There's no doubt that Dragonball Z is one of the most insanely popular anime series in America to date. With videos, toys, clothing lines, and just about everything else you can imagine out there it is extremely refreshing to see that video games dedicated to this classic are finally starting to live up to their names. Dragonball Z: The Legacy of Goku II is no exception to this trend. Building on the design of the previous title, Atari has definitely heard the cries from fans everywhere and given GBA owners something to enjoy.
Picking up where the previous title left off, the Z Warriors are reveling in their current state of peace and awaiting the arrival of Goku. That peace is suddenly shattered by the appearance of Freeza and King Cold as they intend to destroy the earth before Goku can return. With their appearance, a mysterious warrior named Trunks appears to save the day. Revealing his true super saiyan power, Trunks makes short work of these evil doers and guides the Z Warriors to Goku's landing zone. Upon Goku's arrival, Trunks reveals his true identity and foretells of the horrible future that is to come as a result of Dr. Gero's evil android creations. Sounds a little farfetched right? Well any DBZ fan worth his salt will tell you that this is the start of the thrilling Android Saga that took the DBZ series to new levels of excitement. Taking cues directly from the series, LOG II covers the events of the Android uprising and the appearance of the all powerful Cell. The game's storyline makes the assumption that you are familiar with the DBZ storyline up to this point. However, even newcomers and those who live under rocks can find enjoyment out of this adventure.
If you're familiar with the previous Legacy of Goku title, you'll know that this is still an RPG adventure. This means there is still a great deal of leveling up and side quests to complete before you get to the major battles from the story. Upon starting, the game drops you into the role of Goku's son, Gohan. By playing through the game, you will eventually get free control of Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, and the secret character of Hercule once you hit the end and collect a few special trophies. All views aside, this is a game made for fans. So if you're a fan of the series, you'll be able to drop into the action smoothly and understand everything happening around you. If you're new to the series, you may want to take on the first Legacy of Goku title to get you up to speed.
Basic combat is broken down into standard melee attacks as well as Ki or energy related specials unique to each character. With the exception of Hercule (who has no flashy energy attacks), all characters have their signature special moves as in the anime series. Not to mention Super Saiyan and even Super Namek transformations. All of which require energy which is measured out in a small bar beneath your life meter. Though they can help you out in a jam, I found the standard energy attacks to be a little useless when it came down to the major battles. Once you get your character high enough, a simple melee attack is enough to get the job done. If you have the technique down, you can pretty much lay waste to any boss character without catching so much as a hit. This attack strategy can easily be applied to all other characters in the game since they were all designed to function in similar ways. So once you get Gohan down, you're pretty much schooled in the ways of combat for the entire game.
One point of the game I found lacking was character voices. Simply put, there are none to begin with. In the previous Legacy of Goku, every time Goku did his signature move those little GBA speakers would pump out "Kamehameha" in the classic anime fashion. This added to the enjoyment of myself and those around me while I had the game going. It is unfortunate that Webfoot decided to leave that feature out this time around. I would have given anything to hear Vegeta belt out a "Final Flash" every now and then. Aside from voices, everything else was right on for this GBA title. They even decide to incorporate each character's signature music at certain points of the game. I don't think I need to tell everyone that I think Vegeta's signature "Hell's Bells" tune rules.
Webfoot and Atari also decided to throw in a few bonuses for the fans out there. Upon completion of the Missing Namek side quest, your able to fly to New Namek and take on Freeza's older brother Cooler. Anyone familiar with the anime will know that Cooler was a villain that only showed up in two special DBZ movies, and was never meant to be a solid part in the series. As another tidbit for you fans out there, once you beat Cell and save the world, allow the final credits to play out in their entirety. Once they finish, you'll be able to see Trunks return to his future timeline and destroy both Androids as well as Cell.
Overall, Dragonball Z: The Legacy of Goku II is a great addition to your GBA library. There are plenty of elements here to satisfy any hardcore fan as well as make this an enjoyable adventure for all the newbies out there. Let's just hope Dragonball Z: Taiketsu is shown the same attention to details as in Legacy of Goku II. Great Job Atari!
