Dragon Ball Z fans have the best options right now when it comes to videogames. Several years ago Atari introduced the Budokai series of Dragon Ball fighting games, and the series has evolved quite a bit since its humble origins. The Budokai series is arguably the best Dragon Ball fighting game franchise ever, but it's certainly got some shortcomings. One major issue that hardcore fighting game fans have had is simply that the Budokai series has little to no gameplay depth. We're talking about fans of DBZ who also happen to like solid fighting games. The Budokai series has nothing to offer for these gamers.

This is where Super DBZ comes into play. Bandai Namco, in association with Atari, went to former Street Fighter creator Noritaka Funamizu's new Crafts & Meister development house. The result is a game that plays very much like a Street Fighter version of Dragon Ball Z. After a successful arcade run in Japan, the game is heading to the PlayStation 2 in the form of Super DBZ.

We've already covered Super DBZ and Budokai Tenkaichi 2 with in-depth previews in the past. Now we're ready to take a look at both upcoming Dragon Ball Z titles to determine which one is right for you. We won't be comparing the two in some sort of competition because both games are good in their own right. This feature is more about the differences between the two titles and the audience each game will appeal to.

Graphics

Budokai Tenkaichi 2 - The graphics in the first three Budokai titles were solid for the PlayStation 2, but they certainly weren't amazing. Last year, when the first Budokai Tenkaichi released, it was one of the best looking PS2 titles out there and easily the best looking Dragon Ball Z game we've ever seen. Budokai Tenkaichi 2 follows the graphic excellence of the original with some amazing anime-like graphics on the PS2. We're not talking about simple cel-shading, the game looks like a high resolution version of the anime.

Super DBZ - While not holding the graphical prowess of Tenkaichi 2, Super DBZ isn't a poor looking fighting game. The special attacks have some nice effects added on to them, and the game looks and feels very much like the Dragon Ball anime series. It's not pushing the abilities of the PlayStation 2, but from talking with the folks at Namco Bandai, it seems as though the next installment of the series will be on next generation hardware, so the visuals should be getting a solid upgrade at that time.

Characters

Budokai Tenkaichi 2 - This article is not meant to be a competition between these two DBZ titles. However, in terms of the sheer number of characters included in each game, Budokai Tenkaichi 2 simply obliterates Super DBZ. With over 100 characters from every aspect of Dragon Ball (the original series, DBZ, DBGT and the movies), this game is packed with characters. There is a downside to including so many characters though, but we'll get to that in the gameplay section.

Super DBZ - Unlike the 100 plus characters featured in Tenkaichi 2, Super DBZ only features 18 characters. Like any hardcore fighting game where gameplay is the most important aspect of the title, the smaller cast of characters doesn't automatically mean Super DBZ is a lesser title than Tenkaichi 2. To its credit, the list of characters has a nice assortment to it, including: Majin Buu, Gohan, Krillin, Android 18, Frieza, Vegeta, Cell, Ultimate Gohan, Trunks, Goku, Chi-Chi, Piccolo, Android 16, Android 17, Majin Vegeta, King Piccolo, Cyborg Frieza and Videl. This is also the first time Chi-Chi has been playable in a DBZ fighter, and Cyborg Frieza was newly designed by Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball.

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