Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension

"The best DBZ fighting game by far."

My friend introduced me to this game, as we both like Dragonball Z and GT. Before this I had played the Super Butoden games, and Dragonball GT: Final Bout for playstation. Those games were fun, but they didn't seem to capture the feel of DBZ. Super Butoden was either too slow or too fast, plus the combat layout was confusing and I found myself getting through the game by just pounding the same button. However, when I played this, I was instantly hooked..

Gameplay: 10/10
A crucial deciding factor. Hyper Dimension easily passes the test though, with flying colors. There are a bunch of modes of play: Story Mode, which takes you through the DBZ series while you play out fights with different characters and you see the characters get stronger over time, Versus mode, where you can set life/ki/attack/difficulty/level and fight a computer opponent or a human one, Practice mode, for practicing (duh), and an 8-person Tournament mode (mix of computer and human, your choice). Also, I've found that its possible to get an additional bonus three fights AFTER the normal ending of Story Mode. I've only done it twice, and I don't know how I did it.. must be something with how you did during the normal battles. But that's a very nice feature.

The character selection includes 10 of the shows stronger characters (SSJ2 Goku, Gohan, Majin Vegeta, Perfect Cell, Final form of Frieza, SSJ3 Gotenks, SSJ Vegetto, Piccolo, Kid Buu, and Fat Buu. Although it would have been nice to have maybe adult Trunks or another form of Goku, you will find that these characters are quite sufficient. Every character can use kicks, punches, throws, the '3d' attack, and ki shots. Every character also has at least 7 or so special moves, a 'beam' type attack (most have 3 power intensities), and a Desperation move for when you have low life. This makes for very interesting and fast paced combat. The life and ki bars are combined into one; using special ki attacks detracts from your life (but not by much). You can also 'charge' and restore the bar. In this way, combat COULD last forever if you are not planning your moves correctly.

Graphics: 10/10
The sprite-based graphics are excellent. Stage backgrounds, special beams and attacks, and the characters themselves are marvellous. Every so often you will even see a surge of electricity flow through Goku!

Replay Value: 10/10
You can always do story mode again and try to get the bonus fights or win/lose certain battles and see what happens. Not to mention the versus and tournament mode, and the fact that you can customize the versus mode fights to your liking. I've had this game for a year and a half and it's still fun.

Sound/Music: 8/10
The sound of the game is great. All characters have sets of sounds for getting hit or doing one of their numerous moves. Some characters even call out the japanese names of their moves (ie Goku's kamehameha and Piccolo's masankossapo or however you spell it). However, music brings this score down. There are a few good songs, but in general the music had a kind of mechanical beat and sound. I would actually have to say DBGT: Final Bout had better music.

Story: N/A (10/10)
Well, the storyline is based on the DBZ series.. and I'm not grading the story of a TV series. However, this game definitly deserves a perfect score as it emulates the show's series very well (Frieza to Cell to Majin Vegeta to the Buus). I don't think there is much the game makers could do to make Story mode better..

So, overall, is it worth getting this game? Definitly. If you are a DBZ/GT fan, or even just a fan of fighting games, you will like this. You can emulate it too and get a translated ROM (but remember; this is supposed to be illegal unless you actually have the game..)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/01/01, Updated 12/01/01