The Z Battle mode puts you up against some increasingly challenging opponents, while the story mode presents you with unique "what if?" scenarios for each of the characters in the game. If you want to go head-to-head with another real-life player, you can engage in an ad hoc Wi-Fi match, provided both parties have their own copy of the game.
Those looking to familiarize themselves with the mechanics and find the perfect team of characters can go through the tutorial and free battle modes. There are a few different ways to play Supersonic Warriors 2. Though perhaps not as elegant as the timing-based mechanics, it still helps provide balance and keeps the pace of the fights going at a good clip. You can block with the B button whenever you please, but every attack that you deflect adds to a meter that, when filled, drops your character's guard and stuns him or her for a few seconds. The blocking system has changed since the first Supersonic Warriors, eschewing the timing-based system for an endurance-based blocking mechanic. The number of attacks is fairly limited, and the game definitely favors high-energy ranged attacks over up-close fisticuffs. A little button-mashing will get you far in Supersonic Warriors 2, and it doesn't take much finesse to perform strong and weak attacks, throws, or energy attacks. Supersonic Warriors was never particularly tactical to begin with, and number two doesn't change that. The action is fast-paced enough to make looking down at the lower screen awkward, limiting the usefulness of the game's team tactics. Switching characters and launching special attacks is all handled via the touch screen, with the action always residing on the upper screen. The action is often team-based, which means that you can swap out your fighters on the fly and occasionally call on your teammates to perform special attacks. The general structure of Supersonic Warriors 2 is the same as its predecessor: Two fighters duke it out in the appropriately overblown Dragon Ball Z style, flying through the air, throwing waves of energy at each other, and occasionally turning blonde. The Z Fighters team up once again to face the usual rogue's gallery of villains.
It's still a light and enjoyable fighter, especially for DBZ fans, but it's too similar to its predecessor to get very excited about.
Its sequel has now arrived on the DS, making a half-hearted effort to adapt to the two-screen format and the greater technical muscle of the DS. It certainly wasn't the most technical fighter, but it was responsive and good looking, and it generally captured the kinetic vibe of DBZ. Released last year for the Game Boy Advance, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Fighters managed to break the trend of terrible 2D Dragon Ball Z fighting games that dated all the way back to the SNES.