Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu Impressions

In addition to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, Atari is working on another Dragon Ball game, but this time for the Game Boy Advance. Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu, which is in development at Webfoot, is essentially a one-on-one fighting game set in the Dragon Ball universe. The game will feature 15 characters, including Brolly, as well as four different gameplay modes--tournament, endurance, time challenge, and sparring. The tournament mode consists of eight matches, and by winning the tournament, you can unlock additional characters. Endurance and time challenge are essentially specialty modes where you have to last as long as possible without dying or defeat as many enemies as possible within a certain time limit. Sparring is basically the training mode for the game.

There's actually a fifth option in the game called the z-store. While there isn't actually any gameplay involved with the z-store, it lets you purchase images from the cartoon, as well as bios of characters and music. The number of points you have to unlock these items depends on how well you perform over the course of a fight--the better you perform, the more points you'll receive.

The fighting mechanics in Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu are fairly simple. The shoulder buttons are used for hard punch and hard kick, while the two face buttons are used for quick punch and quick kick. Special moves can be executed by pressing a combination of buttons, but in the current build of the game, some of the special moves and combinations are rather difficult to execute, so Webfoot is currently considering toning down the learning curve. It's worth pointing out that each character will have a standard set of moves, as well as two combinations and two special moves.The fighting system also features sky battles, where both characters will go at each other like rabid dogs, but the character that pushes the buttons faster than the other will be the victor.

Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu's looks pretty detailed for a GBA game. All the sprites are relatively large and well animated, though there's still some choppiness associated with transitions between moves. The backgrounds are all based on famous Dragon Ball Z locales and will have some subtle details that are reflective of that. Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu is scheduled for release in October.