Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu

"Atari and fighting games do not go together especially if they are based on DBZ"

You must really have to think hard about how a DBZ fighting game can go wrong. But with Atari they knew at the start. Put in bad graphics, weak control, decent music and awful sound, and you get DBZ: Taiketsu. With so many DBZ fighting games one has to be the worst and of course Atari was the one who created it.

Graphics 3/10
When i saw the first screenshot of Taiketsu, I couldn't say I was impressed but I did kinda liked the graphics. Until I played the game... WOW, do the graphics need work. The characters are huge and the arenas are small. What they tried to do was to put in wonderful 3D animations. What you got was cheesy 3D graphics. Even the backgrounds are weird. To make a fighting game with these kind of graphics what wonder what the gameplay might be like.

Music 6/10
I have to say that the music isn't that bad. I actually enjoyed it. Some tunes were a little stupid and others were ok. But to listen to the tunes in the jukebox, that is the problem.

Sound 2/10
Awful sound... No voice samples or nothing all you get are grunts when you throw your opponent. You also got punching and kicking sounds that get really annoying.

Gameplay 2/10
Where to start with the gameplay? Lets see you got 15 fighters and 3 special moves for each one. You have 5 game options, multiplayer, and the Z store. Its all crappy. The 5 so called game options are pretty much the same just with different settings. Multiplayer isn't fun at all with the graphics being so bad, and the Z store is a waste of time. The first option is tournament. Just choose a character, fight a few opponents and when you win, thats it. You might get a new character, but thats it. There is also no strategy when fighting, all you do is smash buttons and sometimes you might do a special move. The 2nd option is endurance, like any one wants to do that. You smash buttons and win. And the computer is so easy its not worth it. You've got three more options but they are all the same. Multiplayer might be fun for awhile, but all your doing is trying to see who can do their special move the fastest. So it gets boring fast. The Z store uses Z points you get everytime you win a round. Then you can buy stuff, like BIOS, music, images, and settings. Its a complete waste of time to buy any of it. The only interesting thing is the bonus settings, but the game is too easy anyway so why bother.

Control 4/10
Control is weak, you have a punch and kick, but your just smashing the buttons anyway to get your special move to work.

Rent or Buy
Do not rent and do not buy. Don't even play this game if your friend has it. Its a complete waste of time and money.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/04