Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
Score: 55% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Infogrames Developer: Webfoot Technologies Media: Cart/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action/ RPG
Graphics & Sound: When Dragonball Z first started showing on Cartoon Network, I, like most of the uber-geeks I hung out with at the time, was sucked into the show. Think about it, it's got cool flying guys knocking the eternal piss out of each other while throwing fireballs - what's not to like? However, call it a change of tastes (or dose of common sense), but I soon found the show to drag on forever and just lose all the fun I originally saw in it. After all, it was a bunch of fly guys knocking the eternal piss out of each other while throwing fireballs - every single episode. Long-time gamers will know that this isn't the first DBZ game to come out - in fact they've been coming out for quite sometime, most of which can fetch you a pretty penny on Ebay (some go for as high as 200 dollars a pop). While paying that much for a game is enough to make any sane person scratch their head in wonder, it's even more befuddling once you realize that these games are terrible. Legacy of Goku keeps up this tradition for a much lower price. Graphically, the game bounces between average and impressive. Seeing the FMV sequences lifted directly from the show area a real treat to see on the GBA, however the rest of the game is lackluster. Character animations are limited to very few frames and have a stilted feeling that, when compared to the over the top animation of the show, give it a very dull feeling. Sound is equally uninspired with the same two or three tunes running over and over and over again.
Gameplay: After only a few seconds into the game, it's clear that it was made for hardcore fans because any other players (even casual fans of the show) will find it little more than a bland, uninspired adventure game. The game's plot lines are ripped directly out of the show. The game begins as Goku's son, Gohan, is kidnapped from Master Roshi's island. After saving Gohan, the game follows the entire plot of the show - from Earth, to the Home for Infinite Losers, to Namek Temple - you'll play through every event leading up to the showdown with Freeza. To some people, this might seem like a really cool thing, however once you take all the over-the-top fighting out of the game it's a rather bland story. In fact, there were times when I would turn off the game out of sheer boredom. As I mentioned before, one of the main draws of DBZ is the fighting. The good news is that there is a lot of fighting in the game. The bad news is that it has all been toned down into a sloppy, generic mess. There are no battles where you fly through the air or take out entire mountain ranges with one Ki blast -it's just Goku with a few weak punches, limited ability to fly, and three Ki moves: Ki Blast, Solar Flare, and the Kame Hame Ha. As impressive as they sound, they are very weak and inspire about as much fear in enemies as a puppy with a pink bow around its neck. Even in later levels, a fully charged Kame Hame Ha blast would barely nick even some of the lowliest of creatures.
Difficulty: Gamers who are able stay awake while playing will find themselves faced with a tough game. The battles are very hard, especially with the bad collision detection. I just found it frustrating that enemies were just as hard to fight at level 20 as they were when I was level one. The 'puzzles' (a word I use rather loosely) are your standard Find A, get B from A, take B to C, gain experience variety. Since there are so many of these types of quests in the game, Goku is quickly reduced to a delivery boyabysitter. There are ways to make the game easier, but most of them are due to poor game design and bugs. For example, Goku always keeps his level; even after you die, you restart the game at the same level you were when you died. Smart gamers will take this opportunity to level Goku to levels he was never meant to reach, making him more powerful - until he meets a lone, random wolf in the middle of the forest who tears him a new one. Boss battles are a joke. Just about any boss in the game can be killed by Ki-ing them to death from the safety of a cliff while the AI-controlled boss stands there. I was even able to find a bug in the game that made me invincible. Ugh...
Game Mechanics: All things considered, Legacy of Goku doesn't control as bad as it could. There are problems, of course, most of which are encountered while moving. Goku moves like a sack of bricks being dragged through the mud. To make things worse, he can only move in four directions, making things even more sluggish. Other than that, the controls are about average and lack any style or flair - adding another layer of boredom to an already boring game. It's fairly obvious that regardless of how bad this game is, it's going to sell. If people are willing to spend ungodly amounts of money to acquire the other terrible DBZ games then they will have little problem picking up this one. Fans, this one is for you - buy it, enjoy it, hope you have fun. Everyone else, don't bother.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 Duke Nukem Advance