"Saiyans…can’t…stop…fighting…"

Dragon Ball Z as a role-playing game: a winning combination. At least, in concept. There are a few things to keep in mind when using a popular brand name such as Dragon Ball Z, and all too often we see cheap knock-offs of movies or TV shows. Thankfully, Chou Saiya Densetsu (Legend of the Super Saiyan) makes an excellent attempt at being a good game in its own right, although there are some things in the game that defy gaming logic.

Legend of the Super Saiyan spans the Saiyan saga from Raditz's arrival at the beginning of DBZ all the way to the Frieza saga on Namek, obviously tracking the development of the main character, Son Goku, as he battles villains threatening the peaceful planet Earth, unlocking more abilities, fighting alongside his good friends and ultimately reaching for the power of the Super Saiyan to defeat the almighty Frieza.

Players control Goku along with whoever is present in the DBZ series. Initially, players only have Goku and Piccolo to combat the Raditz threat, but as the story progresses, players can use the full cast of Gohan, Vegeta, Yamcha, Tienshinhan, Krillin and more support characters true to the series. Following the tried and true RPG formula, the player moves the party around the world, fighting random battles in turn-based fashion and gain experience, which increases individual power levels.

The last point is something to note: apart from the usual hit points and Ki (used for special techniques, similar to MP in other RPGs), characters only have two other significant stats: Speed, which determines the order of battle; and Battle Powerl, which is a general measurement of how strong the character is offensively and defensively. The lack of stats makes the characters a bit too similar to each other, and it's clear from the beginning that powerful story characters like Goku and Vegeta will be the most powerful in the game, while weaker characters like Krillin and Chaotzu will most likely be excluded from your battle order entirely because they're simply dwarfed in power.

Oh, and the random battles suck. The combat system is creative, but for some reason the developers decided to make a random encounter for every single step you take. Sure, they try to justify it based on what transport method you use. If you walk (and no one wants to walk around the Earth), you have less encounters. If you fly, you have a higher rate of encounters. If you use the fastest form of flying, you fight someone every second square. I'm sure everyone wants to move as fast as possible just for the sake of convenience, and while the experience gain from fighting random encounters falls in pretty well when encountering significant story characters, it's awfully, awfully tedious.

The combat system itself does make up for it. Rather than the generic select-this-character's-action interface, combat in Legend of the Super Saiyan is based on a card-game system. When in battle, players are issued a hand of cards, each card representing a certain action and governed by an Attack and Defense rating. Each character responds differently to different cards, varying from basic melee attacks to more powerful melee and pseudo-3D flying headbutt combinations, the effectiveness of which is determined by the Attack rating combined with the character's power level. On the defensive end, a high Defense card and high power level can negate the attack entirely, so don't try to send Chaotzu against Frieza.

Then you have the valuable and rare Ki cards that pop into your hand now and then. These cards allow you to pull off those signature energy attacks that everyone loves. Using a Ki card opens a menu that allows you to select which attack you want to do perform. Most attacks are one-shot attacks that cost a certain amount of Ki, such as Goku's Kamehameha or Gohan's Masenko. Others are more complicated, such as Goku's Kaioken, which can increase his power level depending on the Attack rating of the card, but steadily drains his Ki. As Ki cards are rare, this adds a strategic element to the game, as players need to decide when to use the cards or when to conserve them for major battles.

Outside of battle, you also have access to a variety of item cards. These cards are represented by icons of in-game characters or items and perform different actions. Some cards act as recovery items, restoring HP and Ki. Others can temporarily boost a character's power level for one battle, serving as a great way to make boss battles easier. Certain cards trigger specific story events, such as the ‘Moon/Tail' card allowing Gohan to become a Great Ape during the Saiyan saga; and the Yajirobe card, which cuts off Vegeta's tail when he's a Great Ape.

The graphics in general are quite impressive. The overworld sprites (or even the world map itself) are poorly detailed and often difficult to distinguish where you're meant to go, and the characters sometimes look like they've been stretched, but the battle sprites are good enough so you can tell the characters and enemies apart. However, things take a complete change when you factor in the battle animations. The punches and kicks are generic enough, but using flying headbutts and powerful Ki attacks brings up fantastically detailed drawings of the characters and flashy animations of energy attacks. It's far from watching the anime, but it still looks very cool, in a Dragon Ball Z way.

There's not much to say about the sound though, mainly because you'll be hearing the battle theme every five seconds. I guess you could say the battle theme itself is quite upbeat and suitable for a DBZ action scene, and the charging of Ki attacks does match the animation quite well, but overall the music and sound effects are uninspired and far too repetitive.

The game does well in combining these features together. The game follows the story quite well through plenty of dialogue scenes, while at the same time allowing players to alter some sections based on what they do, such as surviving Z Fighters going to Namek with Gohan and Krillin. The game provides plenty of game time, and although the sheer rate of random encounters makes extended gameplay as fun as beating yourself with a toy hammer every three seconds. I'd go as far as to say that the game actually is fun, but if you know what's good for you, play in small doses.

Graphics: 6/10
Sound: 5/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Replay: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/07