Game Reviews

 

 

 

Here is the game review page! We have tried to put as many games of our knowlege on here sorry if there is anything not on here

 

PS1

PS2 GAMES

GAMECUBE

GAMEBOY COLOUR

GAMEBOY ADVANCE

PS1

ULTIMATE BATTLE 22

 

System: Sony PlayStation
Release Date: July, 1995

 

 

 

 

GAME DESCRIPTION
In this, the first Dragon Ball Z fighting game for a 32-bit video game system, you can fight as any one of 22 different characters from the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z television series, including Songoku, SonGohan, SonGoten, Chibi Trunks, Gotenks, Mirai Trunks, Piccolo, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, The Great Saiyaman, KaiOhShin, Vegeta, Zarbon, Recoom, Ginew, Freeza, Android No. 18, Android No. 16, Cell, Darbura, Majin Boo, Super Boo. With a secret code entered, you can also play as Mr. Satan, Kame-Sennin, Gogeta, SonGoku as a child, and Super Saiyan Level 3 SonGoku. That's 27 characters in all!

GAME REVIEW
The number of characters you have to choose from in this game is unprecedented. Animation sequences precede every battle and change depending on who is fighting who. If it is a major battle from the series, such as Gotenks vs. Super Boo, then it mimics the occurance on the show. The character sprites are all cel animated by the show's actual animators. The scenery is 3-D rendered. Rather than using a line to split the screen when the characters are far a part, the characters are scaled down.

There is a tournament mode as usual, as well as a build up battle in which you can play through the game over and over, building up your chosen characters strength and then saving it to a memory card. Then you can battle it out with a buddy and his built up character.

The best thing about this game, however, is the opening animation, which shows all of the characters contained in the game. When the cheat code is entered, a special animation showing the 5 new characters is revealed.

The problem is, Ultimate Battle 22 's just not that fun to play. You can't really get very far away from your opponent, and the scaling of characters, while innovative, is less than effective. Special attacks do not stop all motion like they do in all other Dragon Ball Z games, and are not very spectacular. I really wanted to like this game, but it just falls short. It's not a terrible first generation fighting game for the PlayStation, but it's not that great, either.

DBZ LEGENDS

DBZ:LEGENDS

 

System: Sony PlayStation
Release Date: May, 1996

GAME DESCRIPTION
Dragon Ball Z Legends reinacts the great battles of the Dragon Ball Z story, including the battle against Nappa, Vegita, the Ginew Force, Freeza, Androids No. 19 and No. 20, Androids No. 16, No. 17, and No. 18, Cell, Darbura, Buu, Super Buu, and Kid Buu. It's all here. The story unfolds in cinematic sequences between battles. Try to follow as closely to the real story as you can, or pick any 3 of the characters you've beaten so far and fight against your friend and his 3 favorites.

GAME REVIEW
Dragon Ball Z Legends is very much like the fantastic legend of son Goku game for the PC-Engine (TurboDuo). The main difference is that in this game there can be up to 3 characters on either side of the battle. The battles are fought until the balance of power is swayed completely in one direction, after which the selected character unleashes a huge and usually spectacular attack on his opponent. Speaking of characters, there are a lot of them! After beating the game there are a total of 35 characters to choose from in the Versus mode. Being able to power up and fly fast creates a cool effect, and all of the sound effects are straight from the show! Watching the battles is at times much like watching the series. The story starts with the battle against Nappa and Vegeta and moves through the end of the series (the battle with Boo). In most cases you can make things happen the way they did in the original series, but you don't have to. All in all this is a great game!

Like the pc engine game, the play mechanics are very strange at first. Pushing up moves you toward your opponent, and pushing down moves you away. There are no special combos really, and the super moves are executed automatically. I wish more of the characters had more than one attack. Kuririn doesn't even do his kienzan, and Trunks doesn't do his Finish Buster. You don't have to win the fights in the way they were won in the series like you do in the pc engine game, which is kind of silly at times. For example, Vegeta can defeat Boo in the final battle, instead of Goku. Like the Big Bang Attack would have killed Boo! Oh well.

