This July's Game Club post will be another short one, with Matt and Tony being the only two to finish or even start the game.
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II was released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance, following Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku.
Make sure to tune in next month for our reviews of the notorious Bubsy 3D! If you're interested in joining, click the button below to learn more.
Matt
Let's go back to the year 2003. Little Matt is sitting in front of the TV at 530 to catch the daily episode of Dragon Ball Z on Toonami. One Episode a day, what a rip! If only I could go through the story any time I wanted.
Enter the Legacy of Goku games.
I got the first game with my GBA and despite being a broken jank mess of a game I still played the hell out of it. Apparently I wasn't the only one because enough people bought it to warrant a sequel to be made, the incredibly improved Legacy of Goku 2.
Covering the android and cell arcs of the series, this action RPG gives you 6 playable characters and a huge map of locations to explore and immerse yourself in. There are a lot of little details hidden throughout the game that makes exploring incredibly fun. One of the silliest examples are some of the lines you get from random NPCs (The farmer who makes root beer in his bathtub is my personal favorite). There are also plenty of in-universe references and jokes sprinkled throughout that any long term fan will enjoy.
The gameplay is simple and addictive, following the story of the show but keeping things fresh with extra side quests thrown in (Not many fetch quests, thank Kami). The soundtrack is a 16 bit version of the American score of DBZ which works amazingly well for the medium. The general art design of the game really shines with the sprite work and backgrounds making it a very visually appealing game for the console it was made for.
I could go on and on about how much I love this game but I'd better cut it off here to avoid becoming too repetitive. This is an absolute must play for fans of Dragon Ball and a soft recommendation for people who aren't into the show but can appreciate a well crafted game.
Tony
Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 2 is often cited as the best game in the Legacy of Goku series, although I can neither confirm nor deny that since this is the only entry that I’ve played. The game covers the Future Trunks/Cell Saga pretty closely and while it does take some liberties to cram it all into a single game, it more or less follows the main story beats. Those who are already fans of the series will have no problem following along, but for everyone else the story may come off as a bit confusing since the game clearly assumes that the player is familiar enough with the source material to fill in some of the blanks.
In the game you can play as Gohan, Picollo, Trunks, Vegeta and Goku, with each of them having their signature moves from the series, although they all pretty much handle exactly the same. The combat is wonky at best, the hit detection is pretty subpar and enemies bounce around every time you hit them. My guess is that it was done to prevent the player from stun locking enemies into a pulp, but it can be rather annoying especially early on when you can easily get a game over after a few measly hits. The game is also very grind heavy and has literal roadblocks you can’t burst through until after you hit a certain level, so expect to spend a lot of time leveling up every character in order to progress.
Most of my enjoyment from Legacy of Goku 2 came from pure nostalgia, I grew up watching Toonami during its prime in the late 90s/early 00s and playing through the game brought back many memories of me rushing home from school to catch the next exciting episodes of shows like Reboot, Ronin Warriors, Gundam Wing and of course Dragon Ball Z. So for that reason alone I can’t bring myself to be too harsh on Legacy of Goku 2, because despite all of its flaws it did a great job at bringing the world of Dragon Ball Z to life and that’s more than you could ever hope for when it comes to a licensed game.
