. After all, isn't the Cartoon Network show merely built up to a series of fights, or with scenes that eventually lead to big, gigantic fights that end up being rather earth-shattering? Of course. So it's in Atari's best interest to keep it on a fan's level with brawling. And, surprisingly, the fighting works really well here, with a variety of characters to choose from (including, yup, Kararot!) and all sorts of match-ups to mix it up in.