The Playstation version of this game is just a bit on the easy side. I beat it in a very short time the first time I played. Also, the Versus mode is almost worthless against a buddy unless you both only choose 1 character, as the action gets too far away and you can't tell what is going on. Still, this is the best Dragon Ball game that has been released for the Playstation, and it shouldn't be hard to find since it was released in massive quantities due to its popularity (it was even re-released in the PlayStation Best series in Japan).

DRAGONBALL: FINALBOUT

 

DRAGONBALL:

FINALBOUT

 

   

                 

 

System: Sony PlayStation
Release Date: August 21, 1997

GAME DESCRIPTION
At long last, there is finally a fully 3D polygonal fighter based on the Dragon Ball universe. Choose from many different characters, including Goku, Pan, Chibi Goku, Trunks, Vegita, Freeza, Cel, Boo, Gohan, Piccolo, and a whole bunch of other forms of these same characters, including Super Saiyan Level 4 SonGoku! There is the usual one player mode, two player versus, and a Tenkaichi Budokai mode.

GAME REVIEW
I -- like many other Dragon Ball fans from before the American invasion -- waited excitedly for this game for a very long time. When it finally arrived, what good things did I have to say about it? Well, the intro animation is really well done. The sound effects are straight out of the show. As long as you don't try to actually play the game, it looks pretty cool. The characters actually act like they are hurt badly when their life meters are low. That's about it for nice things that I have to say about this game.

Don't be fooled by the pretty looking screenshots to the right. To see this game in action is to hate it. There is just no excuse, in my opinion, for Bandai to take so long developing such a pathetic game. The play control is terrible, in that the characters walk in slow motion and reel from an attack so long that if you just keep hitting your opponent you will defeat them before they can move. The hit detection is atrocious, as you can be standing behind your opponent and facing the other way and throw a fireball and they will occasionally get hit. Your opponent can also be flying high above you, and when you throw a punch at ground level, sometimes they will get hit and suddenly be standing in front of you.

The camera angles are flat out stupid. When you power up a special attack, just as you are about to fire it, it switches to a view from right behind you or your opponent, so you can't even see the attack. When somebody gets punched, it changes the camera view to one of the screen with just the hit's recipient on it, leaving you disoriented and unable to see what your character is doing. The rest of the time the camera just sits there (as in the screenshot to the right of Cell kicking Trunks) getting a side shot of the characters, making the 3D aspects of the design almost a complete waste of time.

Now, about the secret characters. Check out these wonderful selections: As if the 2 versions of SonGoku that you can choose from by default weren't enough, hidden within the game are Super Saiyan SonGoku from DBZ, Super Saiyan SonGoku from DB GT, Super Saiyan Level 4 SonGoku, and Super Saiyan Chibi Goku. That's right, there are 6 DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF GOKU, every one having exactly the same moves, with their special attacks being just 2 different variations of the KameHameHa. All of the versions of all the characters are the same as each other, except they have Super Saiyajin hair. Shoot, There are 2 Super Saiyajin SonGoku's that are exactly the same except for the OUTFIT!!! Now that's a pathetic excuse for a secret character. Also, Super Saiyajin level 4 SonGoku's tail looks like a string of hot dog links sticking out of his rear end, and for some reason Freeza's head is ridiculously huge.

Now, on to the music. There are only a couple of new tunes in this game. The rest of the songs are recycled tunes from shin butoden. Those songs are great, mind you, but it just seems particularly cheap of them to not strive to include all new stuff.

There is a US release of this game, which is somewhat exciting, but there are much more deserving titles in the DBZ game series, such as hyper dimension for the Super Famicom or legends for the PlayStation. Still, it was made in very limited quantities and came out before the US Dragon Ball Z craze began, so it fetches a VERY hefty price at Funcoland. How does it play? It's just like the Japanese version, except it has horrible English voices instead of the original Japanese, adding insult to injury.

This is, in my opinion, a very bad game. If you just love Dragon Ball, then go ahead and buy it. Lots of people have complained about my bad review. They say that it is a great game. In my opinion, however, Tekken 3, Tobal 2, and just about any other 3D fighter make this game look like a piece of junk.

PS2 GAMES

DBZ:BUDOKAI

 

   

 

Budokai is the latest Dragonball Z game, from Infogrames. It pits all of the major characters from the Saiyan Saga up to the Cell Saga in a fighting game, so fans can re-enact some of their favorite battles.

