Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World
Encyclopedia
is a video game for the PlayStation 2
based on the anime
and manga
series Dragon Ball
. The game was developed by Dimps
and published in North America by Atari
and in Europe and Japan by Namco Bandai under the Bandai label. It was released in North America
on November 4, 2008, in Japan on December 4, 2008, in Europe on December 5, 2008. It is the last Dragon Ball Z game to be released on the PlayStation 2 console.
The game is a fighting game, the player pits their character against other characters controlled by the in game AI or by another player, which depends on the mode that the player or players are in. The Dragon Mission game mode features other gameplay elements, making the gameplay less linear. Within a week of the game's initial release in Japan, it sold 76,452 units. The game received mixed reviews, with some of video games publications commenting on the similarities between other games from Dragon Ball Z.
The game's mechanics are essentially the same as the Budokai
games, with some elements carried over from Burst Limit
. Players take control of and battle various characters from the Dragon Ball franchise. 42 characters are playable, in comparison with Budokai 3, which had thirty-eight characters in its roster.
The story mode, called Dragon Mission, is displayed as a map with various objective missions icons that retell some of the battles within Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. Players take control of their icon, a Goku avatar, by walking or running to an available mission icon. These missions range from standard and timed endurance battles. Other missions include mini games such as on-foot searches, races to reach a destination or find an item, timed button sequence responders and first person shooters.
Skill capsules are carried over from the Budokai games. They allow players to customize characters with a variety of special techniques and attributes. The capsules can be bought with Zeni, and the more of the same capsule a player buys, the stronger their effects become. This differs from the Budokai games, where skills had to be placed multiple times on a character for them to become stronger.
A mode called "Fighter's Road" becomes available after certain goals are met. Players participate in a series of battles on four of the maps from the Dragon Mission mode. Like Dragon Mission, players are rewarded a certain amount of Zeni after every victory. They are also rewarded more Zeni according to how many battles they've won when they exit.
The game was first announced in August 2008 by Atari's French website. The announcement stated that the game was in development by Dimps
and would retain many of the qualities found in the Budokai series, yet they would include new innovations such as the Dragon Mission mode and a simplified combat system from Burst Limit. It was also promised that the game's roster would include up to forty playable characters, not including transformations and was given a European release date of sometime in December of that year. Included with the announcement were several screenshots which revealed gameplay of the combat system and four of the mini-games from both the Saiyan and Android sagas. This was followed by an announcement posted on Atari's North American page revealing that they would retain the Infinite World title and a release date sometime in November. Around the same time, V Jump announced the game would be released in Japan and that the game would also utilize the Infinite World title. In September, more information was released stating that the capsule system would be brought back and the audio would include the both English and Japanese voice talent. In October, Famitsu posted more screenshots revealing more mini-games within the Frieza and Cell sagas. On October 15, Atari released a press statement announcing that the game was completed. A few days later the game was unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show
.
According to producer Riyo Mito, the game's title Infinite World implies the immense gameplay of the epic Dragon Ball universe within the scope of the game's Dragon Mission mode. The game was specifically chosen for the PlayStation 2 to target fans that did not have access to the PS3
and Xbox 360
consoles to play the previous title, Burst Limit, at the time.
on January 7, 2009, while the theme songs were release as a single by King Records on Christmas Day 2008.
on November 4, 2008, in Japan on December 4, 2008, in Europe on December 5, 2008. Following its release, Infinite World went on to become the second top-selling game in Japan, selling 76,452 units the first week in the country right behind Professor Layton and the Final Time Journey. It was reported that the game, along with Backyard Baseball
and Alone in the Dark, helped Atari out of their financial slump with a net 44.5 percent increase.
Despite its sales, the game received mixed to poor reviews and earned aggregated scores of 48/100 on Metacritic
, 49.82% on Game Rankings
, and a 6.4 on GameStats. Greg Miller of IGN
called the gameplay repetitive and concluded his review stating "Do not play Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World." McKinley Noble of GamePro
called the Dragon Mission mode too daunting and compared the game's time rings to those of Superman 64
. Yet it was still called a satisfying game for true "hardcore" fans of the show. Dakota Grabowski of GameZone stated that the game "couldn’t be anymore insipid even if it tried". Robert Workman of GameDaily called the quests lame, the mini-games ridiculously bad, and the game itself boring. He went on to suggest that players looking for a Dragon Ball Z game buy an earlier title.
