You remember the PSP, right? That sleek, glossy slab of plastic that felt like the future in 2005? If you were a Dragon Ball fan back then, you weren't just playing Lumines or Grand Theft Auto. You were likely hunched over a flickering screen, mashing buttons to pull off a Final Flash. While the console saw a few DBZ entries, Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Another Road—or just Shin Budokai 2 if you lived in Japan or Europe—stands out as a weird, ambitious, and surprisingly deep fighting game that somehow managed to outshine some of its console big brothers.
Most handheld ports are watered-down versions of "real" games. Not this one. Released in 2007 by Dimps, the same wizards behind the legendary Budokai trilogy on PS2, Another Road took the refined, high-speed combat of the first Shin Budokai and slapped a bizarre, what-if narrative on top of it. It wasn't just a rehash of the Raditz-to-Buu timeline we've seen a thousand times. Instead, it asked: what if Future Trunks had to deal with Majin Buu in his own dying timeline?
It’s fast. It’s loud. Honestly, it’s still one of the best ways to play DBZ on the go, even with the Steam Deck and modern ports floating around. Let's get into why this specific title remains a cult favorite and how it actually plays today.
The Future Trunks Story We Never Got in the Anime
The meat of the game is the "Another Road" mode. This is where things get interesting. Usually, Dragon Ball games follow the Z-Saga beat for beat. You kill Frieza, you wait for Cell, you blow up Buu. Rinse and repeat. Dimps decided to do something different here. They took the "History of Trunks" setting—that bleak, post-apocalyptic future—and dropped the Majin Buu threat right into it.
Think about that for a second. In the original timeline, Trunks kills Mecha Frieza and the Androids, and then... well, in Dragon Ball Super, we eventually find out about Goku Black. But Another Road fills that massive gap. You've got Future Trunks traveling back in time not just to save Goku, but to recruit the Z-Fighters to come to his future to stop Babidi and Dabura before they can resurrect Buu.
The narrative is told through dialogue boxes and a map-based mission system. It's not exactly The Last of Us in terms of cinematic presentation, but for a 2007 handheld game, the writing captures the characters' voices perfectly. You see interactions that never happened in the show, like Future Trunks meeting the adult version of Gohan from the main timeline, or seeing how a desperate, lone hero reacts to the overwhelming power of a creature like Janemba appearing in his world. It’s basically high-quality fan fiction turned into an official product.
Mechanics That Feel Like a High-Speed Chess Match
If you've played Budokai 3 on the PlayStation 2, you’ll feel right at home with Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Another Road. It uses that same 2.5D fighting plane. You aren't flying around in an open 3D space like the Budokai Tenkaichi or Sparking! ZERO games. It’s tighter. More focused on frame data and positioning.
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The combat revolves around the "Aura Burst" system. By tapping R, you enter a powered-up state that lets you dash toward your opponent at dizzying speeds. It consumes Ki, but it opens up the "Aura Burst Smash" attacks. These are the moves that break guards and send enemies flying through mountains.
What's really wild is the speed. On the PSP's hardware, Dimps managed to keep the framerate locked while characters teleported and traded blows. The game relies heavily on the "Teleport Counter" (or Z-Counter). You’re constantly managing your Ki bar—not just to fire off a Kamehameha, but to ensure you have enough juice to vanish when a Galick Gun is screaming toward your face.
The combo system isn't just "mash Square." You have branching paths.
- Square, Square, Square, Triangle might lead to a heavy knockdown.
- Square, Triangle, Square can launch an opponent into the air for a pursuit.
- The timing on the "Additional Attack" (where you warp after a flying opponent) requires actual rhythm, unlike modern games that sometimes automate the cool stuff.
Customization and the "Aura" of RPG Progression
In 2026, we’re used to every game having a battle pass or a complex skill tree. In 2007, Another Road gave us the Booster Card system. Instead of just leveling up stats linearly, you earn "Z-Coins" to buy card packs. These cards are then placed on a grid to buff your character.
It sounds simple, but it gets deep. Some cards give you a flat 10% boost to Melee, while others might decrease the Ki cost of your Ultimate move. Then there are the "Aura" cards. These change the color of your character's energy or give them special properties, like health regeneration or permanent Max Power mode.
The strategy comes in how you arrange them. You only have a limited amount of slots. Do you turn Future Trunks into a glass cannon with massive attack power but zero defense? Or do you make him a tank that can survive a Spirit Bomb? This customization makes the "Another Road" campaign actually replayable. You can’t just breeze through the later chapters without a solid card deck. Dabura will absolutely wreck you if you're under-leveled and under-geared.
