Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors

"Finally, a decent DBZ fighter on the go."

Damn, who would have thought that the essence of the Dragon Ball Z anime could be translated so well to the Game Boy Advance even after a poor attempt (Taiketsu). Not only does this game of capturing the feel and look of DBZ, it is also pretty damn fun.

The best thing about this game is the actual combat. This is really the first game to ever allow the freedom of movement seen in the anime. You can fly in fast, fly out fast, there really is no limit to how far away you can go.

The controls are also very easy to get used to. B for weak attacks, A for strong attacks, L to switch (and teleport when used with a direction input), and R to charge up your power. Holding R then hitting B for rapid fire weak power shots, hit A for stronger shots that can be charged up, or hit B and A for a signature energy blast from whatever character you are (also depends on where you are relative to the other player). The only move that I found to be somewhat difficult was the throw (A+B when close to an opponent) but with a little practice you can get used to it.

Now the odd thing about the controls is where the block buttons are located. Thats right, there is more then one. Holding down A and B will cause your character to block, B blocks basic attacks and weak energy blasts, A blocks pretty much everything. This may sound odd, but its pretty effective for creating a cool fist fight since when you hit the attack button you can just hold it a little bit longer to block making a pretty cool back and fourth battle.

Graphics wise, this game looks slick for a GBA title, and the character art used throughout the game is also top notch. There are some instances where Akira Toriyama's (the creator of all things Dragon Ball minus DB GT) original art is used. Fairly cool.

The sound in this game is excellent. The music is pretty good, nothing special there, but the character's voices all sound very good. Thats right, character's voices. Characters do the standard "Say your attack before you do it" that occurs often in the DBZ universe, and it sounds very good for a GBA game.

Overall, if you need a fighter for your GBA you can't go wrong with this title. Even if you don't need a fighter this game is worth looking into, and for all you DBZ-files, add another 2 to the score and go out and buy this game as soon as possible.

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