The fighting itself is surprisingly solid. It’s something akin to Tekken style fighting. The fighting is combo oriented, and a lot of fun. You can build up customized fighters by collecting capsules, and pit your built up brawler against your friend’s fighting champion. The gameplay differs from traditional fighting games, by not allowing you to jump or crouch. However, certain moves will launch you or your opponent into the air. You’ll then slowly float back down to the ground, but your foe can follow you up into the air for some mid-air dueling. I was a bit skeptical as to how mid-air fighting would work, but it’s well done. It actually feels like the fighting in the anime. Regular Ki Blasts are done at the mere press of a button, but the big name blasts like the Kamehameha are done via combos.

The story mode is excellent. It follows the DBZ storyline, from the arrival of Raditz, up to Gohan’s final showdown with Cell. There are some interesting parts, such as trying to line Raditz up for Piccolo’s special beam cannon, as well. The voice acting is done by the same voice actors from the dubbed American version of DBZ, so it sounds great.

Graphically, the game is nothing to write home about. I personally hate cell shading, but it IS done fairly well in this game. They tried to make it look cartoonish, since it’s based on an anime. However, they ended up with fairly blocky polygons, which I think they should’ve put more effort into smoothening out. The various fighting arenas are taken directly from the anime, and are pretty well done.

The music is poor. The intro music is as good as it gets, and is straight from the anime. However, the storymode music, and the mid fight music are just plain bad. I wish they would’ve continued the trend, and taken the fighting music from the anime, but they didn’t. The voice acting is taken from the dub, as I’ve already said. It’s well done. I especially like some of the things Vegeta says mid fight. They definitely fit his character well.

The controls are fully customizable. You can set certain single buttons to function as if you’re hitting multiple buttons simultaneously. This is nice, since transforming, for example, requires hitting three buttons at once. This is nice, to save you some time. After all, timing is everything in a fighting game.

All in all, this game is pretty good. It’s not going to be game of the year, but it’s definitely worth picking it up if you’re a fan of the series. Fighting game fans looking for something new might want to try this one out as well. I recommend a rental first, to see if you like the combat. If you don’t like fighting games, AND you don’t like DBZ, then you probably won’t like this game at all. Sorry.

DBZ BUDOKAI 2

DBZ:BUDOKAI 2

 

 

Theres no doubt that Dragonball Z has had everybody from children to adults, glued to their televisions sets, and has caused mass hysteria throughout the anime culture and fanbase. Being a fan of good ol' DBZ myself, I sure as hell enjoyed this game, and even though it works miracles compared to Budokai, Budokai 2 still is suited to the DBZ fan, and no one else.

Even though the story spans the entire DBZ saga, from the Saiyan saga, to the Kid Buu saga, its told through a boardgame-esque manner, and its very....how you say, je ne c'est quoi? It's different, and in someways, fun; but it just doesn't have the same impact that the episodic styling of the story mode of the first Budokai had. With no cut-scene in the actual story mode, the impact of the overall story is not felt, but is still there, and any story is better than no story. I just hope that Dragonball GT Budokai has much better story telling.

Being a fan on the DBZ series, I care nothing about how intuitive the combos are, all I care about is seeing the different techniques being pulled off in flashy animation. This game does so, and it gives it to you in spades. With almost every character having an Ultimate technique (which goes directly to an amazing cut-scene just to pull it off), its hard to put the controller down, because you'll want to keep playing and see all the different moves and Ultra death moves. Particle effects, and truly unbelievable cel-shading animation, make this game stand out among all other cel-shaded games. It creates a benchmark for cel-shading, as every character in the DBZ universe, is recreated in stunning detail, and full fledged 3-D models. Even if you hate DBZ, you'll love this game, just for the eye candy.

As I said, I care nothing of intuitive controls for a game like this. But many people do, which is why I must be fair, and give this game some negative points. The controls are basic at best, and every character does have there own unique moves, but they are executed with the same button combos, and doesn't add much to the variety of the gameplay. Though, actually seeing these moves being pulled off is another story. The moves are just so flashy, and there are so many of them, not to mention 5 different fusion characters (yes, you heard right, 5!), a total of 34 regular characters to chose from, 10 different battle locales, each with their interactive elements, there is nothing to complain about other than the forsaken controls.

