Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure is a game that strived to do better, but fell short.
Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure is a step better than the Dragonball Z games of the Gameboy series. The gameplay is unique to the Dragon Ball series, as you initially play Goku with all of his gadgets. The music is also a lot better here. FUNimation decided to keep most of the background music in the anime Dragon Ball, unlike in Dragonball Z. Dimps Corporation decided to keep the same theme of tunes heard in the anime, stepping away from the more unpopular (to hardcore fans, at least) metal composed by Bruce Faulconer. The visuals are easy on the eyes, and that's hard to say for most Game Boy Advance games. The background complements the game, giving it that ol' Toriyama feel.
What disappointed me, as well as it disappointed many other players, was the lack of variety in the game. There are only 15 different but similar levels of play. The first time you play the story through is the most fun you'll get out of the game, and that takes only a couple of hours to finish. Although the levels don't follow a linear path, there still isn't much to see. The enemies are few, with only harder versions to try to stop you. There are a decent number of unlockables, including unique characters with unique moves (like Goku with his Power Pole or Krillin with his super jumping), but they just don't cut the repetition. You could play the story mode with other characters, but you only get a "story" with Goku. There are only two hardly challenging minigames that can be played in original or time attack form, rock punching and cat chasing. The poor excuse of a one-on-one mode of the game is a simple, poorly-built stage match between two of six playable characters. The fighting can be figured out in no time (punch the guy until he is in the air, and finish your combo), and you'll find yourself continuing a pattern of button mashing and winning every single time. Another first in the Gameboy Dragon Ball series is an option of multiplayer fighting. However this is also a poor mode since you can only play on one-on-one mode, so you'll be bored after, oh, two or so minutes.
Now, I don't think all English dubs are bad, but the Dragon Ball series definitely makes top 3 awesomely bad dubs. And there is only English audio in the game. Maybe it was the lack of space, or they decided not to go in the direction of the later Budokai games, but they stuck with the English audio. An aspect of the story is also one I had to pick out for this. A while back, FUNimation decided to release uncut versions of the Dragon Ball series, which was truly uncut (if you don't count the toned down English dialogue compared to the raunchy one in Japanese), and fans have grown to know these well. The least the writers can do would be to base the game off of the uncut dialogue, instead of the super-kiddy version released in the beginning. Then, maybe people will like it more. Just a little bit more.
The only way this game would look good is if you compare it to the other Dragon crap on the Gameboy. Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure is a game that strived to do better, but fell short.