"A unique but slow power system drags this otherwise great game down."

Graphics: 10/10
Sound Effects: 8/10
Music: 7/10
Originality: 10/10
Play Control: 8/10
Group Enjoyment: 6/10
Individual Enjoyment: 8/10
Challenge: 9/10
Ending: 5/10
Overall: 8/10


This game is the fourth Dragon Ball game for this system, and was the first with a revolutionary fighting style. The story follows Son Gokuu's (the main character) defeat by the hands of his brother, Raditz, to his triumphant win over Vegita (his arch-nemesis and generally cool baddie). But, unlike the Manga and show, EVERYONE else has to get the Dragon Balls to wish Gokuu back...from Garlic Junior and his minions. This means that you end up playing as 7 different characters! So, does this game continue on the Dragon Ball tradition, or does it disappoint as badly as Dragon Power and Final Bout?


Good Points:
This game is amazing! The graphics are outstanding for the Nintendo/Famicom (whatever country you're ing), and this game has originality out the...well, you understand. The challenge is pretty high, too, so you're sure to spend a lot of time playing.


Bad Points:
In order to get strong enough to beat any of the bosses, you have to spend hours either fighting, or playing one of the side games trying to get Battle Points. After a while, it gets really boring. The fights are nice, but I wish there was a way to shut off the length of the fighting. You know, just a quick hit, show the damage done, next character please. Oh well, at least it was cleaned up in the game AFTER the next one.


General Ratings:

Graphics: After watching about 5 minutes of the fights, I was dumbfounded about the fact that this was a Famicom game! The characters and enemies whiz around, in and out of the background, and then collide in a fury of punches and kicks! The special attacks have the character firing at you! The characters all have their signature attacks, and then some. And there are a great deal of enemies, ranging from Sfuru-Jins, to the Saiya-Jins the fought in the room of Space and Time, to Garlic's minions! And I love the fact that when Gohan turns into a Oorazu, and he fights someone, he's normal size, while the other person is a speck!

Sound: The sounds are pretty good, too. Sounds for the fighting, sounds for the massive blasts, and that sound of people getting knocked into the distance are all unique. I just wanted MORE!

Music: The music is better than average, but it's not the greatest. I really don't know what to say after that. Sorry...

Originality: Come on, where would you find a game like this? The experience idea is great, just like the style of movement and the actual fights.

Play Control: It's an RPG! I mean, what do you REALLY need to worry about the play control for?

Enjoyment: If you are playing alone, then you will have the story mode to try, or maybe entering just a regular ol' tournament to test your characters. If you've got more than one person who wants to play, then you can put in more characters for the tournament, and test your strength in a massive battle!

Challenge: I think the only reason the challenge is so high is because powering up to beat the bosses isn't exactly easy. Once you've done it, the battles seem relatively short, and then it's back to training to take on the next baddie.

Ending: There's really nothing special about it, but you DO get a final password for each of your characters to fight in the tournament with. Write it down, because after taking down Vegita, you get a MASSIVE power increase.


Overall:
This game is great to watch, but sadly, the gameplay just isn't that great. The training just doesn't help that much, and when you have several people in your party, they HAVE to fight. So there's no saving any good cards to move with or attack a larger enemy with. However, if you're a really big fan of the Dragon Ball series, get this game if you EVER come across it. It's VERY rare, and VERY valuable.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/00, Updated 04/04/00