The controls are nothing special. Square punches, X blocks, triangle Kicks, and O activates energy attacks. The combos used to pull off super moves are pretty easy, and require little thought. Most death moves only require Square, Square, Square, Square, Circle too pull of the basic energy attack, and combined with basic punches and kicks, you can fly through Very Easy, Easy and Normal modes. The more difficult challenges will require more thought with the combos, and require the use of more advanced techniques. Square, Square, Square, Triangle, Circle is the basic combos for Ultimate moves, and few variations after that. Although the average fighter vet, won't find these controls useful at all, as well be peeved at the inability to jump and fly at will; the DBZ fans will quickly become accustomed to the controls, and use with the same fluidity that most fighter vets would use in games like Soul Calibur or Virtua Fighter. It must be stressed though, that most combos are not useable without some sort of transformation, or fusion technique, and must both the transformation ability, and the actual technique must be aquired exclusive from each other, and equipped separately. Thought its a system that works in principle, you'll find yourself changing the capsules and combos on each character more than actually choosing a character.

There are so many capsules, and so many secret abilities, as well as Breakthrough capsule for each character, there is no reason to stop playing after your first time through DragonWorld mode (story mode). You'll have hours of fun just playing with all the different abilities and transformations you can utilize in this game. I just wish there were hidden story missions, or something other than capsule collecting and character mastery to do in this game.

Theres something for every DBZ fan in this game. Though with unintuitive controls, and the off-the-wall power moves, as well as characters only DBZ fans will enjoy, this isn't for those who aren't DBZ fans. But the overall effect is still here, pleasing just about every DBZ fan imaginable, and that's what Atari needed to do, and all they intended to do. I'll hope for the best for DBGT Budokai, and hope that its a game for both DBZ fans, and fighting vets alike.

DBZ:BUDOKAI 3

DBZ: BUDOKAI 3

 

                 

I've been somewhat of a fan of this series. Both the older games were pretty good, but they came with faults. The first didn't have many characters, bad graphics, and every character had almost identical moves. The good thing about it was the story line and multiplayer. The 2nd one was more of an upgrade if anything. It added new characters, cel shaded graphics, but took out story mode and added a board game called Dragon World. This game has been the biggest upgrade of the series, with a few new characters, and yes, a upgraded fighting system, along with an awesome story mode, called Dragon Universe!

Graphics - 9/10
The graphics in this game are amazing. Dimps really got the hang of using cel shade. The character really do look like their anime counter-parts in this one. Most of the >E beam attacks have been slightly remade and Dimps added more lighting effects, adding a more realistic look. Beam struggles really show off the awesomeness of the lighting effects.

Sound - 6/10
The music is the game is mostly just remixed versions of the ones used in Budokai 1, which, was good at the time, but it's old now. The voice acting is, well, different. You can tell the voice actors are getting bored with their parts, and re saying their lines over and over. The battle cries and blasts still sound just as good as ever.

Game play - 6.5/10
The fight in this game has been somewhat upgraded. Now you can dodge attacks, teleport to counter an attack, or to make a chain of attacks, and the ability to fly at will. The teleporting counter is fun, but gets annoying if you fight computer on anything after hard mode. The computer always knows when to dodge attacks that matter, like a final blast to kill them or an ultimate attack. Regardless, it's still a neat little feature that helps make battles really more interesting. Now, I would have given the game play a higher score, but Dragon Rush takes most of it away. This cut scene of attacks is pretty cool at first glance, but it takes no skill what-so-ever to use. All you do is randomly press a button, and hope your friend/computer doesn't press the same button as you do. If you can do this 3 times, you win the Dragon Rush and depending on who you're using, get to see a pretty neat "finishing" attack animation. To start the "Dragon Rush", you need to gather up a good am out of ki, then press the L2 or all of the buttons, and you go into Hyper Mode. In this mode, your ki drains very quickly, and if it runs out before you can do a Dragon Rush, you revert back to your base form, and worn out. You also need to be in Hyper mode to be able to do an ultimate attack.