However, a few critics were more generous to the game. Chris Selogy of Gamer 2.0 said that "for a PlayStation 2 game, Infinite World looks fine for the most part. It’s not going to be the best looking PS2 game you’ve ever seen, but it captures the DBZ style and looks okay."
René Giefing of GamerXP referred to the game as entertaining. Jesús Bella Ceacero of 3DJuegos stated that the game was "a good try to imitate the Burst Limit's combat style". William van Dijk Martín of MeriStation felt that it was a fair adaptation, but the Dragon Mission mode was not enough. He also stated that the game was good and had nothing to do with the third installments of the Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi series. Frank van Aken of Gamer.nl remarked that if there was an award to give the game, it would be for the storyline within the game. Yet he expressed a dislike for the mini-games as he considered them "terrible" and not fun.
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
based on the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
. The game was developed by Dimps
Dimps
is an Osaka, Japan-based video game development studio with an additional office in Tokyo, Japan. Employing a staff of 218 people, it is known for developing such games as the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai trilogy for the PlayStation 2, and the Sonic the Hedgehog games specific to the Game Boy Advance and...
and published in North America by Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
and in Europe and Japan by Namco Bandai under the Bandai label. It was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on November 4, 2008, in Japan on December 4, 2008, in Europe on December 5, 2008. It is the last Dragon Ball Z game to be released on the PlayStation 2 console.
The game is a fighting game, the player pits their character against other characters controlled by the in game AI or by another player, which depends on the mode that the player or players are in. The Dragon Mission game mode features other gameplay elements, making the gameplay less linear. Within a week of the game's initial release in Japan, it sold 76,452 units. The game received mixed reviews, with some of video games publications commenting on the similarities between other games from Dragon Ball Z.
Gameplay
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (series)
The Dragon Ball Z: Budokai games are a series of fighting games based on the Dragon Ball media franchise.- Gameplay :The Budokai series plays like a typical 3-D fighting game. As well as including the regular punch and kick buttons, there is the ability to shoot Ki blasts. which can also be used in...
games, with some elements carried over from Burst Limit
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
is a video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles based on the anime and manga series Dragon Ball. The game was developed by Dimps and published in North America and Australia by Atari, and in Japan and Europe by Namco Bandai under the Bandai label...
. Players take control of and battle various characters from the Dragon Ball franchise. 42 characters are playable, in comparison with Budokai 3, which had thirty-eight characters in its roster.
The story mode, called Dragon Mission, is displayed as a map with various objective missions icons that retell some of the battles within Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. Players take control of their icon, a Goku avatar, by walking or running to an available mission icon. These missions range from standard and timed endurance battles. Other missions include mini games such as on-foot searches, races to reach a destination or find an item, timed button sequence responders and first person shooters.
Skill capsules are carried over from the Budokai games. They allow players to customize characters with a variety of special techniques and attributes. The capsules can be bought with Zeni, and the more of the same capsule a player buys, the stronger their effects become. This differs from the Budokai games, where skills had to be placed multiple times on a character for them to become stronger.
A mode called "Fighter's Road" becomes available after certain goals are met. Players participate in a series of battles on four of the maps from the Dragon Mission mode. Like Dragon Mission, players are rewarded a certain amount of Zeni after every victory. They are also rewarded more Zeni according to how many battles they've won when they exit.
Development
Dimps
is an Osaka, Japan-based video game development studio with an additional office in Tokyo, Japan. Employing a staff of 218 people, it is known for developing such games as the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai trilogy for the PlayStation 2, and the Sonic the Hedgehog games specific to the Game Boy Advance and...
and would retain many of the qualities found in the Budokai series, yet they would include new innovations such as the Dragon Mission mode and a simplified combat system from Burst Limit. It was also promised that the game's roster would include up to forty playable characters, not including transformations and was given a European release date of sometime in December of that year. Included with the announcement were several screenshots which revealed gameplay of the combat system and four of the mini-games from both the Saiyan and Android sagas. This was followed by an announcement posted on Atari's North American page revealing that they would retain the Infinite World title and a release date sometime in November. Around the same time, V Jump announced the game would be released in Japan and that the game would also utilize the Infinite World title. In September, more information was released stating that the capsule system would be brought back and the audio would include the both English and Japanese voice talent. In October, Famitsu posted more screenshots revealing more mini-games within the Frieza and Cell sagas. On October 15, Atari released a press statement announcing that the game was completed. A few days later the game was unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
.
