PspGameZ

Here's a riddle to get us started. Question: How many Dragon Ball Z characters does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Give up? Answer: Just one, but it takes him nine episodes. Ha ha. Anyway, the Dragon Ball franchise's popularity affords it at least one new game per year, often more than that, and the latest in the long line is Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team for Sony's PSP. This portable fighter, in an obvious effort to be different than the countless DBZ fighters before it, gives fans something not seen in a Dragon Ball title since the import-only Super Famicom days, the ability to control more than one warrior in 1-on-1, 2-on-1 or 2-on-2 battles. But does this mechanic make Tenkaichi Tag Team worth your gaming dollars? Gaming dollars that could be spent on any number of older, cheaper DBZ titles? And does it set itself apart from the two previous and stunningly similar PSP DBZ fighters?
If you are familiar with the Dragon Ball Z storyline, you won't find anything new in the progression through this game's plot-driven single player mode. It covers the entirety of the DBZ anime, from Raditz's arrival on earth to the defeat of Kid Buu, which is nice, but don't expect any new plot elements to be revealed in the game. It might not be fresh material, but it is presented well. The game bridges the gaps between fights with a top down view of the planet, where you can move a chibi-style character between points of interest. This allows for some exploration between fights, where you can take on mini-missions for characters found on the map. For example, in one of the first maps, a character asks you to locate a capsule he lost. You can find it and bring it back to complete one of the stage's multiple objectives. Other objectives include winning fights with different partners, locating key objects, fighting optional monsters, etc. It's a simple, one-dimensional system, but it adds variety to the same old fight after fight progression found in most other games of this type. This is not to say the fights are boring, though; but we'll get to that.