Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II

"The sequel to The Legacy of Goku? Really? Wow."

As I'm sure people know, the first Legacy of Goku game was rather disappointing and bad. It did not even come remotely close to fulfilling the hype. But The Legacy of Goku II... now that is how a game based off of a good anime is supposed to be. The gameplay and graphics are the same, but the actual game itself has vastly improved. Between removing the pointless sidequests, adjusting the difficulty to be a little simpler, and allowing the players to play as more characters than Goku this game just continues to impress me.

The graphics are still the same and I see no major difference from the Legacy of Goku. This game does, however, portray the characters well. Between the character portraits and the character designs, it's like the sprites were taken directly from the anime or manga. They are well designed and look accurate. The levels all look very well done and there aren't any major flaws visible (at least, not to me). We next look at the attack graphics, which are impressive to say the least. From the Kamehameha Wave to the Masenkou, all attacks are well done.

The music and sound effects, much like the graphics, haven't changed much. It's a love/hate kind of thing with the music, really. If you like the music in FUNimation's dub of the anime then you will enjoy the music in this. If, however, you disliked FUNimation's music, you will probably dislike the music in this game. And you will definitely dislike the music in this game if you're a ''subbie.'' Overall, the music is well-done and sounds very nice. The sound effects are incredibly basic and repetitive, but still average. Nothing that would lower the score or heighten it, by any means.

Next we take a look at the gameplay. In the first Legacy of Goku the gameplay really lowered the score in my eyes. In this game, however, the gameplay is solid and terribly addictive. While you can use the same patterns to defeat boss after boss, and the fact that their attack patterns are predictable, the battles are still difficult to a degree. The sidequests aren't nearly as pointless as those in the original game and aren't nearly as tedious to do. There is even a sidequest that will allow you access to a specific boss fight only available through that sidequest, but I won't say anything about that. If you were disappointed by the gameplay of The Legacy of Goku, don't fret! The gameplay in The Legacy of Goku II is superior to it in every way, I assure you.

As for the story... well, if you have seen the anime or have read the manga, you know it. It's taken directly from the anime/manga and transferred to the game with only minimal mistakes. I'm sure the majority of American, Canadian, British, and European fans have watched the entire series now since it has been completed, so you should know what happens in this game. It starts out where The Legacy of Goku left off at the start of the Android saga. Unlike the anime, there is no Garlic Jr. saga (which was filler anyway), so you are missing a key point where the Z Warriors fight without any assistance of Goku. Anyway, the plot follows the Android and Cell sagas in their entirety, which is quite fun since those are my two favorite sagas. There are a few mistakes, such as things excluded, but they're hardly anything to worry over.

If you are thinking of skipping out on this game because you didn't like The Legacy of Goku, I assure you to give this a try. Whether you rent it or buy it I don't care, but eventually you will buy this game because it is just that good. To date it is probably the second best Dragon Ball Z game made, next only to the Legendary Super Warriors for the GameBoy Color handheld.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/03, Updated 06/29/03