Super Dragon Ball Z

8.5
Great

Gameplay	9.0	"A fast-paced 3D fighter that keeps it simple and fun."
Graphics	8.0
Sound	8.0
Value	7.0

By Morgan Bates

All together now: "It's time for Dragon Ball Z!" Now that I have traumatized your kids folks, it’s time for the review.

Dragon Ball Z was the anime that inspired the Street Fighter series. Now ex-Street Fighter 2 producer Noritaka Funamizu and his new studio, Crafts & Meister, have developed a 3D fighter based on the series.

The talent behind SDBZ is immediately noticeable as fights are as fast-paced as they get in 3D fighters. Thanks to the tight controls and combo system you can knock an opponent across half the area, and follow up on the move with a dash or ki attack. Thanks to the simple fighting mechanics it’s an easy game to pick up, without learning the long combos associated with other 3D fighting titles.

Unfortunately the simplicity of the game doesn’t end with the combo system; there are only 13 fighters to play from the start and five “re-skinned” versions - trying to pass themselves off as bonus fighters - to unlock. This is a barebones fighter compared to the Budoki series’ 100+ fighters. That said, they have included most of the major fighters and every character in the game is playable - even the final boss, Cell, is a base fighter.

When you begin a game it’s a good idea to create a game card, as your selected fighter can gain experience and learn new moves. Although the cards only work on the fighter you have selected while creating it, you can create as many as you need. As you win matches you get more dragon balls; there are also 7 matches in the arcade mode, so playing through it once is enough to get the balls. Once you have the dragon balls you can summon Shenron, the dragon - no relation of Spyro the dragon; we checked - to unlock extra fighters and moves.

In keeping with the style of the TV show – which is famous for its brilliantly animated fight scenes - visuals are cell shaded with fluid animation for all moves. Ki attacks look great as well – Vegeta likes pink so much that, not only did he wear a pink shirt in the Cell saga, but his lucora gun in SDBZ is also bright pink.

Super Dragon Ball Z takes the lightning-fast gameplay of 2D fighters into 3D with great visuals and superior animation to the TV series, with the only letdowns being the small roster and re-skinned “bonus fighters”. It’s a great budget title that will keep the kids or adults quiet for a few hours.

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