Story - 8/10
The "Story mode" in this game is called Dragon Universe. In this mode, you choose 1 of 11 characters, and fly around the world, either fighting battles, or finding items. The first time through the "DU" (with every character), follows the normal storyline. You go from red dot to red dot fighting classic battles from the anime and manga. Of course, you can find other people to fight, and change the storyline a tiny bit. The 2nd time through has the same storyline battles, but it has more options on who to fight, which leads to different endings and cut scenes. For an example, with Goku, you could fight Kid Buu, or find someone in a forest, who opens up another red dot with a new fighter.

Replay Value - 9/10
The replay value in this game is very high. The new moves, ultimate attacks, teleporting combos juggling and cancels allows the fighting to never get boring. It also takes a good 2 or 3 weeks to unlock every character and capsule.

Final Thought - 8/10
This is the best Dragon Ball game to date. With a huge amount of characters, moves, capsules and all the other goodies, this game is definitely worth a buy.

 

 

 

DBZ: TENKAICHI

DBZ: TENKAICHI

 

Dragon ball Z: Tenkaichi is a fully 3-D fighting game. Straying away the previous Budokai titles which where at soul 3-D fighters, but in the point where you were viewing both characters at the same time from a side view. Tenkaichi puts you in the driver seat, so to speak, of your favorite DBZ characters in this fighting game. I for one could not argue with the results.

Graphics (10)
Everything in this game looks like it was cut and paste straight from the show. When you see Goku launch a Kamehameha in the game and watch as the other person dodge and the mountain they where in front of crumble you will know what I mean. The Moves look as they should but what really puts this game over the top is the environments. The game features a bevy of levels ranging from Kamis lookout to Planet Namek. Each level has destructible environments and the reason i still put this in graphics is simple... It looks awesome when the objects are destroyed. Overall I couldn't be pleased more with the graphics department in this game.

Sounds (7)
This is a standard fighting game, meaning that no really expects much from a fighting game in the sound are. That being the bar however, this game still disappoints. The music selection is terrible and the voice acting is nothing to write home about. The positive in the sounds is that the beams and the small things, like a crumbling mountain or building, sound spot on. Walking by while someone smashes through a building and you'll swear your hearing the show. Overall the sound department is lacking but not horrible thanks to some small touches.

Controls (8)
The controls in this game at first were horrible. I literally couldn't do anything. After spending an hour messing around however I found myself right at home. While not the deepest controls around, Tenkaichi features some of the most satisfying controls around. After playing for a while I watched on of my friends play it for the first time and struggle as I did. After playing for a half hour he was on his was to loving the controls just as I did. Thing that may turn you off in this game... they are not the deepest controls for the combo hungry player. Do not come into this game thinking Dead or Alive 3 or anything. This is a game where you can learn almost everything in a hour. The controls also allow some freedom however, example being that for the combos they do have, there is usually a way to launch your foe and from there do your own thing such as launch beams, or a special, or even follow up and just smack the guy even further. Overall the Controls in this game are exactly what I expected them to be.

Game play (9)
The first time I booted this game up I played for a good three hours without realising it. This game takes you in then keeps you there. There is so much to do in this game it's unreal. From story mode, to world tournament, dueling (VS mode), Evolution Mode (basically a ranking type mode), there are so many things to do. The main thing about this game and its game play is that there is always something to unlock. After unlocking my first character I couldn't wait to unlock my next so I could try them out in duel mode against the computer. Overall I think that this is the high point of this game... the character is long and great. You always feel like there is more to unlock in this game, which I must say is an awesome feeling.

Overall 8
I was surprised when I first booted this game up... I thought it was terrible. I couldn't do anything in the game and I had to try three time to beat the first guy! But once I got the hang of the controls... well lets just say i don't think that that will happen again, he won't beat me anytime soon. Or will it? Thats another great thing, the computer is relentless and it makes you earn a win. To win you have to almost play perfect, one slip in you may never get another hit in. Just another reason I really like this game.

Rent/Buy: If you are a fan of DBZ you should buy. If you are just a casual gamer I say rent the game and don't get discouraged by the crazy characters and such cause the game underneath it is actually really good. You can learn the characters names afterwards.

GAMECUBE

DBZ:SAGAS

 

Dragonball Z: Sagas Evolution
Intro: Dragonball Z Sagas is the first action/adventure for the home consoles, it features free flight, story mode, ki attacks, and over 5+ playable Characters. Sagas will take you from the saiyan saga to the cell games, produced by Avalanche Software and published by Atari.

