Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury

"The third and final chapter of DBZ!"

Introduction
So many years after this series has finished being published appears that they are still making new games... This is a game based on a worldwide famous japanese series called Dragon Ball Z. Although it has a different name from other games before it, this is actually kinda like Legacy of Gokuh 3, for gameboy advance... I think this is somehow better than the ones before it, but you'll need to read this review in order to know its flaws...

Gameplay
As you may already know this game is RPG style, but not like final fantasy or shining force, since all battles are played in real time, as well as all the combos which you can perform or the special powers of your characters. Once the game starts, you will be controlling Son Gokuh, a couple years after Gohan killed Perfect Cell in the ending of the Cell Saga. After a minor event which will introduce you to the mechanics of the game, you will be able to control Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Goten and Trunks, but there are also some characters which are only controllable for some time and others that are creating by fusing...
Unlike the 2 "Legacy of Goku" games released before, most of the quests in this game are related to the series (as far as I remember, only 2 or 3 aren't...), plus you will also be able to play across some events that appeared on the Dragon Ball Z movies. They also changed the images, so now almost all the characters look like the ones in the series. However, not everything is better in this game... The game is really easy (I finished it in less than 2 days...), and even if you are an unexperienced gamer you will easily finish it. Plus, it seems that the game ha some glitches, for example, doors that can't be opened or switches that can't be found, but I heard that this only occurs if you don't have the real game, and since I had to use a rom to try out this game, I can't confirm it, either... Finally, there is a multiplayer mode in which I heard that you could control lots of characters from the series, like Broly, Piccolo, Goku, Majin Buu and many others. This could make this game a lot more valuable, but unfortunately I couldn't try it...

Story
About the story of this game, it will be mainly Buu's saga, as you will start playing and after Gokuh's death in the battle against Cell and then keep on playing until the end of this series, Dragon Ball Z. However, you will also be able to play across the story of some of the Dragon Ball Z movies.

Concerning the story in this game, I must say it is based on some of the Dragon Ball Z saga's, like the Android's one and also that of Cell. You'll play across them somehow but you will also have to play some things that (fortunately) didn't happened in the anime/manga (japanese comics).

Graphics/Sound
The graphics are nice like the ones in other gameboy advance games, except for the faces of the characters (which appear near the things they say) which are not drawn nicely. As for the sound, it is good, I don't think you will get bored with it easily since it changes from time to time.

Play Time/Replayability
As I already said, this game is really short, even if you are not a very experienced player you will easily finish this game in 2 or 3 days. Even though there are extra quests that you can accomplish after finishing the game, they aren't enough to make you keep on playing. Also, perhaps the multiplayer mode makes this game more valuable, however I didn't had the chance to test it.

Final Recommendation
A nice game, however I think you will only enjoy it if you were a fan from the series. If you aren't, get this borrowed from a friend or something...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/04