Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi

Best described as a mix of Virtual On and Budokai 2, Tenkaichi has lost a lot of Budokai 3's flashier special techniques like the Dragon Rush and Hyper Mode, but retained the much more important Teleport counter to avoid your opponent's power strikes. The kick command has been removed from the control scheme too, and your assault types are now modified by the other buttons in conjunction with the generic attack button. Since "Kick" was taken off the control map, it has been replaced with a "Dash" command that plays a much more significant role in the gameplay than in past iterations.

The reason that the Dash is so important this time is because of how one-on-one fights are structured. The traditional side-plane fighting game view with occasional alternate camera angles has been axed in favor of a fixed view that looks similar to Katamari Damacy or Armored Core. The big difference compared to those two, though, is that the camera can't be adjusted by the user and rotates on its own dependant on the action. Because of this factor (in conjunction with the larger size of each free-roaming stage) the dash button becomes a terrific offensive and defensive tool. Offensively, rushing forward not only allows you to get closer to your opponent, but it also lets you perform Dragon Dash special attacks which take off more damage. On the defensive side, the dash command makes escaping from your foe and hiding behind obstacles much easier to do (be careful, though -- just about anything in the environment can be destroyed).
This setup alone changes the feel of head-to-head battles compared to the last games pretty noticeably... especially since players can actually fly and descend on their own without the need to be launched (finally!). That flying technique is particularly useful when competing in tournament mode with "Ring Outs" turned on since one technique you can use to avoid the cheese tactic is to sail up into the air. Despite this new perspective and true ability to fly, however, fans that liked the multitude of attacks found in the last version may be a bit disappointed in this more simplistic setup. Even so, I have to admit that the action plays out a lot more faithfully to the anime under the current schematic.

Another positive aspect to Budokai Tenkaichi is the ramped-up AI. Even when playing on the medium difficulty, the CPU is a brutal and merciless bastard. It can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with, it doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear -- and it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you're dead. Despite that, the lower challenge settings are a bit more tolerable (with the easiest level being less of a pushover than your average fighter) and the number of moves that the computer will use to mix it up against you is pretty respectable. Nothing beats playing against another human being, though. Tenkaichi is an impressively fun two-player contest that has plenty of options to choose from.