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Why "Another Road" Beats the Original Shin Budokai
A lot of people ask: "Why not just play the first Shin Budokai?"
Honestly, the first game feels like a demo compared to this. The sequel bumped the roster up to 24 characters. That doesn't sound like much by today's standards, but these characters are distinct. You get Future Gohan (one of the coolest characters in the franchise), Bardock, Cooler, and even Broly.
The game also refined the camera and the stage destruction. In the first game, the environments felt static. In Another Road, when you hit a multi-target Ultimate, the ground actually scars. The sense of scale is just... better.
Also, the "Sim Dragon" mode. This was a weird little addition where you train a character over a set number of days, dealing with random events and battles to boost their stats. It’s almost like a tamagotchi-fighter hybrid. It’s a great distraction when you’re tired of the main story but still want to grind out some Z-Coins.
The Technical Reality: Playing it Today
If you're digging out your old PSP-3000 to play this, be prepared for some ghosting on the screen. It's an old LCD, after all. However, Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Another Road is one of the most popular games for emulation. On a modern handheld or a PC, you can up-res this thing to 1080p or even 4K.
The textures are surprisingly clean. Because the game uses cel-shading—a technique that mimics the look of the anime—it ages way better than games that tried to look "realistic" in 2007. The character models look sharp, and the animations are fluid.
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One thing to note: the North American version and the European version (titled Shin Budokai 2) are virtually identical in gameplay, but the save files are usually region-locked. If you’re looking for 100% completion save files online, make sure the regions match.
Common Misconceptions and Frustrations
It’s not a perfect game. Let’s be real.
The difficulty spikes in the story mode are legendary. There’s a mission where you have to protect several cities on a map at once. If a city’s health drops to zero, it’s Game Over. The AI can be incredibly cheap, spamming teleports and ultimates with inhuman timing. It forces you to actually learn the mechanics rather than just button-mashing, which might turn off casual fans.
Another gripe? The "What-If" story can get a bit convoluted. Since there are branching paths based on whether you win certain fights or finish them quickly, you’ll find yourself replaying stages over and over to see every dialogue variation. It’s great for value, but the map movement is slow.
Also, don't expect the cinematic "Destruction" of Tenkaichi. This is a fighter first. The stages are essentially circles you move within. If you want 360-degree flight and environmental destruction that changes the whole map, this isn't that. It's a game about combos, timing, and meter management.
Actionable Tips for New (or Returning) Players
If you’re jumping back in, or picking it up for the first time on a whim, keep these points in mind:
- Master the Warp: Don't just spam Ki blasts. Learn the timing of the "X + Direction" dodge. If you time it right as an attack hits, you'll vanish for zero Ki cost. This is the difference between winning and losing in the late game.
- The Charged Heavy: Holding the Triangle button (Heavy Attack) allows you to break an opponent's guard. If they’re turtling, don't keep punching their arms. Charge a heavy, break the guard, and then follow up with a combo.
- Invest in "Health" Cards Early: The story mode AI hits like a truck. In the Booster Card shop, prioritize anything that increases your base health or defense. You can't win if you're dead in three hits.
- Check Your Transformation: Unlike some games where you pick a form on the character select screen, you usually start in base form here. You need to build Ki and press "Down + Circle" (usually) to transform. Transformations aren't just cosmetic; they drastically change your damage output and Ki regeneration.
- Use the Map: In the Another Road mode, pay attention to the "Spirit" levels of the cities. If you let them drop, you lose access to certain buffs. Fly to the enemies quickly; don't let them linger on the map.
Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Another Road is a relic of an era where handheld games were trying to prove they could be just as "hardcore" as console games. It succeeded. Even years later, the tight controls and unique story make it more than just a nostalgia trip. It’s a legitimate fighting game that happens to fit in your pocket. If you have any interest in the Budokai style of gameplay, this is arguably the most refined version of that specific engine ever produced.
Your Next Steps
- Check for "Shin Budokai 2" if you are in Europe: The name change is the only difference; don't buy both thinking they are different games.
- Explore the "Another Road" branches: Don't just settle for the first ending you see. Failing certain objectives actually unlocks different story paths that are often more interesting than the "successful" one.
- Optimize your PSP emulator settings: If playing via emulation, enable "Internal Resolution" at 3x or higher. The cel-shading looks incredibly modern when the jagged edges are smoothed out.