Dragon Ball games have always had a bad reputation, albeit reasonably so. BANDAI, former DBZ games developer and publisher, is responsible for some of the worst games in the past decade. America got a taste of one of their most terrible titles in the form of Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout for the PlayStation. Now that ATARI has the rights to the American games based on the Americanized version of the anime, it's looking to cash in on the DB craze that has recently hit US shores. Sadly, it looks like ATARI and Webfoot's first take on the license for the GBA is unfortunately familiar. Let's start with showing the Exit to all of you who aren't fans of the show. This game is definitely not for you. Legacy of Goku is an Action RPG that begins where the Americanized DBZ series begins, and chronicles all the episodes up until the end of the Freezer vs. Goku battle. The game is so poor in telling the story, giving background info on the characters and tying events, that anyone unfamiliar with the source material will be lost. LoG won't win over any fans, but it has several ways to gain new haters. The story starts with Goku visiting the friends he hasn't seen for a very long time, and during this visit Radditz, Goku's evil brother, kidnaps Gohan. You'll notice several things here. First, Bulma is, for some reason, dressed up in her space suit. When you talk to her, though, her dialogue picture shows her with the appearance she should have at that point in time. Yet, you'd think she looks that way because that character model would later be used when Goku visits Namek. Well, we don't see Bulma ever again, so it's inexplicable why the developers made the wrong character model. This is just one of many things that hint at the fact that the people behind the game are as knowledgeable about the series as someone who's only watched the first episode, in mute, of the original Dragon Ball. Other examples lie in the fact that you WILL DIE AT THE HANDS OF A WOLF. When you're searching for Gohan, you'll notice that animals hate you, and they have the power level to take you out. It seems Goku forgot his life martial arts training right before starring in this game. He was even warned by Chi-Chi to "watch out for snakes." Never mind Freezer, or Vegeta... your first deadly enemies will be snakes, squirrels, giant sand crabs and wolves. Then there's the annoying scavenger hunts, that are so useless, uninspired, and non-DBZ that you'll want to cry in frustration. When Goku approaches his house, he'll say he can't rest because he's too busy searching for Gohan... but he does manage to save a lost kitten, find a missing dinosaur egg (the same dinosaurs he kills in the game over and over, BTW), and get flowers for a kid who wants to give them to a little girl. Furthermore, the action that's supposed to take place, the core of Dragon Ball, never does. When you arrive at the scene where Nappa and the Z warriors are supposedly locked in battle, you'll notice that they're just standing there, doing NOTHING. Gohan and Krillin are in one area of the field, jut walking in a limited space, while Vegeta and Nappa are in the other, doing the same thing. However, when you talk to the characters, they act as if they were fighting at that very moment, and this is something you'll see in EVERY SINGLE battle taken from the show. When you fight Radditz, Piccoro tells you to fight with him, but he just stands there, and you'll eventually have to fight Radditz alone while Piccoro watches. It's like ATARI and Webfoot are purposely preventing you from immersing yourself in the game. But this would all be small talk next to a game with solid gameplay, right? Well, too bad you won't find it here. Goku has a punch, and a ki attack. As you follow the story, you'll learn the Solar Flare (Tayoken) and the popular Kamehameha. That's it. You use these three ki attacks by spending your slowly growing ki bar, located on top of your health bar. The longer you hold the B button, the stronger the ki attack will be. Not only is the selection heavily limited, but the attacks are mostly worthless. There's some strong collision detection problem, as you'll release a Kamehameha that will just pass through an enemy without a hit. Also, for some odd reason, the Kamehameha is about 4 feet long, and you obtain it from Kayosama (King Kai), unlike from Master Roshi, as it was originally meant to be. Want to know how you got the Solar Flare? Not from Ten Shin Han and Chaos, who learned the skill from their master, but from an old man you will only meet once created for the sole purpose to teach you that technique, exclusive to the game. Goku gains experience by killing things, which means he'll only get stronger and occasionally faster. You can "flight" by using "flight charges," and your maximum number increases with each level-up. Once you have sufficient flight charges, you'll be inclined to follow a tedious routine on fighting fast enemies and bosses: charge up an attack while enemy comes towards you, release, fly away while in-line of enemy, and repeat. Once you get strong enough, you'll get rid of most generic bad guys with one or two uses of your ki attacks. Bosses simply take longer, but they're never challenging, as flight charges respawn in less than a minute. Also, during your quest, you can enter an area, pick up a herb or senzu bean to replenish your health, exit the area, enter it again, and all the health items you previously took will again be available, as well as the enemies you've defeated. Leveling up will therefore become easy, as you won't have to worry about dying while doing so. All of this mess comes in a pretty average-looking package, however. While the character style isn't appropriate for a game based on a fighting anime, the models are nonetheless adorable (Think chibi versions of their anime counterparts). The animation, though, is laughable. Characters don't run here, they walk. Plus, other than Goku, none of the enemies have the ability to flight, not even those that should. Including you, all the characters move like bricks with legs and arms. It's really pathetic, and couple that with the fact that all the enemies only have one attack: Ki blast. On the audio spectrum of things, the soundtrack is a mixed bag, as it's sometimes inappropriate, but sometimes adequately moody and suspenseful. If you charge enough ki to release a Kamehameha, Goku will shout it, but there isn't much else to look for in the sound department. All in all, Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku is one game you can skip. Avid action, adventure and RPG fans have a much better selection of quality titles to choose from for the GBA. For DBZ fans, unless you collect games like I do and find the game at a cheap price, don't bother. The gameplay is exactly the same from beginning to end, there's nothing to gain after beating the game, and it's a poor representation of the license we've all known and love for years. A rental at best will do for fans, and those who want to play Legacy of Goku II with the first one under their belts, but for anyone else it's a waste of time.
Other Helpful Reviews for Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
First thing that should be mentioned about this game is that it's american made. What do we think when I say american made DBZ game? I think sagas, taiketsu and of course legacy of goku. Bad games The legacy of gok... Read Full Review
As one of the first English Dragon Ball Z games, The Legacy of Goku isn't at all what it should have been. I was disapointed greatly by its short lived story and extremely easy gameplay. But alas, I am here to judge t... Read Full Review
