User Rating: 8 | Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II GBA
By D-MonDRV | Review Date:
For over 30 years there has been one show Japanese people were always a fan of. That show is Dragon Ball. It combined brutal action with a magnificent plot. There are hundreds of episodes to the series already, and like most anime, it became a hit in the United States. It wasn’t long before the shows turned into clothes, toys, and other merchandise. The video games were great as well. DBZ Enthusiasts imported everything, mainly the video games. Last year, Infogrames (now Atari) has finally brought a DBZ game to U.S. shores entitled The Legacy of Goku. The game was roughly a 15-hour RPG, and left casual gamers sick. Nevertheless, the game sold remarkably well that Atari was forced to make a sequel. This time around, it’s something you’ll want. The Legacy of Goku II continues right where the first one left off. When Goku has the powers to turn into a Super Saiyan, he made a huge dent into Frieza’s fighting level. Frieza escaped ad went to earth, with Goku right behind him. The game begins 16 years into the future, where Trunks is learning the art of Super Saiyan from his master, Goku’s son, Gohan. Gohan was killed by the androids, and Trunks was left alone. He was filled with anger and discontent. With that, he mastered the art of becoming Super Saiyan. Back in the present, Gohan is in his room studying his math. Bored, he fell asleep and awoke to find his window open. It was the only way out of the house in which his mother, Chichi, cannot see. He set out and saw his father waiting for him on the Northern part of East District 439. It turned out that it wasn’t Goku. It was Frieza. After a long hard fought battle, Gohan defeated Frieza. Or did he? This sequel to The Legacy of Goku has 20 more hours if playing time. It spans from the Trunks Saga through the Cell Games in a good, orderly fashion. (Over 80 episodes of Dragon Ball Z) The object of the game, like other RPGs, is to save the world. You can choose from Gohan, Piccolo, Vegeta, Trunks, or Goku as you fight, run, and fly wreaking havoc upon all the evil in the world. Veterans of the game will remember the flight pads, power capsules, senzu beans, and world map sightings in the game. New to the game are Golden Capsules, if you find them all; you’ll unlock a secret character. The game features dozens of sidequests as well. The control scheme and battle system is the same. The A Button, is your main action button. You can use it to talk, or check things. The D-Pad will of course make your characters move around, but double pressing a direction will allow your character to swiftly dash across the screen. Be careful though, crashing will actually have an effect, but it won’t do you any damage. Later in the game, you’ll obtain a Scouter from Bulma. A Scouter is a machine that can detect power levels of certain enemies and also works as a map to find your way through an area. The Start Menu keeps track on all your items, and it shows the level and stats of the Z –Warriors in your party. Pressing the left shoulder button on the start menu will show your Journal. The Journal will show things that you have to do in the game to help people out. Gold favors are required or you to follow. Silver favors award you, and bronze favors just earn you experience. The Legacy of Goku II’s battle scheme is the same, but it’s much more organized and effective. The fighting is similar to Secret of Mana, and it’s an ok re-done beat-em-up kind of game. The A button is your melee attack. You can use this at anytime, and it’ll cause the most damage. The B button will release balls of energy at your opponent so you can fight from a distance. When using energy moves, your green energy meter will drop. You can obtain more balls of energy in rocks or beast droppings. Pressing L button will change your B command. You’ll learn new attacks throughout the game, but the main reason people use it is to use their “Super” form. Super Saiyan if your character is a Saiyan, and Super Namek if your character is Piccolo. As a ‘Super’ Character, your base attack strength doubles. However, being ‘Super’ will deplete your energy causing your attacks to get weaker. But as a Super Namek, all effects are the same except that you re-gain heath and your energy meter depletes more rapidly. There’s also a Critical Hit ratio that improves if you run before striking your opponent. You can earn experience by killing things or by doing favors. Most of the game will require leveling up. Luckily, it isn’t to extreme since the maximum level is 50. Overall, DBZ’s battle system isn’t complicated, but it can be annoying if you’re using Vegeta and a crocodile kills you… Visually, The Legacy of Goku is a masterpiece. Everything I so richly detailed in cartoon form, and it looks better than most SNES games. On the GBA Player, the game looks flawless and there should be no problem to it. The characters are pretty lifelike for a handheld game. This game features no drastic problem in the graphics area. The Sound of this game is practically perfect. The charging sound when Super Saiyan is exactly the way it is on the show, and the attacks sound pretty well-done too. The only complaint your ear should have is the music. Other than the game’s opening theme, the music is just weird. It’s never been on any background music to the show, and it sounds totally unoriginal. Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II is better than the first in every category. Fans should be familiar with its story because it spans over 80 episodes since it perfectly summarizes the Trunks Saga through Cell Games. The only problem one can really say about the game is the rough AI of the enemies. It’s almost impossible to play through the game and not die. Overall, The Legacy of Goku II will be most enjoyable to both fans and former fans of the hit Dragon Ball Z anime series.

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