There comes a time when every kid out there must grow up. There comes a time when watching anime and playing games just isn't enough. Luckily for us, that time isn't quite here yet. However, it is time for the multitude of Dragon Ball Z fans, hungry for another fighting game from Atari, to finally grow out of the Budokai series. Later this summer, Atari will release Super DBZ for the PlayStation 2. This is the game that all of the people who disliked Budokai have been waiting for.

I won't lie to you, I'm one of those DBZ fans that couldn't stand the Budokai series. Unfortunately for Atari, I like fighting games more than I like DBZ, so giving me a DBZ fighter that doesn't hold a candle to virtually any other non-licensed fighting game just won't cut it. On the other hand, there are an amazing number of DBZ fans who don't care if a DBZ fighter can compare to Tekken or Virtua Fighter. All they care about are the number of characters in the game and how close the game looks and feels to the anime.

Thankfully, Atari and its Japanese partner Namco Bandai have realized that the DBZ community is not made up solely of people who don't care about the depth of a fighting game. The two companies went to Street Fighter creator Noritaka Funamizu and his newly created development studio, Crafts & Meister, to create what DBZ and fighting game fans have been waiting for: Super DBZ.

If you're unaware of what Super DBZ has to offer, you can check out my pre-E3 impressions of the game. This article will be taking a closer look at Super DBZ for all of the hardcore fighting game fans out there. I spent a great deal of time with the game at E3 2006, and while it still wasn't enough time to truly break down the fighting system, I was able to gather a better picture of how Super DBZ stacks up to the likes of Street Fighter and Tekken.

Unlike the Budokai Tenkaichi 2 demo at E3, the Super DBZ build Atari was showing off was near final and featured all 18 playable characters. The list includes: 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. All of the characters start with a base set of ratings for attack power, throwing ability, action ability and ki power. While you can upgrade and customize each character as you progress through the single player aspects of the game, I have listed all of the base character stats on the next two pages.