Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu

Budokai gave us hope for the DBZ games...unfortunately Taiketsu fails to impress.

With the exception of Budokai, Dragon Ball Z games often fare poorly. DBZ: Taiketsu, sadly, joins their dismal ranks. If nothing else, Taiketsu succeeds somewhat in capturing the simple visual charm of the show. The large characters look clear and visible on the tiny GBA screen, but overall they can?t compete with the superior graphics of GBA champions MK:DA and Street Fighter, and Taiketsu?s herky-jerky animation is also particularly distracting. To save battery juice, go ahead and mute the muffled background music and scratchy sound effects?since the game lacks character voices, you won?t miss anything important.

Taiketsu?s button-mashing gameplay is shallow and simplistic, even for a kid?s fighting title. There are 15 characters total, including favorites from both the series (like Cell and Goku) and the movies (including the popular Brolly). Aside from the occasional super-move, each character boasts only a meager handful of attacks and combos. Worse, there?s very little difference between the various fighters. Players can also occasionally take to the skies during combat, but that gimmick burns out quickly. On the plus side, the game thoughtfully includes several play modes (like Tournament and Endurance) to help extend the replay value; unfortunately, none of the game types are interesting or particularly enjoyable. Another nice touch is the Soul Calibur?esque secret system, which allows players to earn Z Points to unlock bonus modes, settings, and pictures. Overall, unless you?re an eight-year-old DBZ fanatic, you?ll find that this Saiyan is hardly super.

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