Graphics: 7/10
The Character models look great, so do the environments you walk around. They are all pretty accurate. Still not Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid, but still a good job. Overall, the graphics are good, nice job by Avalanche Software.

Sound: 6/10
This is the part of the game I was very disappointed. The only sounds I heard was yelling a kamehameha, and of course the sound track that still lacked. The mission’s music is good but not great, same thing with the boss battle music. Poor job by Avalanche in this section.

Playability: 8/10
This is where Sagas can be extremely fun, from you about to lay a special attack and it knocks the enemy back. You will also find the combos you unlock to be very enjoyable. Now Super Saiyan is a great addition to the game, it is very hard to build up though if you do not buy the last combo. Once you have it your speed increases, plus your power boosts. Even though it is very powerful it runs out fast, very fast in fact. In about 20 seconds it will be halfway down. One more thing, beware of the glitches. There are a bunch of them, from the character turning invisible, to the game freezing without a single scratch on the disc. This is what kept it from getting a nine, and each character only having one special move.

Replay Value: 6.5/10
After you beat the game you will find every single character unlocked, plus a new mode I will not tell you about so you can find out for yourself when you beat the game(if you even get it).Co-op mode is what makes this fun. When your playing with a friend you will have a blast but when your by yourself you will wish the game was not so short(as in 5-6 hours of game play).

Overall: 7/10
Yes, this is the final score I used my brain and averaged up all the fractions and got 7/10. I think this is what the game really deserves; anyway Avalanche did a good job with Sagas, which I am still currently playing, and loving.

GAMEBOY COLOUR

DBZ:COLLECTABLE CARD GAME

 

This is not the best game out there, but yes it is really good. Now let's break it down.

Sound 6/10
There really isn't much sound in this game. There's kind of a crashing sound when you hit your opponent and the angry scream when you level up, but I think that's it.

Music 6/10
I think all they do in this game is play the same music over and over in the backround. But that's okay since the music isn't really important in this game.

Story 8/10
I suppose You could say this is supposed to be the Cell Saga, since during the whole game you're working oyur way through the ranks just to fight Cell, but it's still on shaky ground there. The only reason it this gets such a high score is because the battles are so well done. To elaborate a little bit, there are five levels. Cell is the fifth level. You must win against three people in the first two levels and two in the third and fourth levels. Then you fight Cell. If you win, you have beaten the game and you unlock another person. If you lose, you fight Cell, (or whoever,) until you win the match.

Graphics 9/10
The graphics in this game are not quite as good as Legacy of Goku's, but it's good enough. The pictures and cards are well detailed, and the colors are solid and smooth.

Replayability 10/10
Trust me, you'll want to play this game over and over and over again to unlock all the characters and even after that it's just plain fun! There is also multi player, which is where you and a friend can link up you Gameboy Advances and try to beat the heck out of each other. Or you can trade your cards. This is another reason to replay the game= to unlock all of the cards, which you earn by beating your opponent.

Buy or Rent?
Buy Buy Buy! Even non- DBZ fans will love this game. It might even turn a few DBZ haters into fans. On second thought, non-DBZ fans might want to borrow this game from a friend first.

Overall 7/10
A good game through and through. Long, likable and very replayable. A DBZ fan must.I hope that you have found my review helpful.

 

GAMEBOY ADVANCE

DRAGONBALL:ADVANCE

 

 

Gameplay
As soon as you start playing this game you will be confronted with a young Son Goku, as he look in the beginning of the series. That's the Goku that you will controlling in the entire game, and you WON'T PLAY with the adult Goku that appeared in the end of this first series. Then, you will scroll across the levels and you will need to defeat hundreds of enemies, using your bare fists or using Goku's powerful magical stick. Seems good, right? But after a while those levels may become boring, as the game is only "going right, attacking, going right, attacking" and so on... However, this game can be split up in 3 different sections... The first is the one I already told you about, but there are also levels in which you will control Goku in his magical cloud and others which include you controlling Goku and you have to fight against stronger enemies. When you are playing on top of your magical clouds, sometimes you will need to defeat the enemies in a section before advancing to the next one, and as usual you will be able to use your stick and your powers (like the Kamehameha attack...) to do that task. As for the battles, you will just face a single opponent at a time, but he will be a lot more powerful than the ones that you usually face. Unfortunately, these levels are weird... I mean, you will need to attack an enemy until their defense bar reaches 0, and then you will be able to damage him. That wa you can send a kick that sends the opponent high into the sky, and then hit him and throw him into the ground for an extra damage, which... doesn't seem to occur! :-\ You can also perform special moves (like Goku's Kamehameha), which are REALLY more powerful and heavily damage the enemy. Finally, this game has a lot of extra modes, which enable you to replay some mini-games (for extra points, which may let you unlock more stuff, but I am not sure of that), fight against most of the characters from the game in a martial arts tournament (like in the series!), replay the game with other characters and many more things!

