Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors

"As bad as the previous DBZ fighting games? No. An truly exceptional fighting game? No."

Turning DBZ into a fighting game seems like a good idea. Its incredibly popular and its combat oriented so it seems like a good idea. Unfortunately it didn't work out as well as it sounds. There were a few mediocre SNES titles one that was above average. Three horrible playstation games. Budokai which wasn't as bad as the PS ones but still pretty bad... And finally Taiketsu possibly the worst of them all.

Maybe the problem was that these games were being made by companies like Bandai and Atari, companies which don't really make that many (if any) good fighting games. This time is a bit different. The guys that made the Guilty Gear games developed this one. So with a company that has made quality fighting games working on this there was hope that it would be a great game. It didn't quite reach the quality of the guilty gear games but it is an above average game which is more than you can say for any of the other DBZ fighters.

Graphics 8/10- The graphics are pretty good. The character sprites look like they should the beckgrounds are decent, and the special attacks look good although not anything incredibly impressive.

Sound 7/10- The sound is not so terrible that it will make the game less enjoyable, but nothing that stands out at all either. The sound effects when you block shoot ki blasts etc suit the game well.

Controls 9/10- The controls are of a simplistic style like in Smash Brothers and Sonic Battle. You use a few simple button techniques to perform moves that work with any character but will result in different attacks. You can make a weak attack with B and a strong one with A. You can hold either button down to block, and when you release the button you'll do a counter attack. Holding R will charge ki and pressing the attack buttons while holding R will fire ki attacks. A and B will do a throw. Holding R and pressing A and B will perform one of three special attacks depending on where you are in relation to your opponent. Like in other DBZ games using ki attacks takes away part of a ki bar. (the one you charge up with R).

Gameplay 6/10- The most important part of a game. This one suffers from the same flaw that Budokai did. The characters are way too similar, although not as bad as in Budokai. There are minor variations in the characters. For example doctor Gero can absorb energy from ki attacks fired at him. Gotenks is extremely powerful but after a certain amount of time his fusion wears off and he can't fight anymore. But overall the characters are the same. This makes the gameplay get repetitive quickly. You have the option of playing in singles or a team. In a team you can switch characters at will. But it doesn't really add much to the game. You can't call in a partner for a team up, and they're not really different in any significant ways so it really seems kind of pointless. The game has a story mode you can play through with different characters. But since the characters are so similar it gets boring quickly.]

Overall 7/10- It is a perfectly playable game with a decent fighting system. But a lack of diversity in characters really takes alot of the fun out of the game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/07/04