"I Liked This Game Better The First Time..."

...When it was Kyoushuu! Saiyajin and Gekigami Freeza. Yeah, unfortunately, this game is pretty much those two games combined together, but slightly changed around a little and new things have been added/removed. Bandai, the developer of the Dragon Ball/Z games so far, has done a really, really good job on each game, except the very first one, Shenron No Nazo, but, that can slide, since it was 1986 and rarely was there any game in 1986 that stunned or amazed anyone. Though, even so, Bandai had made possibly some of the best Famicom games ever, even if they were DBZ, the graphics and gameplay for an RPG were outstanding.

But, as they start out on the Super Famicom, that isn't the case...no, far from it. Even though this game is pretty old, it looks like nothing, compared to the older titles. But, it's still very much worth playing and the game is good, depending on how you view it. How's it rate compared to the other titles and what's good and bad about it exactly? Let's find out.

Story: Well, this is where the DBZ games started to get repetitive, sadly. Yet again, the game starts off with Radditz arriving and telling Goku his true origins, kidnapping Gohan and starting the chain of events that lead all the way up to the end of the game, where everyone fights Frieza. So you can see, this game is pretty much the same story as the two Famicom games, but it gets points for being the first DBZ RPG to be this long in length and to be twice as long, gameplay wise. It's straight from the Manga/Anime, so if you're familiar with the series, you'll know what's going on.

Over all, it gets points for at least combining two game's stories together and going through possibly 1/3 to 1/4 of Dragon Ball Z, so I can't really fault them for this too much, since there's nothing much else to go on, except that they COULD'VE kept their ideas of adding in DBZ Movie villains into this, like in the Famicom games to add to the story, but they didn't and instead, they kept literally almost nothing new added in.

Rate: 8/10

Controls: Er...could've been better, especially the World Map controls, such as flying or moving around, really. Bandai did a wonderful job with the Famicom, yet they started off on the Super Famicom terrible, I guess. Anyway, besides the World Map controls, everything seems to work fine, as using the Menus, selecting options in Battle and selecting things in general work great, so I have no complaints there. Just the free movement is hard to grasp now, since the Famicom games had you move around like a board game, but it's better, just needs some work.

I can't complain much, since this is a first generation, possible second generation, Super Famicom game, so give it a break with the controls. They aren't the best, but they aren't the worst at the same time. They're just good. Nothing more, nothing less. Just the World Map moving around is bad and since you spend 50% of the game on this, it really hurts things. Over all, good controls for a first try on the Super Famicom, but they could've been better. Much, much better.

Rate: 7/10

Graphics: Ouch...this is where the game takes a blow. The graphics, to say the least...well...they need a make over...BAD. They're too bright, the color scheme needs more colors and it makes DBZ look too happy and bright. Also, everything looks like it was made in Paint by a pro. Literally. The World Map has barely any detail to it, the character sprites, such as Goku look VERY bad and everything else looks...how do I say this...''open'' and ''spaceful'' in MANY areas, like they needed to add ALOT more to this game for eye candy, but they didn't. Honestly, what happened here? You guys went from top Famicom graphics to horrible Super Famicom graphics. The Super Famicom is a more powerful system, yet you produce low quality graphics?

Either this was a rushed job to get a extra buck or you really weren't trying. Possibly both, but geez, even Super Mario World had better graphics and were detailed. Anyway, as for the Battles, they're decent, even though the colors aren't much better. The Battles are very well detailed, mainly in how fights are carried out and all. I liked the special effects they added in, with enemies flying into mountains or water and having giant explosions this time. That was a nice touch. Even the graphics for the Ki Techniques were good, but still lacking graphically. Sad thing is, the game reuses alot of sprites for enemies, just different color swaps. I know this was popular in many games, but boy, I've never seen it THIS overused before.

