Final Bout just hasn't cut any of the fighting any improvement nor effort to capture the feel of the Anime Series.
Game Title: Dragon Ball GT Final Bout
Platform: PlayStation
Developer: Bandai
Publisher: Bandai, Atari
Genre: Fighting
Age Rating: ELSPA: 11+
Release Date: August 21st 1997 (Japan), October 1st 1997 (North America), November 2nd 1997 (Europe), July 23rd 1998 (Japan, Greatest Hits), October 4th 2002 (Europe, Re-release), August 24th 2004 (North America, Re-release)
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Game Score: 2.5/10
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Summery:
Final Bout just hasn't cut any of the fighting any improvement nor effort to capture the feel of the Anime Series.
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Dragon Ball Z would have been great concept for a fighting game but however on the PlayStation Bandai kept on screwing it up. Ultimate Battle 22 was the worst but also here's their second worst which is Dragon Ball GT Final Bout which I understand in Europe and Japan it's called Dragon Ball Final Bout. I like to to call the game by it's full name anyway considering it's supposed to set sometime in the GT era during the fight against Baby.
Here's a quick history about it. It was released back in 1997 back then but however got mostly negative feedback. Along with Ultimate Battle 22, Bandai has some nerve to re-release the other Dragon Ball monstrosity when the PS1 is at the end of it's life span. With Budokai on PlayStation 2 and Gamecube who in the fight mind would want this!?
Final Bout has 5 different gametypes, You can battle against the computer or another player locally on a normal game, enter tournament modes up to 8 players or CPU controlled characters and also making a return is the RPG building Build Up Mode where characters can level up after fights. All of these modes aren't worth playing but however beating the game on the Hardest setting does unlock 6 extra characters from the available 10.
There is only one good thing about GT Final Bout and that is the Beam Struggles. This is where two of the characters beam blasts collide together and who ever rapidly taps the button faster blasts their opponent. This is how the game attempts to mimic the show and it becomes the only thing that the game accomplishes. Everything else about this game is completely broken beyond belief.
The control is gosh awful, moving your character around is easier than trying to pull a few weights as each character controls are extremely stiff. When characters go past each each other they'll sometimes attack blindly before bothering to take to a while to turn around. Special moves can be a pain to execute but however meteor attacks where characters can perform a series of rush attacks before knocking them away or into rocks don't seem to respond much at all.
When special moves do work they take seconds to activate leaving them open for damage so moves like that are better off at long range where player has a chance to do the beam struggle, guard against it or send the beam away. Sometimes they work or most of the time it doesn't respond as much as the actual control.
The RPG Build Up mode doesn't fair any better, it's much similar to Ultimate Battle 22 Build Up but you get stronger by winning or damaging your opponent should you lose the battle. They haven't done anything to improve the system in anyway since punching can make your punches stronger when you level up or any time of KI waves will get stronger if you use them before levelling up. This once again makes your character completely unbalanced against later rivals and overall the fighting in Final Bout is completely atrocious.
The graphics on Final Bout are average, 3D are good with solid animations and the beam effects are quite good but however the colour of the beams are wrong and also the backgrounds are cheap and flat. The worst thing about the graphics is the way the characters float in the air. You fly by holding down the R1 button while using the D-Pad. While in the air characters can actually stand in mid air or by Little Goku sitting in mid air which is very silly to look at. The soundtrack remixes from other Dragon Ball Z games aren''t to impressive with the exception of Super Saiyan 4 Goku's theme tune and the opening theme tune which is called "The Biggest Fight", in which both tracks are awesome.
Another attempt to keep your old PlayStation alive just doesn't work with Dragon Ball GT Final Bout alongside Ultimate Battle. If you played this game before and said it was very bad then your ashamed that you picked this game up twice when Budokai released already on the PlayStation 2. Here's an advice to all game companies, do not attempt to release a really old bad game for an attempt to earn a quick buck.
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The Good Points:
1. Beam Struggles which finally mimic the show.
The Bad Points:
1. Flat backgrounds, some KI attacks have the wrong colour and character animations in the air
2. Slow, Sluggish and stiff controls
3. RPG Build Up has no main improvement leaving your character unbalanced
4. Unimpressive Soundtrack remixes
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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