Super Dragon Ball Z

"Hadoken?"

It's not often that I feel compelled to write a review for a Dragon Ball game. Not that I have anything against the Dragon Ball series (after all, I've been a fan since 1991 when I got my first taste via a fan-subbed VHS tape of the first dozen episodes of Z)- It's just that, with the exception of the Super Famicom games (Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 was one of the very first games I ever imported), the use of the Dragon Ball license in this market hasn't produced many noteworthy titles. So why, then, would I be so excited about Super Dragon Ball Z?

Story? Um, believe it or not, there isn't one. This may seem like a strange way to make a Dragon Ball game, but the developers decided to forgo the plot to concentrate on the action. To be honest, I say good riddance. There've only been two games that I felt did the Dragon Ball Z story any sort of justice- Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu for the Playstation & Saturn and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai for the Playstation 2 & GameCube- so the fact that someone finally realized that Dragon Ball fans already know the story and don't need some hackneyed mish-mash retelling is a blessing.

Sure the game looks a lot like the past few Playstation 2 games (3D cell-shaded graphics), but there is subtle difference that make a huge difference. For example, the animation is a lot cleaner and more in-depth that before. There's also a marked improvement to the background detail, with much more detailed scenery and objects that you can interact with. Plus the characters themselves seem to look better overall, with higher polygon models and better cell-shaded textures. I won't say it's any sort of limit-pushing accomplishment for the hardware, but for a Dragon Ball Z game it more than does the series justice.

As if to balance the scales from the pleasure I took in the graphics, I was a little disappointed with the game's audio. On one hand you've got the actors from the series reprising roles for the game, but since there's so little dialogue you're not really going to notice. The opening theme song is a very memorable piece of composition, but the actual in-game music is rather bland and simplistic. Finally the sound effects, while they do sound like the were lifted straight from the source material, have a kind of canned quality to them that disappointed me. Overall it's nothing I'd label as terrible, but calling it average is about the best praise I can muster.

You'll probably read a lot of reviews about how much this plays like Street Fighter II and for good reason- The same man produced Street Fighter II also helmed Super Dragon Ball Z. Unfortunately, comparing this game to the Capcom classic isn't completely accurate. Sure the character move lists read like manual from Street Fighter Alpha, but with only two attacks buttons and a block button, the similarities begin and end with the move sets and super meter. In fact, if I really had to compare it to any of Capcom's fighters, I'd be more inclined to draw comparisons to Cyberbots. Whatever game you decide Super Dragon Ball Z plays like, just know that it plays like a well-crafted fighter should.

Two things that really stood out in my mind for the game design are the game menu and the game play. Now I admit, neither of those things have anything in common, but it says something one two wholly different aspects of a game stand out enough for me to notice. The game menu is an interesting visual design that has you selecting what looks like panels of manga to enter the different modes. As for the actual game design, I really liked taking a character and customizing it- Changing the color, giving him/her different skills and building up Battle Points to show just how much I've fought with my Z Card character. It's with your Z Card fighter that you collect Dragon Balls, so you can imagine how important of a gameplay feature this is.

This is another aspect that Super Dragon Ball Z feels like a Capcom fighter- the unlockables. At the very least the collecting of Dragon Balls to unlock new characters, different color palettes and additional options is reminiscent of Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Though it can get a bit tedious collecting the Dragon Balls, the rewards (at least most of them) are worth the effort.

Without a doubt if you are a fighting fan or a Dragon Ball Z fan you'll love this game. It's takes the familiarity of Street Fighter and marries it with the best fighting anime to create a surprisingly fun experience on the Playstation 2. Hopefully it'll do well enough to be ported to other consoles (Xbox 360 anyone?).

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/09

Game Release: Super Dragon Ball Z (US, 07/18/06)