watching a show like Dragonball Z? I don’t know about you, but for me it’s
the battles. They were fast, lengthy, and you could never be too sure that
the good guy would win. In the end you were almost certain that good would
prevail all evil. But Dragonball Z is a very lengthy series with several
hundred episodes, not including the original Dragonball series and Dragonball
GT!
Such a long
running series deserves a long run of game releases. Word has it that as we
speak two brand-new DBZ games are in development for Game Boy Advance. And
what’s this I’m reviewing right now? A DBZ game for Game Boy Advance!
Clearly this is a good time to get your Zzzz. Actually, that didn’t come out
right…
At this time the game we
have in custody is Dragonball Z: Supersonic Warriors. If you think you’ve
heard the name before you probably have. Goku and company are Supersonic
Warriors, and thus the anime company must tell us that over and over again.
Is the game worthy of the
name? For the most part the answer is yes. This isn’t a card game, or an
isometric action/RPG, it’s a true Dragonball Z game where the only goal is to
kick the Saiyan out of your opponent.
The controls couldn’t be
much easier to learn. The A and B buttons execute your strong and weak
attacks, while the R and L buttons are used to charge Ki and to switch
characters. Ki, as any DBZ fan knows, is the key to winning a battle.
Without Ki you are powerless. With Ki you can open any door and unlock the
truth behind the saga! No wait – that’s key. But you get the point.
Holding the Ki button (R)
and pressing the B button will unleash your warrior’s energy attack. To
unleash even more energy, press the A button while holding R. You can use
this attack to keep your enemies on his toes, but I’m sure you can remember
what happens when Goku gets carried away. He loses all his Ki and needs a
special bean to save the day! There are no beans to bail you out of this
one. Watch your Ki, and charge it whenever the enemy is at a safe distance.
Combo attacks are a way
of life on the show, and things are no different here. Since the Game Boy
Advance is limited to just four buttons, the developers had less room to work
with in the area of combos and attack moves. Not that more buttons would have
made the game better, but very early on it feels like you can just place your
thumb over the A and B buttons and repeatedly press them to win.
Despite being repetitive,
the game can be very fun. All of the moves look like they were taken directly
from the show. And thanks to the decent 2D graphics the game is fun to watch
as you dart around the air, avoid projectile attacks and go in for the kill.
One element that really
stood out to me was the ability to change characters on-the-fly in the
single-battle mode. You can pick up to three, and when you press the L
button, in comes a new character. This is a feature that developers struggled
with for years on the PSone (it couldn’t done without lengthy load times in
between each character). Granted, the graphics in this game are much simpler
than a PSone title, but even the cartoony games couldn’t pull off the effect.
For those of you wanting
to relive DBZ’s many sagas, Supersonic Warriors includes a story mode for each
character. Which characters can you play as? The starting lineup lets you
take on Trunks, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan and Goku. The rest of the quests are
locked at the beginning of the game, but rest assured that there’s more in
store for everyone who keeps playing.
Easy to learn and
repetitive by consequence, Dragonball Z: Supersonic Warriors is a fun fighting
game. It’s not big on depth, and with only 13 playable characters you won’t
have as much to master for the two-player mode. That doesn’t mean that you
should write the game off or just count it as a rental. It’s a great game to
play for short intervals, like when you’re waiting to get a decaying tooth
filled, or when you’re in line for one of the summer’s blockbuster films.
Just don’t expect more than what’s there – a very simple and straightforward
fighting game.
Gameplay: 7.5
This game makes
me want to sing the English theme song! (Dragon, dragon, ball-dragon,
Dragonball Z!) It’s fast, moderately exciting, and overall a pretty cool
game. I very much appreciated the attention to detail that went into the
moves and the animation – nice touch developers. The game really looks like
it’s a part of the show, and that’s exactly how it plays.
Graphics: 8
Detailed Saiyans
and good animation. There’s not much more to the graphics than that, but what
is there looks good so who cares?
Sound: 7
Average. Some of
the songs sounded like they were taken from the show, others didn’t, but none
of them made me want to turn up the sound.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Saying it’s
"easy/medium" is almost stretching it. Button-mashers can and will conquer
this game. And they’ll be able to do it with very little standing in their
way.
Concept: 7
Supersonic
Warriors is a step in the right direction for Dragonball Z, but I can’t say
that anything new was introduced here.
Multiplayer: 7
You’ll have fun
for a little while… Then take a break, come back, have some more fun and
repeat.
Overall: 7.5
Dragonball Z fans
are gonna love this one! It’s far from perfect. Soul Calibur fans would
laugh. But is that who this game was designed for? Nope. It was designed
for the DBZ watchers of the world, and that’s just who it’s going to satisfy.
