Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu

"Taiketsu has 15 characters. All of them want to escape."

Atari has a license - a license to kill. Or a license to create games based on the popular cartoon Dragonball Z, which is almost exactly the same thing. The impressive accomplishment of Taiketsu is to set the standards for DBZ games a little bit lower.

GRAPHICS

If you visit the Webfoot website, you'll notice that Webfoot like 3D. They really, really like 3D. You might almost say they're obsessed with 3D. Take a look at their official statement:

Webfoot develops 3D games and state-of-the art 3D engines for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers. These incredible 3D products are available through both retail and online channels.

Their incredible 3D products include 3D Alien Invasion, 3D Brick Busters, 3D Bubbly Burst, 3D Dragon Duel, 3D Flyin' Frogs, 3D Frog Frenzy, 3D Galaxy Fighters, 3D Going Ape!, and of course 3D Jumpy's World. Let's not forget 3D Missile Madness and 3D Pinball Express.

Now, when Webfoot had to design graphics for Taiketsu, they had several options. They could opt for crisply-drawn 2D sprites that resembled characters from the show, much like those used in the Super Nintendo DBZ games, including the decent fighter ''Hyper Dimension''. Then they could have used the GBA's technology to improve upon the old fighting games with new features and more fighting modes.

However, there's a problem with this. You see, Webfoot LOVE 3D. They really, really love 3D. There's a good chance Webfoot executives name their pets '3D Dog' and '3D Cat' and '3D Going Ape!'. Some might say that a 3D fighting game does not work well on the Gameboy Advance screen, but that doesn't stop Webfoot. They proceeded to create deformed, melted 3D characters and place them in front of static backgrounds. Neither truly 3D nor 2D, these monsters exist somewhere in the void that is sometimes called 'psueodo-3D' and usually called 'utter crap.'

Firstly, the characters don't really resemble the cast from the show. The "beautiful" Android #18 makes a stunning appearance as a freakishly twisted harpy with white-streaked hair and a mangled face, while Krillin's head is grotesquely huge. Cell is a hopping green cricket and Trunks appears to be wearing plastic wrap. Webfoot could have used 2D sprites without the disfigurement, sure, but where's the 3D in that?

Of course, they didn't get it wrong every time. Super Buu, who appears for almost five seconds, seems decently rendered. However, the facial expressions on all the characters are bizzarely mutated, although hard to pick up on the small screen. This does not look remotely like DBZ.

Then we move on to the energy attacks. Hardcore DBZ fans will be enraged to hear that the Kamehameha is yellow, but they'll probably have a heart attack when they see that it's also a slowly moving fireball that jerks its way across the screen. Instead of an aura as per DBZ, fighters power up with a bizzare yellow outline around them. In fact, given how badly pixellated the attack sprites are, it's probably a blessing Webfoot didn't make the fighters 2D as well. They may do 3D badly, but clearly it's what they're best at.

Finally, the animation. It's as though somebody tied strings to their limbs and is jerking them around the screen. They don't move any more convincingly than they look, and the overall effect is the feeling of watching puppets beating each other up, slowly.

Graphics Score: 1/5
There are no excuses for graphics this bad. I'm not cutting it any slack for being a GBA game - the fact is, if Webfoot had ditched the 3D and gone with decent 2D sprites, they could have had a game that at least somewhat resembled Dragonball Z. When a Super Nintendo game captures the show better than a Gameboy Advance game, you know something is wrong.

SOUND

We'll start with the music. If you listen carefully, you'll realise that Taiketsu actually has music from the Funimation DBZ-dub (composed by Bruce Faulconer.) However, every tune has been remixed, some to the extent that they're almost unrecognizable. The music isn't terrible - it's not good, but it probably won't hurt you - but you won't notice it, either. I'd give it bonus points for having music from the show, but when I need to listen to the music twice to identify it, I think it doesn't deserve those points after all.

The sound of punches and kicks are pretty much the same generic sounds you'll hear in fighting games everywhere. However, Taiketsu does lack something you'll hear in most fighting games everywhere - voice. There are no voices in Taiketsu. The end result is that you have a fight between mimes who are so tough they don't even grunt when somebody punches them in the face. Taiketsu doesn't even include voices for the special attacks from the show, so Goku's famous ''Kamehameha'' attack is done in silence, except for a rather bland blasting noice that accompanies it. The fact that they didn't include a clip for the Kamehameha, or any of the other attacks, really takes away the DBZ-ambience that might have redeemed it.

