The one thing that really drives me crazy about the T1-3/RB Series

[Nasiso]

They have remained the same basically since T2. Why do I say that? You still have people with T2 saying they don't need to buy another DBZ game since it ain't really so much different; I'd have to agree with these people. The jump from T1 to T2 was so astronomical that in hindsight, if I was the same age I was right now back then, I would've said that Spike is making a game with huge potential. Now, we're stuck in this stage where the series hasn't gotten definitively better ever since then. T2-T3 wasn't drastic enough to really make people buy it if they had T2(I only bought T1 so I was happy), and the RB's have been lacking in terms of improvement.

The combat system isn't where it should be after having many years to get it right following T2's giant step in the right direction, and while the graphics are good, the effects are way too clean. These games don't feel like DBZ games when a beam struggle leaves me looking at what I describe as two beams joining very nicely at one point and gently pushing each other along until they reach their target, where there's a puff of smoke and then white light.


Let me put it like this: Even with a yearly released franchise like NBA 2k, they manage to make it so that no one would ever dream of playing 2k8 ir 2k9 again after picking up 2k11. Or even Madden, where there is a MONOPOLY of NFL based football games. I've played 2008 and 2010. No one would ever say 2008 is better unless they were high. The "they would be better if they had more time!" excuse is not valid when they aren't able to churn out a game that can set itself apart from it's predecessors.

[Zienzo]

Well...I didn't really see a change in combos in the Budokai series either. Which also carried into Burst Limit it felt...at least with C17.

[Nasiso]

Well...I didn't really see a change in combos in the Budokai series either. Which also carried into Burst Limit it felt...at least with C17.

There were major changes. Balancing and rebalancing of characters, addition of new mechanics such as teleporting. Things such as conservation of ki became important, even if it was just for teleing out of a combo. It still put significant changes into a system, and had those changes expanded upon in the series.

[Frieza_Soldier]

There were major changes. Balancing and rebalancing of characters, addition of new mechanics such as teleporting. Things such as conservation of ki became important, even if it was just for teleing out of a combo. It still put significant changes into a system, and had those changes expanded upon in the series.

Goku has the biggest change from B1 to BL (BL is his best game) Same with Tien drastically, were as in Spike's games especially Goku, he has had the exact same animations and victory poses since BT2.

[Kokos]

Saying the games are virtually unchanged since Sparking Neo is a rather unfair assessment. I'd say the improvements are still there but the change wasn't as drastic as Sparking -> Sparking Neo. I've seen few sequels that have improved as much as Sparking Neo did, generally a sequel does some things better, some things worse and there will be controversy in the community on what game is better, the original (or game based on the sequel) or the sequel. Sparking Neo, however, improved basically everything, I'm not sure if you realize this but that's a rare occurrence.

Sparking Meteor's improvements, while there were plenty, were pretty minimal for the most part.
Raging Blast at first sight was a watered down Sparking game but when you got into it, you could see it's probably the most technical Sparking-esque game so far. Raging Blast 2 tried to mix Sparking's gameplay with Raging Blast's gameplay and I think they succeeded, but not flawlessly.

The differences between each Sparking - Raging Blast installment can only be seen by going in-depth and technical, that is where I think the "all games are the same" statement comes from.
Truth be told though, the same could be said about Budokai, Shin Budokai and Burst Limit. Budokai and Budokai 2 weren't that big of an improvement (in fact I believe Budokai 2 is more of a letdown). Budokai 3 made the combat more fluid, removed and added some stuff I'm sure you know about and it was most certainly an improvement. However to call it a vast improvement is an overstatement (or maybe I have too high standards when it comes to defining "vast improvement").
Shin Budokai was a new approach with the R&S system instead of P&K but to call that an improvement is a bit incorrect either, considering the R&S system does have his flaws, maybe more than the standard P&K system. It does change the approach though.
Burst Limit changed how the characters worked compared to Shin Budokai to make them a little more unique in animations but that's basically where it stops when it comes to improvements.
I haven't played Shin Budokai 2 and Infinite World, from what I've heard both are respectively Shin Budokai but better and Budokai 3 but better.

I know Dimps thinks more outside the box than Spike does but that does not necessarily mean their games as a whole are innovating.

So I think it counts for both sides. To see the improvements in both the Sparking - Raging Blast series and the Budokai - Shin Budokai - Burst Limit series, you will generally have to go technical and in-depth. Ask a leek about the series at all, they will (understandably) tell you they are all the same thing.

Also, your example about sports games is incorrect. FIFA 11 for example is considered a major letdown by many people. Heck, my brother is a major fan of FIFA and even he dislikes the game. He won't go back to the previous FIFA though because it's the new thing and because it takes an enormous amount of time to update the teams and all that.
He said he'll be extra careful when considering FIFA 12 (that sounds familiar ).
From what I've heard this is not the first time FIFA disappointed.
I bet my money on it that all sports series have disappointed at least once.

Maybe this new Sparking project will be a huge improvement in every way, but considering I've seen the same animations as in Raging Blast 2, I'm a bit skeptical about that when it comes to the gameplay.

[GF9000000Returns]

Goku has the biggest change from B1 to BL (BL is his best game) Same with Tien drastically, were as in Spike's games especially Goku, he has had the exact same animations and victory poses since BT2.

But he had new fighting animations from BT3 to RB2.

[Zienzo]

The lesser characters got new moves from BT2 to BT3.