Dragon Ball Z: Sagas Review (GC) By Richard Stites Published: 12/01/05 PrintEmail
Dragon Ball Z, for those who don't know, is an insanely popular Japanese anime that made its way to American mainstream through Cartoon Network. Recently there has been some very good Dragon Ball Z fighting games from Atari. Well they decided to expand on this popularity with an action adventure game from the DBZ universe.
Dragon Ball Z: Sagas lets you play through much of the DBZ series. You and a buddy can kick, fly, and punch your way through the DBZ universe, but you never actually feel as if you are there. The controls are clunky and the gameplay is extremely repetitive.
To be honest I also expected the graphics to be a little better, they feel very dated, and don't capture the magic of the recent Budokai series or of the anime. The voice acting on the other hand is done well. You have the real voice actors speaking their lines; I just wish they would have had more lines. Quite honestly, everything in this game just feels basic, and rushed.
As I mentioned, the gameplay is repetitive. Kill the same group of minions, a couple hundred times, as you make your way to the boss at the end of the levels. You do occasionally need to upgrade your character with stronger, or new, moves to advance through certain parts of the game. For instance, a large boulder will be in your way. If you don't have the correct move you can't smash it to make your way by.
Dragon Ball Z: Sagas is an action game on rails with some RPG elements. I would tell only the biggest fans to rent this one, because everybody else will be disappointed. Also I should mention that even huge Dragon Ball Z fans will be completely disappointed, but it's worth your time if you completely love the franchise. Again I repeat, I was disappointed within the first five minutes of playing, and most (if not all) who play this game will be disappointed as well. It just doesn't have a soul, and could have been much more than the sum of its parts.
Dragon Ball Z, for those who don't know, is an insanely popular Japanese anime that made its way to American mainstream through Cartoon Network. Recently there has been some very good Dragon Ball Z fighting games from Atari. Well they decided to expand on this popularity with an action adventure game from the DBZ universe. 