Story
Did you ever watched the anime/manga? As you may imagine, this game is based in it, so (and as I already said...) you will be controlling a kid Goku, which joins a girl named Bulma in the quest for the 7 dragon balls, which are said to be able to grant a single wish to their owner. Will he be able to find them? That's what you will discover by yourself in this game!

Graphics/Sound
Despite that the graphics are not perfect, they are among some of the best that I've seen in this console, except for a really bad bug... I mean, if you push an enemy into the wall, they will "go into it" (enter the wall without damaging it, as if they were a ghost), which looks really bad! As for the sound, I must that it really seems to be like the one hear in the anime, making you really feel like playing the story from the anime.

Play Time/Replayability
You may easily finish this game, if you are a good player and you know japanese (when writing this review, there isn't any date for an english release of this game) you may finish the game in less than 3 hours! And as for replay value, this game has lots of things to be unlocked. However, they become boring after a while, except for the tournament mode, which (at least to me!) seems to be always funny, as you can control some characters you usually don't get to play with in Dragon Ball games (like Taopaipai, King Piccolo or Goku's grandfather).

Final Recommendation
A quite nice game, mainly for those who liked the series who started the great saga named as Dragon Ball Z. However, in order to fully enjoy this game (and if a english version is never released...) you will need to know japanese...

DBGT:TRANSFORMATION

DBGT:TRANSFORMATION

 

Dragon Ball GT: Transformation is yet another game released for the GBA; fans want them, game developers make them en mass. How many Dragon Ball games we have so far for the GBA? Anyway, while DB GT: T isn’t a bad game, it isn’t one of those excellent quality game either; however it’s a very enjoyable game that ever Dragon Ball fan should give it a try. Note: My review for this game offers a different aspect because I never played any side scrolling DBZ game for the GBA.

Now that got that out of the way, let me describe this game for you. Basically it’s a side scrolling beat them up game like Final Fight where there is a myriad of opponents in the game in which you must defeat in order to proceed to the next level.

Because this is a DBZ game, you can select Pan, Trunk and Goku in the game. Too bad the characters can’t come out and help you, therefore you only get to play as one of the said character at any given moment; when one of the character dies you get to play the other one.

Like I said before, the game play is elementary. You can shoot fireballs using your KI energy, jump very high and glide around a bit, punch and kick. One thing I enjoy about this – and thought that it is comical – that you can pick up the enemies and throw them like a ragged doll. Sometimes in the game you’ll run out of KI power, so therefore – just like in the television show – you have to power up! There is also another move in the game – reminds me of Double Dragon – call a ‘360 attack’. It’s special and you can only do it once in a while (best to save it during an emergency)

Goku, Pan and Trunk have slight variation of attacks but basically they’re the same. One thing I have to complain about this game and I find it to be a flaw: the fireball in the game is totally weak; you need to deliver a couple of these fireball in order to bring down a mere midget foot soldier. The fireball should be more powerful and explosion, with enemies flying a couple of feet back and knocking them onto the ground. Instead, all you get when you deliver a direct hit with the fireball is a little ‘ouch’ reaction from the solider. Another thing: when you hold down the fire ball button, and generating KI power to create a mega blast, the obvious and most logically thing to see is a big fireball, correct? But NO! You don’t. All you see is a tiny ball.

I’m glad to announce that while the graphics isn’t OMG, SUPER COOL! It isn’t all that bad either. It looks very cartoonish, very similar to the graphics style in the TV show. The only flaw there is in the graphics department is when you’re jumping and shooting fireball, the animation should show the character shooting fireball while drifting downwards, not looking like they’re standing mid-air, stopping, and shooting fireball. Minor flaw, but its an annoyance none of the less.

