Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku

"Not bad for a first attempt on the GBA but it could have been a bit better"

During the mid-1980's to the late 1990's Bandai made many Dragon Ball Z games for various systems. Over those years they had mixed results with their RPG's and Fighting games. Some of them such as UB22, Ledgends/IDBD and some of the Fighter's on the SNES were ok. However others such as Bandai's last DB game in 1997 (DBGT Final Bout)didn't do so well. Fast forward to the year 2002. This time around Infogrames has the rights the DBZ games. For their first attempt they have released Legacy of Goku. LoG is an Action/RPG game that will remind some people of the classic Zelda games for the NES, SNES and GB/GBC. So is this game worth your hard earned cash?

Gameplay-6
The gameplay isn't too bad for LoG. If you've played any of the old Zelda games then it shouldn't take you too long to get use to. However the reason why the score is low is due to the fact that the enemy AI isn't all that great. When you finally get to enemies such as Raditz, Vegeta and Frieza the battle just seems to turn into nothing more than hit and run tactics. In addition it's a bit on the short side due to the fact that you play as only Goku. I haven't made it to the end yet but a friend of mine managed to get to the final battle in a little under 6 hours. Perhaps the game could have been longer if it allowed you to play as other characters in situations where Goku was not around (EX-Vegeta while Goku was on his way to Namek or Krillin while Goku was recovering from the battle with Ginyu). Finally the Kamehameha has really been weakened in this game. In the anime it has been known as one of the strongest attacks but in LoG it has been reduced to being used at short range. I understand that it had to be weakened just a tiny bit but when you get the chance to use it chances are you'll agree with me when I say it should have a least a little more range.

Story-8
LoG follows the DBZ storyline up to the final battle with Frieza very well but several key events and details were left out. For example during the fight with Raditz there is no interference from Gohan and it's not even added as part of a cut scene.

Graphics-7
While the graphics of a game were never really the most important thing in the world to me some people that really care about how a game looks might get turned off by this. The style of the characters will remind people of old Super NES games from about 1993 or '94. While they may not be the prettest to look at anyone who is familiar with the characters will instantly be able to tell who is who. One of the neatest things about this game is the fact that it uses video clips and still shots straight from the anime. When you first turn it on you see scenes from the first half of the opening used during the Saiyan Saga. While the video clips may not be that good due to the fact that they appear on a GBA you have to admit that they do look good when you consider your seeing them on a small handheld system.

Control-10
Very simple and easy to learn. People that usually don't bother with reading the instructions can easily learn the game within 10 minutes.

Sound-7
I've only seen a few episodes of the Saiyan Saga due to the fact that like many others I think it was dubbed and cut very badly. However from the few episodes I've seen I don't think any of the music in the game was in that saga. I'm not saying it's bad music but IMO from what I've heard so far most of it doesn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the game. The least they could have done was put in music from the dub that people would know instantly. As corny as I think the song is I think they could have at least had ''Rock the Dragon'' since this game covers the seasons that theme song was used in the dub. As far as the attack SFX go it's what many people would expect from an early SNES game. Finally while there are not many there are a few voice clips here and there. Goku's voice when he uses a fully charged Kamehameha and his scream from when he gets killed sounds just like his current VA in the dub.

Complaints
Overall this was a good first attempt at a DBZ game for Infogrames. However it does come up a bit short in more than one area. First is the sound and music. For a DBZ game it's not what I was expecting. While chances are it won't be done if Infogrames decides to continue with an improved version of the LoG engine I would like to hear songs such as ''No Will Power'' from the original Japanese version in the next game. Secondly I've heard from several people that this game is very short. Since the next game will more than likely go all the way up to the battle with Cell and maybe even Mirai 18 and 17 then perhaps in a sequel they could try something such as split the game between Goku, Mirai Trunks, Vegeta, Gohan and Piccolo to increase the length of the game. Next is the fact that the AI isn't the greatest in the world. Hopefully in the next game enemies will try to outsmart you and try to fight you in different ways depending on how your trying to handle the situation.

Replay Value-Low to medium
Since LoG is somewhat on the short side it might get played just one time. The only ones that might play it more than one time are the diehard DBZ fans.

Buy or Rent?
While the game is good it may not be the best spent $40. For many people this might be just one or two rentals at the most. Once again the only ones that might buy this are the diehard DBZ fans.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/17/02, Updated 05/17/02