Co-Op is the only way to bear through this game.
Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, when I heard that it was released, I was kinda curious at how they got the game out so fast. I mean compared to the time spent on most games developed, especially action/adventure games, this game came out pretty fast. Then I saw why.
Story:
Sagas attempts to stick the storyline of DBZ as much as possible. You start off in the Saiyan Saga and proceed through the Cell Saga. In between levels and even during some right before a boss fight, their will be short anime cut scenes recapping what you just accomplished and bringing you up to speed on what is going on in the story. If your not familiar with the series, then you may get confused really quick, because the narrator talks really fast and goes through certain events that take place fast also. Fans of the series may also notice that every now and then the narrator says things that didn't exactly happen the way he says. Like the way the narrator talks, he makes it sound like Trunks and Vegeta fought Imperfect Cell side-by-side, which fans would know that isn't how it happened.
The creators of the game, got a little creative with certain aspects of the story also. Like you will find yourself playing as Teen Trunks fighting prototype androids in the past looking for 6 turbines to get your time-machine working and you have to find Goku's antidote just floating in the street. Those who know the series, again will know that none of this took place. Android #17 & #18 were the only ones awakened.
One particular thing that is annoying is having to win fights that you lost in the series. I mean, you could OWN Raditz's butt, Racoome's butt, and #18's butt without taken any damage, but at the end of the fight, their will be a cut scene of you getting yourself handed to... And if you lose the fight like your supposed you have to do the whole level over.. I won't be critical and not offer a way it could had been better though, they should had made it so it was okay to lose to certain bosses and make them really tough to beat, but if by some miracle you did beat them, they should have added an special explanation of how you won, and how they turned the tides on you anyway, at LEAST.
The Story gets a 5 out of 10 because they tried to follow the storyline so close, that it actually took away from gameplay and understanding of the game in some cases. I am not entirely dense though, I realize that in order to make an action/adventure dbz game they had to put NPC's in certain areas that they never existed in, just to make some ACTION in the ADVENTURE.
Gameplay:
Ahh, the most important part of any game in my opinion. This game is a beat' em up style kind of game. You will find the controls and dodging a little weird at first, I am sure, but after the first 2 levels, you will be pretty good at the controls, and will also learn that basically the same strategy you form at the beginning of the game to kill enemies, will indeed never change even at the end when your fighting perfect cell. The game is rather repetitive and boring at times. You can purchase upgrades from gathering "Z" coins from wandering around the different levels, but the upgrades aren't all that great, the melee upgrades for the most part, only allow you to add "1" extra hit to combo attack each time you upgrade.
Flying, is more or less hovering. You fly by double jumping, which you can't jump high, so you will find yourself running up to high land and jumping off just so you can hover and gather the "Z" coins, and can be knocked down with simple ki blast from your enemies. You will also find out that their are MANY invisible walls and barriers. You can't advance to certain areas until all enemies are eliminated.
The game is a little glitchy, in certain aspects. You will find that you can't stand on destructible objects and that you slide off of them rather it be a car or boulder, and every now and then you may actually end up inside of them and unable to move until blasted out.
Ki attacks are rather simple, you have only one move and can accomplish it by holding in the ki blast button. You will also find that when you are finally able to go SSJ, that you can only maintain your SSJ form by Melee-ing combos over and over, or you will lose it and have to build your SSJ meter back up.
The one good thing I can say about the gameplay is that it does feature a co-op mode, which does help a lot, since now you and your friend can play together instead of against each other like in previous DBZ games. If you are playing this game, alone you will be bored and quickly realize that their are much better games out there.
The gameplay gets a 3 out 10 because of the simple fact that the same strategy you use on any one enemy will work on everyone else in the game.
Difficulty:
This game isn't hard to beat, it is rather short and as I mentioned before, repetitive.
This game receives a 3 out of 10 for difficulty, the people who made this game, idea of difficulty is throwing more NPC's at you instead of making them have a smarter AI.
Graphics:
The graphics, aren't that great. They aren't the best, but not the worst either, if anything they are average. You will be blowing up boulders and stuff and pieces of the boulder will scatter and if you look at the debris flying around you will notice that when the boulder is shattered, its pieces take on an anime-like look as they fly off. The character's models could have been much better. If you take the time to look at your characters feet when they are running or hit an invisible wall you will see what I mean.
The graphics were a 6 out of 10. Not the best, but not the worst either. Being that the graphics are compatible with all 3 systems, it is average.
Sound:
All the sound sounded original to me. I didn't really pay too much attention to the sound throughout the game, maybe its because it never caught my attention, even during boss battles. The sound doesn't get you pumped up before a fight, or makes you feel like kicking some serious NPC butt throughout the various levels. On a good note though, none of the sounds, make you want to pull your hair out either. The sounds, were more like high quality MIDI music..
Sound Effects, I can't be as nice about. All the sound effects, seem to be SNES quality in my opinion. From shooting a ki wave to hearing your punches connect on the enemy.
This game gets a 5 out of 10 for sound, the sound isn't all that impressive and it would have been nice for them to have some awesome boss fighting music to get you motivated or something.
Replayability:
When purchasing a game, another thing that is very important to me is Replayability. After I beat the game, I was dismayed to learn that all those Question Marks that were under the menu bar entitled "Extras" turned out to be the short clips you watched in between levels. The game offers no incentive for going back and beating the game again except for something called "The Pendulum Room". When you beat the game, you can replay any level you want with any character you want along with 2 hidden characters. Keep in mind that every character has the same exact attacks, with only their Ki Moves being different (only in the fact that they call them different names). So their is really no point for the average gamer to go back and beat teh game again.
If you have a friend over to spend the night with you, and your looking for something to do and are both DBZ fan, then this game would be fun to play one time on hard mode together with friendly fire on just to squeeze the only challenge this game has to offer out.
This game gets a 2 out of 10 for replayability. The only reason I didn't make it a 1 out of 10 is because of the Co-op mode. Everything is more enjoyable with a partner, and trust me.. you will need one to force yourself to play this game without being throughly disappointed.
Buy or Rent?
RENT! Do NOT BUY this game, unless you collect the merchandise, ask anyone who bought this game and beat it in 4 hours how they feel. The will tell you that $50.00 is way too much for the cheap thrill it even offered. Unless your a DBZ fan, you will find this game hard to get into, story wise and gameplay wise, since it isn't the most interesting way to play. I say to satisfy your curiosity, you should rent this game and play with a friend. Beat it, return it, and tell your friends how cool you are for managing to bear through it.
Story = 5/10
Gameplay = 3/10
Difficulty = 3/10
Graphics = 6/10
Sound = 5/10
Replayability = 2/10
Buy or Rent? = Rent