In conclusion, I like this short and sweet game. While it isn’t good as the DBZ fighting game (forgot the title) but it serves as a good side scrolling, beat them up game none of the less. Give it a try, but don’t buy.

DBZ: BUU'S FURY

DBZ: BUU'S FURY

   

We DBZ gamers have been expecting this game forever. We knew that after the Cell Games came the pink terror known as Buu. But we had to know if this game was worth playing? Or was it just another Legacy of Goku 1? Well you're questions are about to be answered in this review.

Gameplay: The gameplay hasn't really changed all that much from Legacy of Goku 2. And I never said that that was a bad thing! They kind of enhanced this game to make it a little challenging (like Babidee's Ship) and some tough fights here and there. But the truth is...this game is far from being a challenge. It is incredibly straight forward and I wouldnt be surprised if you beat it on the second day that you bought it. This game is still a joy to play on the go and with new abilities like SSJ3, Instant Transmission, and a whole bunch of things to collect, this will keep a dedicated gamer searching and searching for those hard to collect items.

Graphics: To tell you the truth, the graphics haven't really changed at all. They did make the backgrounds a little better and the transformations are superb (i love the lil' aura!) but to tell you the truth they didn't really do enough to say that these graphics are new and right off the bat. If you are a DBZ fan then you will love the graphics. If not then you will just think that they are just another average game on the GBA.

Sound: They did everything right. they have the Buu saga right in there and if you have even watched a few episodes of it you will recognize it almost right off the bat. They did everything almost perfectly. I have almost no complaints exept that after awhile the music does get a little repetitive. I mean when you're in cities and in dungeons and stuff. Other than that I have no complaints.

Controls: If you played Legacy of Goku 2 you will feel right at home. There are some new controls like the map and scouter. But now you can actually block. It may sound like you won't need the block button( R button) but you will need it trust me. Because some enemies are so cheap it's not even funny.

Replay Value: you have the Hercule and Z Exhibits to collect after you get done playing through the story and if you do something special you will unlock something special. I'm not telling either.

Final Opinion: this game is great if you are away from home alot and if you need something to do. Go get this game because the story is simply great for someone who didn't get to see the whole Buu Saga. What are you waiting for. Get out there and beg your folks to get that present early!

 

DBZ:SUPERSONIC WARRIORS

DBZ:SUPERSONC

WARRIORS

 

Damn, who would have thought that the essence of the Dragon Ball Z anime could be translated so well to the Game Boy Advance even after a poor attempt (Taiketsu). Not only does this game of capturing the feel and look of DBZ, it is also pretty damn fun.

The best thing about this game is the actual combat. This is really the first game to ever allow the freedom of movement seen in the anime. You can fly in fast, fly out fast, there really is no limit to how far away you can go.

The controls are also very easy to get used to. B for weak attacks, A for strong attacks, L to switch (and teleport when used with a direction input), and R to charge up your power. Holding R then hitting B for rapid fire weak power shots, hit A for stronger shots that can be charged up, or hit B and A for a signature energy blast from whatever character you are (also depends on where you are relative to the other player). The only move that I found to be somewhat difficult was the throw (A+B when close to an opponent) but with a little practice you can get used to it.

Now the odd thing about the controls is where the block buttons are located. Thats right, there is more then one. Holding down A and B will cause your character to block, B blocks basic attacks and weak energy blasts, A blocks pretty much everything. This may sound odd, but its pretty effective for creating a cool fist fight since when you hit the attack button you can just hold it a little bit longer to block making a pretty cool back and fourth battle.

Graphics wise, this game looks slick for a GBA title, and the character art used throughout the game is also top notch. There are some instances where Akira Toriyama's (the creator of all things Dragon Ball minus DB GT) original art is used. Fairly cool.

The sound in this game is excellent. The music is pretty good, nothing special there, but the character's voices all sound very good. Thats right, character's voices. Characters do the standard "Say your attack before you do it" that occurs often in the DBZ universe, and it sounds very good for a GBA game.

Overall, if you need a fighter for your GBA you can't go wrong with this title. Even if you don't need a fighter this game is worth looking into, and for all you DBZ-files, add another 2 to the score and go out and buy this game as soon as possible.