Dragon Ball Z Budokai with Doc Issues (Capes on the Couch)

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Gather around power-level enthusiasts and tournament fighters, because this week on Play Comics we’re charging up our ki and diving headfirst into the legendary slugfest that is Dragon Ball Z: Budokai for PS2 and GameCube. That’s right, we’re looking at the 2002 fighting game that asked the burning question “What if we took the first three arcs of Dragon Ball Z and squeezed them into a button-mashing experience that makes even the most patient Z-Fighter want to go Super Saiyan with frustration?”

Developed by Dimps and published by Infogrames (back when they still existed and weren’t just a nostalgic memory floating in gaming’s hyperbolic time chamber), this cel-shaded beatdown promised to let players experience everything from Raditz’s surprise family reunion to Cell’s perfectionist power trip. What it delivered was a fighting system so basic that even Yamcha could probably figure it out, paired with enough beam struggles to make your thumbs file for workers’ compensation.

Joining us for this Saiyan-sized discussion is the one and only Doc Issues from Capes on the Couch, because when you need someone to analyze the psychological implications of repeatedly punching people until they explode into light particles you call a professional. Together we’ll explore how this game managed to compress roughly 100 episodes of screaming, power-ups, and “next time on Dragon Ball Z” frustrating end caps into a tournament format that somehow made sense.

So grab your orange gi, practice your best Kamehameha stance, and prepare for an episode that’s over 9000 times more entertaining than waiting five episodes for Goku to finish charging his spirit bomb. Will this manga-to-game adaptation achieve its final form? Or will it get sent to Other World faster than you can say “Kakarot”? Time to find out if this Z-Fighter deserves a senzu bean or a one-way ticket to Snake Way!

Learn such things as:

• What happens when you try to balance Goku’s overwhelming power level against characters who can barely survive a Saibaman encounter?
• Is there a psychological explanation for why watching grown men scream for five minutes while powering up never gets old?
• What’s the secret to making players care about story mode when everyone already knows Goku’s going to win everything anyway?
• And so much more!

You can find Doc @CapesOnTheCouch on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and of course the Capes on the Couch website.

If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.

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A big thanks to Nerd Best Friends and Super Switch Club for the promos today.

Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who still hasn’t reached his final form.

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