Namco Bandai has announced something I never thought would exist. Something I never even realised I wanted until it was rumored, then confirmed with a trailer to prove it: A Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection. I still own DBZ Budokai 3 and a working PlayStation 2, so I can play it whenever I feel like it. But am I? No, probably not. I haven’t touched that game in quite some time. But this HD re-release? I want it, I desire it; I’m almost clamoring for it. I want to play my favorite DBZ game of all time on my nice big TV and earn Achievements/Trophies while I shoot Vegeta in the face with a Kamehameha. It never occurred to me until just recently that I don’t mind buying a game again when it’s been HD-ified and made to work on current systems. If I own a game on the Xbox 360, but bought it again for the PlayStation 3, my brain would reach out and slap me. But take a game from the last-gen, add in some current gen features and make it look pretty? I’m in. This money? All yours.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my g–wait, where’s Budokai 2?!
To date, I’ve managed to not buy any HD collection. Ico/Shadow Of The Colossus? Passed. God of War? Passed. Devil May Cry? Passed. And I find that to be an amazingly odd accomplishment. It’s not because I don’t want to play those games, but because they haven’t felt like a priority. I can’t even keep up with my backlog of games from this generation. But with the announcement of an Okami HD and now a DBZ Budokai HD, I can feel my list of games to play shifting; with the aforementioned HD games jumping to the top of the list. And I think it all comes down to knowing what I’m getting myself into.
See, with Ico/Shadow of the Colossus, there’s that chance that I may not like those games as much as I’m expected to; I may not even finish them. Meanwhile, with Okami HD, I already know I love that game and would happily pay more money for it. It has that sense of familiarity and I’m comfortable with it.
I know how this sounds. It sounds like I prefer to stick with what I know instead of experimenting and trying new things, but I assure you that isn’t the case. There’s a reason I haven’t played Ico/SOTC or any of the God of War games aside from God of War III and the rest of those collections. And that’s because, even when they were brand new back in the day, I didn’t have much of a desire to play them. With those games brought back in HD Collections, it’s more like fulfilling a requirement. Saying ‘Yeah, I played those, and they’re great’ just in case my love of games is brought into question.
I look forward to playing Ico/Shadow of the Colossus for the first time, honest, but I looked forward to reliving Okami HD and Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD even more.
Okami has a very special place in my heart because it’s such a great game that didn’t get what it deserved. It’s been ported to the Wii and has even got a sequel on the Nintendo DS but it still doesn’t feel like those creators have been given their just due; they made an amazing game, yet it seems like so few people have played it. So another opportunity to show my support for such a beloved title is much appreciated. And if we can get a console sequel (or spiritual successor) out of it, then so be it! What would be even better is if Platinum Games developed it, but I think some kind of supernatural event would have to occur, followed by a lot of pleading and Twitter hashtags.
I can’t say the same about Budokai 3. That’s just pure, unabashed desire. I played the crap out of it on the PlayStation 2 and this HD collection is merely an excuse to do it again on the PlayStation 3 and earn Trophies while doing so. If that’s wrong, then I don’t want to be right! In fact, when you bought the original DBZ Budokai, you got a poster. That poster is on my wall as I write this.
I feel like the Universe may be trying to give me what I want, because out of the five PS2 games I still own, two of them are now getting HD re-releases. I swear, if Square Enix announces a Kingdom Hearts Collection before the year is over, I’ll be convinced that there’s a disturbance in some cosmic energy somewhere. I won’t care if there is, because…well there’d be a Kingdom Hearts Collection. I wouldn’t question it. Instead I’d sit down and play it with the biggest grin on my face while the Universe stands by waiting for a thank you.
And what a long wait that would be.
