Just when you thought
it was over, Dragonball Z is back. As one of the most popular martial
arts anime around, Dragonball Z just never seems to stop returning for
another round in the video game ring. It's been quite a long road for
Goku and friends in fighting games. Budokai 1 and 2 were taken as slow
and clunky fighters. However, Budokai 3 was a major step forward for the
series, at long last emulating the fast-paced battles that the anime was
known for. Tenkaichi Budokai wasn't as impressive as Budokai 3, but
retained the over-the-top feeling that the series was known for. Now
Super Dragonball Z is out for the PS2, along with a healthy pedigree
from Noritaku Funamizu, producer of the legendary Street Fighter II.
Does Super Dragonball Z improve the DBZ gaming legacy?
Graphics 7/10
The graphics of Super DBZ are very
similar to past DBZ fighters. As with the Budokai games, cel-shading
leads the way, with colorful and cartoony characters. Unlike previous
DBZ fighters, Super DBZ follows a more manga-oriented following. The
game is full of giant onomatopoeia when attacks flurry. A strong punch
will result in tremendous words to burst from the attack. A giant
explosion will appear when a strong super attack hits. While the game
isn't as dedicated to its manga influence as, say, Naruto: Ultimate
Ninja, the manga trappings are plentiful and it's great to see the game
return to its roots when it comes to presentation. Other than the manga
effects, Super DBZ really isn't a massive improvement in graphics for
the series. Sure, the characters look okay, but there isn't a huge
difference in Super DBZ's character designs and past DBZ fighters'.
Environments do provide a trump card in terms of amazingly destructive
obstacles. Constantly punching a wall will not only make it shatter, but
shielding from attacks will be gone. The environments provide plenty of
destructibility in battles. The over-the-top projectile energy attacks,
however, are toned down far too much. Unlike Budokai 3 and Tenkaichi,
the super-powerful energy blasts don't look as powerful or massive in
Super DBZ. Although the graphics aren't a tremendous improvement, the
game has a unique manga influence and destructible environments, giving
it some solid ground to stand on.
Audio 5/10
Once again, the DBZ anime English
voice cast returns for another round. However, the voice acting just
doesn't seem as strong as past games. There seems to be much less
enthusiasm in the voices. Some lines are painfully recycled far too
much. The music is just horrible. There is barely any originality in it,
and at times, it can sound like music from the 16-bit era. The sound
effects provide some strong backup to the manga onomatopoeia in the
graphics, where tremendous explosions and energy blasts are highlights.
But despite the well done sound effects, the poor music and repetitive
voice acting bring the audio down.
Gameplay 6/10
Super DBZ attempts to return DBZ to
the fighting game roots, developing a fighter that can satisfy the
hardcore fighting fans. In fact, Super DBZ was first an arcade game, and
being backed up by one of gaming's most influential fighting game
producers, Super DBZ should have been an easy task to deal with.
The most interesting part of Super
Dragonball Z is surprisingly not the battles themselves. It's the RPG
elements that make the game worth playing. Players can create Character
Customization Cards, special cards that are used to keep track of
players' stats, skills, and strengths. Using Battle Points, or BP, that
are obtained throughout the game, a player can increase a certain
fighter's stats like Attack or Defense, or spend Experience to get
stronger skills like a longer range of attack or a powerful energy
attack. The attacks are spread out in a skill tree, where different
attacks must be chosen over others to increase the skills of characters.
The amount of depth in the RPG elements is impressive and will keep
players coming back to improve their fighter.
But shouldn't the battles be the
highlight of a game based on one of the most legendary martial arts
anime around? Sadly, Super DBZ fails to provide both a deep combat and a
fan-oriented DBZ game. Controls are simple, too simple. X to guard,
circle to jump (double-tap to hover in flight), square and triangle to
attack. L1 to throw, L2 to dash, R1 and R2 for a homing attack. The
controls are simple enough to be accessible, but hardcore fighting fans,
who are supposed to be one of this game's target audiences, will be
disappointed at the lack of depth of the combat. Very few moves are
available for each character compared to other fighters like Virtua
Fighter and Tekken. Even worse is that the combos to make special moves
will be too complicated for fighting game rookies. The controls aren't
able to suit either hardcore fans or rookies, which breaks the combat
system completely.
