Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game

"After The Legacy of Goku disappointed me with a mere 2 hours of gameplay, I was looking forward to Collectible Card Game. I guess it did OK."

Graphics: 5/10
The graphics aren't as appealing to me as Legacy of Goku. I have, however, played a little bit of the real thing, so the first thing I noticed was that the card art was completely new to me. The character's profile faces that were shown were also very well done, but other than that, there was nothing else much to see. Like I said, not too appealing.

Sound: 2/10
Now this is a joke. I had hoped that they would at least get the sound right, but they didn't. They screwed it up so fast I could just barely get it out of my head. There's only two background pieces that play, and one of them starts up immediately after firing up the game. The sound effects do better, but not by much. There's just the sounds of punches and kicks landing when you get attacked by a card and can't defend. Just not interesting. At least Goku had Goku yelling ''Kamehameha!'' for his signature move.

Control: 10/10
One of the game's strong points; but then again, most card games have the same strong point. Since all you need to know is A and B, you really won't need to know much more. The fact that it's just so darn simple is why it gets 10 points.

Gameplay: 9/10
Ah, at last, the main point of the game is also one of its strongest points! The gameplay is kind of confusing if you jump headfirst into it. Instead, before you pop in the game, take the time to read the game manual; it's got all the information you need to get going. The in-game tutorial is worth a look too, but it overlooks some things the manual points out in detail. The only problem with gameplay is you have to constantly look at new cards you encounter before you counter their attack so you don't get lost if it shows up again. As for the cards, there's over 300 of the cards from the Saiyan, Namek, Frieza, Garlic Jr., and Trunks sagas, as well as Cell's personality cards, gained only after a heck of a lot of card battling. There's also a new booster set called Anthology, which includes 9 new cards you're probably not familiar with. One of them, Red Overbearing Attack, is included with the game cartridge if you want to add it to your Red-Style decks.

Replay Value: 8/10
Whoa! There's a lot of replay value here! When you defeat Cell on the final ladder of battling with a certain character, you unlock another character. You have to use almost every character in this same fashion to unlock every Personality. After that, you can earn Cell's personality cards by choosing your favorite Personality and going at it again! Even then, there's more. After you win each battle, you get 10 new cards to add to your collection. Try and collect 'em all! Also, you have the options of trading cards and dueling with your friends via link up! This game will keep you occupied for months!

Buy or Rent?: Either or neither
This all depends. If by my review, you think you'll enjoy the game, give it a try first by rental. If you like it, buy it! If you enjoy playing the real thing, it's definitely worth a look, mainly because you might find the promotional card that comes with it rather useful. If you even vaguely like DBZ, at least give it a look; borrow it from your friend and watch your batteries run dry! Non-fans should stay off, though.

Final Score: 7/10
It's much better in gameplay then LoG is, and it's worth a look if you play the real thing. Truly, this is an excellent game, and the first really good American DBZ game since... well, since never!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/02, Updated 08/04/02