Music Score: 1.5/5
Sound Score: 1/5
Sound? What sound? The music basically consists of mangled tunes from the show - which is hardly notable for great music to begin with. There are no voices, basic impact noises, and no speech. Nobody expectings fully-voiced games on the GBA, Webfoot, but we KNOW you can fit a ''Kamehameha'' clip or two on there no matter how low the quality.

GAMEPLAY

Taiketsu does indeed have a combo system. An extremely limited combo system. Upon pressing four buttons, you execute a rapid attack rather than the usual slow kicks and punches. That's it. There is no custom combo sytem, and Taiketsu's sluggish response time ensures that pulling off the combo isn't as simple as you'd like. There are only two of these combos, and they are simplistic to say the least.

In other words, there are two combos, basic attacks and a single throw. Hey, Webfoot had to sacrifice something to include all that 3D! Of course, in a game without a combo system, there has to be plenty of special attacks for each character, right?

Right?

Wrong. Taiketsu has - brace yourself - THREE moves per character. That's it. That's all. Sure, there are 15 characters in Taiketsu, but that's no excuse to have three moves each. I'd rather lose some characters if it would give characters any depth or individuality. Instead, they all play exactly the same. The moves are also next to impossible to pull off every time, as Taiketsu's response time is shockingly bad.

A fighting game can't survive with no real combo system and three attacks per character, unless it somehow makes up for it with the game modes. Taiketsu includes Tournament, Endurance, Time Challenge and Sparring. In Tournament you unlock characters by fighting others until you win. No elimination system, just one fight after another. Endurance has you fighting enemy after enemy until you die. Time Challenge challenges you to win in time (could you have guessed?)

There is no Story Mode. Basically, you unlock the characters, and... that's it. Then you can play Endurance mode with your favourite three moves forever. Taiketsu does include Z Points, allowing you to unlock image galleries, the jukebox and biographies, something that could be entertaining and also something you can find in a few minutes on the Internet.

The air-borne battles in the Dragonball Z cartoon are part of its notoriety. Taiketsu decides to implement this in the form of Sky Battles. Input a move, and you'll jump up and off the screen. If your enemy follows you, it cuts to an animation of you and your enemy punching and kicking each other IN THE SKY. You can tell it's the sky because THERE IS NO GROUND. Whoever hits the button the fastest wins, and they both calmly float downwards, the loser inexplicably passing out when they land. You can, of course, unlock a slightly more complex Sky Battle 2, but the truth is that Taiketsu includes no flight system. You cannot manually fly in this game.

This, of course, is all made better by the inclusion of BROLLY, the Legendary Super Saiyan from Dragonball Z Movie 8! I am also being sarcastic. While it's nice to see the popular character included in a game, the fact is that Brolly is merely an incentive for unsuspecting DBZ fans to buy Taiketsu to play as him, and realise that he's a badly drawn claymonster with three moves.

The Taiketsu fighting engine is probably one of the crudest in recent gaming history. The Super Nintendo Dragonball Z games had more depth and gameplay than this. When a Gameboy Advance game is somehow a step back from the achievements of the Super Nintendo, then clearly reality itself is warping. Soon Webfoot will undoubtedly release an exciting new game named ''Pac-Man'' - or more likely, ''3D Pac-Man Goes Ape!''

Gameplay Score: 1/5
Three moves per character is not acceptable. Every character plays alike. The transformation system is ill-concieved. The game modes are essentially identical - you may be trying to win in 99 seconds instead of fighting opponent after opponent, but you're doing it in the same lousy Taiketsu style.

SUMMARY

So - should you buy Dragonball Z: Taiketsu? The obvious answer is ''no'', and in fact closer to ''no, run away and save yourself, Taiketsu is coming, dear God run for your life''.

On later reflection, this is the only correct answer.


Final Score for non-DBZ Fans: 1/10
Taiketsu has nothing worth your money. Seriously. Do not buy this game. You're immune to the Dragonball Z label, and therefore you have the freedom to buy other games. Use this freedom and don't buy this game.
Final Score for DBZ Fans: 2/10
It has lots of characters. That's pretty much ALL it has to offer. It has Brolly, which will have some of you absolutely determined to buy the game, although I can't see the appeal in a giant sweaty man who screams ''Kakarotto!''. But if you have a PS2 as well as a GBA, forget this and buy Dragonball Z: Budokai 2.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 12/06/03, Updated 05/29/08

Game Release: Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (US, 11/24/03)