"Oddly good for a DBZ game these days, what with the many characters and loads of options; too bad the DS still lacks a quality 2D fighting game"

The fact that I am admitting to playing a DBZ game is reason enough for me to cringe at the mere idea. To actually review one, that is unthinkable. Ever since the demise of the Super Nintendo system, decent DBZ games have never seen their once-herald glory since. The highlight of the 16-bit DBZ games, Hyper Dimension, was far from being as good as, say, Street Fighter Turbo II, or any of the King of Fighter games, but for a DBZ fighter, it was noteworthy.

Then the rise of the Game Boy Advance in America, and the sells of the bleh title Legacy of Goku gave Atari the means to sell not one but two seperate DBZ fighters for the GBA, the first being Taiketsu (a horrible game by anyone's standards, anyone being all of those above the age of ten), the second being Supersonic Warriors.

Though the first GBA fighter for the (in)famous anime was a disaster by the media and non-fans, the sequel fared better, though it was far from the quality of Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance (GBA) or Gal's Fighters (NGPC). The most noteworthy aspect of this game, though, was that it introduced believable flying elements, of a type I had not encountered since the anime-themed Bastard! game for the SNES released eons ago.

Naturally, carrying the title over for the sequel, the flying elements were kept, and, of course, the roster features virtually all famous characters from the DBZ anime, from the whole Z Saga to the movies (namely Brolly, a cosmic joke in this author's opinion). Yes, virtually none of the cast from either the original Dragon Ball series appears outside of the main cast, and the entire GT saga is left untouched, which is kind of a dissapointment; I would have liked to fiddle with a Super Sajiin (don't correct this, please) 4 against Frieza, or an older young Goku against his younger older self (your eyes decieve you not - go find a synapse of the GT series to find out what I mean). Yes, a bit of continuity destruction and credibility would go out the tubes when you consider the power of the characters verses the story, but given the game's hack-eyed way of telling the actual story and the off-shoots, as well as the already pathetic off-balance of the characters (SSJ1.5 Trunks verses Captin Ginyu? Pleeze), it wouldn't matter.

One should note that, even with a suprisingly diverse cast for a portable DBZ game, it is still sad and depressing that we are stuck with the same Motley Krew of Kombatants as virtually every other DBZ fighter, and it just isn't fun. Why not add more fighters from the plot? Why not come up with an all-new plot or an AU event to give a reason to add more characters? Why not throw in other Akira Toryama characters or, even better, include other characters he has drawn from other games (the Dragon Quest/Warrior series comes to mind)? There are ways to keep the games fresh as far as the kast is konscerned, but will Atari kare? We may never know the truth...

[Editor's note - Mikaa has been beaten for ripping off Midway's use of replacing 'c's with 'k's. You may read on without worry]

Controls are nice and do make nice use of the DS screen, though the combat is so abysmally awkward, it's almost a joke. Let me explain: You have a punch, a kick, a ki-shot, a guard, a ki-charge, a Special Ability button, and the touch screen to activate a team attack (if you have the means to do so) or switch characters (again, if you have the means, but on the up-side, the character appears typically behind your foe). On the good side, combat is rather simple in theory, but when you take into account that to launch a special you have to press the Ki-shot and the punch (don't quote me on that one - it might be the kick, I can't recall) to use a special, and the fact that what special you use is relative to where you and your opponent are (if you are above your foe, one special; another if they are to the side; yet another if they are above you). This is kind of annoying, as the attacks vary enough and are almost random, since you are always moving around the field, which could result in a goof-up and a wasted shot and your defeat. Not the best way to fight.

Oh, and on fighting: Ki-Charging (or bashing your foe) raises your Ki-meter, which determines how many Ki-shots you can shoot and what specials you can use (or what special attributes you can activate with L). If you Ki is of a set-level, you can literally ignore your foe's Ki-shots if they are of a lesser level, but while this is a nice touch, half of the time you have to engage in the show's trademark fighing trick:

fight, run, fight, run, fight.

Seriously. You dash in close, puch each other or defend against an attack, dash away, dash towards, knock your foe to the ground, dash away, dash towards, engage in a Ki-battle where you press the buttons rapidly to turn the ki-blast against the foe, run away, dash to fight, repeat ad nauseum.

Like the show but without the drag-five-minutes-out-into-ten-episodes dialog, the game does have a tendency to get old and irritating, unless you enjoy the realism of the show in the game.

Sound is present, and largely good, but I cannot recall any catchy tunes. The voice clips are oddly absent except for the occasional open line, and as usual, whatever possible Japanese voice clips were omitted, so no accidental slips in including profane words (like Castlevania DoS's Alucard). Still, nothing noteworthy.

Multiplayer was once again beyond my grasp, but given the gist of the game eninge, it would HAVE to be more fun than the cheapness of the CPU. Replay consists of unlocking alternate plot paths in the Story Mode for special moves and extras, but other than that and the King of Fighers-esque team mode, zilch is original and worth the time. If you are a fan, you will dig it.

Ironically, when I sat down to write this review, I was going to give the game a six. But having looked back at my writing, I have to say a four would be more appropriate. But, when you take into account that fighting a human foe would be far more fun, I had to bump it up to a five.

In short, avoid unless you are a blind fan. Look at it this way - it IS US$30, and not US$40...

Score: 5 of 10


* Best Features: Multiplayer blast, Graphics
* Worst Features: Same cast as other series games, Same blah tunes, odd controls
* If You Liked: DBZ Supersonic Warriors (GBA), any of the PS2 DBZ fighters
* Guilty Pleasure: I haven't a clue, uh... Nope, not a one. Sorry.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/05, Updated 11/20/07

Game Release: Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 (US, 11/20/05)