Also, Planet Namek looks like Earth, except with a color swap and some trees and Namekian Houses added here and there. Seriously. Nothing really different. Over all, the graphics are VERY disappointing, even for a early Super Famicom game and they could've and SHOULD'VE been better, but I guess Bandai started getting lazy. Average and I mean VERY average graphics over all and I've seen better stuff done in Paint than this. At least add different shades of color to everything to make it more appealing. Just a very huge letdown for a Super Famicom game. This is really bad.

Rate: 2/10

Sound/Music: Oh man, this game takes another roundhouse kick to the face. The music in this game is down right awful. It's slow paced and barely fits the mood at all and you'll HATE it in a matter of minutes. There's literally only a few songs in this game and they're used over and over and over again, giving it no variety and making it very bad for the person listening to it. That and since you're in a Battle every .5 seconds, you'll hate the Battle theme that never changes either very fast. Just really poor music and this game takes another blow, unfortunately, when it could've been improved on, but I guess not.

As for the sound effects, they're actually pretty decent, especially the explosions and enemies hitting something. They're not bad, but they're just average, almost good. Though, I didn't really like the sounds the Ki Techniques made, since they really didn't fit, but oh well. Other than that, the rest of the sound effects fit well and I have no complaints, even though there aren't many to begin with, but ah well. Over all, the music is really terrible and obviously rushed to be made and done with and the sound effects are good at best. You'll probably end up muting your TV, which is something I don't blame you for. You're really better off at listening to your own tunes than anything else.

Rate: 3/10

Game Play: Geez...this game really goes down for the count after this next hit. Most of the game, like the Famicom games, is spent gaining Levels. Though, after Kyoushuu! Saiyajin, the games got pretty easy to train in, but in this game, 95% of your time is spent training and nothing else. If you hope to even win in this, you need to train. The funny thing is, it's boring to train and Battles are SLOW. I mean, SLOW. Where as the Famicom games got REALLY fast in the Battles and even close to DBZ fighting, in this, it takes forever to finish one Battle and training is a chore and a bore. Though, other than the boring as hell Battles, the rest of the game is fairly easy, depending on how much you train.

Thing is, the game's fairly short, since the training is what makes it long. I don't know about you, but Kyoushuu! Saiyajin and all was fun for a while and at least you could train for a few hours and be set with the game, but in this, you'll be training for days before you feel confident. The game also goes by VERY fast. You'll be done with Radditz and fighting Vegeta and on your way to Planet Namek in literally 20 minutes or so. Short, huh? It gets boring and since all you do is train, well, there's not a whole lot of fun, since you just fight, fight, fight and it's slow, slow, slow...so it's your choice. Over all, very boring and bland gameplay, with no variety and the game's very short, with nothing new at all in the game, like with the Famicom games. It could've been so much better, but it's not.

Rate: 2/10

Over All: Well, what can I say? This game wasn't a good start for Bandai on the Super Famicom and it could've been something more, but it seems it was a rushed job to turn a extra buck for them. The game turned out to be two Famicom games in one and nothing more, with things taken out and making it worse. Even though a few things were added, it's nothing really fantastic at all and it's just a over all letdown. The story was old, but I can't blame them for that, the controls were medicore at best, the graphics were down right horrible and needed a massive make over, the music was awful, while the sound effects were average and the gameplay was just simply boring and repetitive after 5 minutes.

Well, I guess if you had to either rent or buy this game, I'd say rent it, (Honestly, good luck trying to do so.) since the game will make you decide if you want to play it or own it within the first 10 minutes. I doubt you'll want to buy it, but if you're a serious Dragon Ball fan, you'd probably want it for your collection. Though, if you're a RPG fan, I suggest unless you like countless hours of training your characters for a game that's beatable in a few hours to stay away. Try it if you want, but don't expect to fall in love with it. This game is for true DBZ fans only and only they will be able to really stomach this game without wanting to torch it and throw it out their window after 5 minutes of gameplay. Also, since this was never released here, you can only play it in Japanese. It's playable even if you don't know the language too well, but just be warned, you'll get stuck in the game without some help.

Final Rate: 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/03, Updated 06/30/03