According to producer Riyo Mito, the game's title Infinite World implies the immense gameplay of the epic Dragon Ball universe within the scope of the game's Dragon Mission mode. The game was specifically chosen for the PlayStation 2 to target fans that did not have access to the PS3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
consoles to play the previous title, Burst Limit, at the time.
Music
Composer Kenji Yamamoto returns to provide music for the game along with Kanon Yamamoto, with both credited as Kenz and Canon respectfully. There are twenty-two pieces created exclusively for the game, with the rest carried over from the previous three Budokai games. The game's theme songs "Hikari no Sasu Mirai e!" and "Dragon Ball Party" were written by Yuriko Mori and performed by Hironobu Kageyama. However, the game's North American packaging only features Kageyama as a contributor, and the game's instruction manual does not list any music credits, causing people in the gaming community, not familiar with the material, to believe that Kageyama was the game's composer. Some game critics have gone on to record in their reviews citing the music as the superior part of the game. The new music was released as Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World Original Soundtrack by LantisLantis (company)
is a Japanese company that specializes as a music publisher label for Japanese musicians, anime soundtracks and video game soundtracks. It was established on November 26, 1999, and in May 2006, it was bought by, and became a subsidiary of, Bandai Visual...
on January 7, 2009, while the theme songs were release as a single by King Records on Christmas Day 2008.
Reception
Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World was released in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on November 4, 2008, in Japan on December 4, 2008, in Europe on December 5, 2008. Following its release, Infinite World went on to become the second top-selling game in Japan, selling 76,452 units the first week in the country right behind Professor Layton and the Final Time Journey. It was reported that the game, along with Backyard Baseball
Backyard Baseball
Backyard Baseball is a series of children's games for the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Wii, iOS, and the PC. It is the original game in the Backyard Sports series. Currently all the games in the series have been developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Atari. It is one of...
and Alone in the Dark, helped Atari out of their financial slump with a net 44.5 percent increase.
Despite its sales, the game received mixed to poor reviews and earned aggregated scores of 48/100 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, 49.82% on Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
, and a 6.4 on GameStats. Greg Miller of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
called the gameplay repetitive and concluded his review stating "Do not play Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World." McKinley Noble of GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
called the Dragon Mission mode too daunting and compared the game's time rings to those of Superman 64
Superman 64
Superman: The New Adventures, often referred to as Superman 64: The New Adventures or Superman 64, or simply just Superman, is an adventure video game that was first shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 1997 , released by Titus Software on May 31, 1999 on the Nintendo 64...
. Yet it was still called a satisfying game for true "hardcore" fans of the show. Dakota Grabowski of GameZone stated that the game "couldn’t be anymore insipid even if it tried". Robert Workman of GameDaily called the quests lame, the mini-games ridiculously bad, and the game itself boring. He went on to suggest that players looking for a Dragon Ball Z game buy an earlier title.
However, a few critics were more generous to the game. Chris Selogy of Gamer 2.0 said that "for a PlayStation 2 game, Infinite World looks fine for the most part. It’s not going to be the best looking PS2 game you’ve ever seen, but it captures the DBZ style and looks okay."
René Giefing of GamerXP referred to the game as entertaining. Jesús Bella Ceacero of 3DJuegos stated that the game was "a good try to imitate the Burst Limit's combat style". William van Dijk Martín of MeriStation felt that it was a fair adaptation, but the Dragon Mission mode was not enough. He also stated that the game was good and had nothing to do with the third installments of the Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi series. Frank van Aken of Gamer.nl remarked that if there was an award to give the game, it would be for the storyline within the game. Yet he expressed a dislike for the mini-games as he considered them "terrible" and not fun.