But what about the DBZ fans? All of
their favorite characters like Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Cell, and Frieza are
there. While it's great to have such staple characters in the game, the
game is missing too many famous characters. What about Zarbon? What
about Cooler? What about Broly? Sure, Chi-Chi is there, but the game's
roster of characters is extremely slim compared to Budokai 3, and even
more slim compared to Tenkaichi. Sure, unlockable characters are
present, but the game lacks many of the characters that were present in
past DBZ fighters. DBZ fans would want a massive roster of characters
throughout Dragonball history to battle with, but Super Dragonball Z
doesn't deliver in satisfying hardcore DBZ fans either.
Dragonball Z fans also will be
disappointed at how much slower the game is. To the game's credit, the
homing and dash attacks can speed up combat, but defensive tactics like
teleporting and pursuing are sadly absent, bringing down the DBZ style
of the game. Beam struggles, one of the groundbreaking aspects of
Budokai 3, have been dropped as well. There isn't as much Dragonball Z
action as in past games, with so many special features being dropped to
return to a more traditional fighter. The fun in playing Dragonball Z
fighters was the ability to perform incredibly over-the-top martial arts
moves, making the game feel full of high-intensity action. Super DBZ is
too slow and traditional to satisfy DBZ fans.
However, Super DBZ does have some
things going for it. One of which is the inclusion of the Action Gauge.
The Action Gauge is a limiter to abilities like dashing and flying. If
you dash or hover too long, the Gauge decreases and eventually
performing such gravity-defying actions won't be able to be done. The
Action Gauge does add some strategy to gameplay, and combined with
destructible environments, the game does go where DBZ games have not yet
been. There's balance in the Action Gauge system, something that's
lacking in the rest of the game.
The mode selection is also
extremely slim. Original Mode is a traditional climb-the-tower fighting
game, a solid reuse of the arcade version which also allows you to use
the customized character. Z-Survivor is where a majority of the game
will be played. In Z-Survivor, you use your Character Customization
Card. Your character can gain experience and fight in a survival match.
Winning each battle will allow you to spin a roulette to either increase
stats, earn Dragonballs, or heal in between fights. Training Mode is a
typical training session. A disappointing factor is the lack of a
tutorial in training. Versus Mode allows you to fight against a friend.
Customize allows you to customize your characters, gain skills, and
increase stats. Summoning is a special mode where after gathering all
seven Dragonballs with a customized character, whether in Z-Survivor or
Original Mode, you can obtain a special technique, a new color, or
something entirely different. This does add replay value, but doesn't
stop Super DBZ from not having enough modes to satisfy hardcore fighting
fans.
Replay Value 6/10
It's a disappointment to see such a
slim amount of characters and modes. Sure, customizing the characters
and unlocking secret characters will keep your attention, but there's
just not as many things to do as there are in past DBZ games. Some more
modes would've been better, but Super DBZ is too shallow of a fighter to
garner fans' praise.
Final Verdict 6/10
Despite a strong pedigree and
source material, Super DBZ fails to satisfy either target audience it
attempts to capture the attention of. An overly simplistic fighting
system is hindered by clunky controls and a distinct lack of depth.
Sloppy audio and an extremely small roster of DBZ characters will
disappoint DBZ fans. The Customize aspect of the game is well thought
out and deep, but putting it to use is an issue in itself, thanks to a
clumsy system and lack of the DBZ style. A manga influence and
interesting character customization cannot save the game from its flaws.
Super Dragonball Z's biggest problem is that it tries too many things
and tries to attract too many different audiences, eventually
disappointing them all. If you're an absolutely die-hard DBZ fan, you'll
most likely pick up this game. Other DBZ fans will be disappointed at
the game's pace and lack of characters. If you're a hardcore fighting
fan, you'll be disappointed at the game's shallow combat and
disappointing fights. However, anyone on the middle ground can find some
good concepts in the game, like the Customize system and Z-Survivor
mode. Anyone who is not any of these people won't be satisfied with
Super DBZ. It's lack of combat polish and slow fights won't gather any
new fans, let alone those already interested in either martial arts
anime or fighting games.
