Dragonball SNES Games Review
Back in the early 90s when the Super Nintendo Entertainment System reigned as one of the supreme consoles, Bandai decided to continue to cash in on the Dragonball trend with a slew of SNES Dragonball games. Which, of course, were never released in the states. Most revolved mainly around fighing, while a couple centered around RPG elements(putting a glimer in eyes like mine).
So instead of jabbering on about useless info you probably already knew, and me wasting my time explaining why I'm only reviewing the series of SNES Dragonball titles(do you honestly care?), let's "deux" it.
 Dragonball Z: Supa Saiyajin Densetsu(Legend of the Super Saiyan)
God... I've always loved this game. I recall the first time I downloaded it, back when no one had a clue what it was and the thought of creating a translation patch for the darn thing was out of the question. To this day, I'm probably the only American known to man who played through the whole game without having a clue of what everyone was saying(thankfully, my knowledge of the series was well enough to get me by). Going back to play it again with an option of two complete translations was like learning how to cook after you've just baked for 300 people. Still, I figured it would be interesting, so I decided that I'd play through it completely again, just one more time. Just for kicks, I picked up a nice save state editor for the game as well, which there also is a nice selection of now...
Things were a breeze with a decent knowledge of what the conversations were actually about this time around. Heck, I actually learned a few things I didn't the first time through. As for the actual game, things obviously didn't change. Graphics were still so-so, but in that classic sort of way. Battle system still required one to use their head if they planned to survive. The musical score, in my opinion, is indeed very catchy... why no one sequences these beats into decent MIDIs(more than just a couple of poorly-created ones) is beyond me.
The plot follows the basic story that we've all memorized by now, Saiyajin Saga through the Frieza Saga, with unfortunately nothing new. Only interesting thing about it is getting to keep the wimpy fighters alive during and after the fight with Nappa, if you know what you're doing. So the plot isn't exactly original. Nothing's perfect(except, of course, the things that are).
My game froze during my second round with Frieza because I couldn't manage NOT to kill him before Piccolo arrives. Even Tenshinhan(who's BP, which I obviously edited, wasn't even above 200,000) beat the guy and made it freeze. Playing through the game edited/hacked really made me wonder if causing the game to crash is possible by normal means(i.e. training a little bit more than usual at times). Seeing some of the zany things that can happen when you beat Nappa and Vegita a little early really made me wonder. Anyway, after spending an hour trying to beat Frieza by both conventional(using Krillin or Tien) and unconventional(SSJ Gohan, Vegita, or what I like to call "Super Yamcha") and only getting a locked screen, I gave up. Good game, regardless if my hax0r'd save wouldn't let me beat it.
9.5/10.
 Dragonball Z: Super Butoden
With every first, there are flaws. Being the first Dragonball fighting game on the system, it's no exception. And boy howdy, there are several...
Any Joe-Schmoe who starts playing will notice the major problem with the game: controls. That is to say if there is any. You jerkingly jump around, fly forward(which can knock your opponent off his feet like a drunk) & backword, swing sloppy punches, and occasionally do a kick that doesn't involve flying downward. Even while using an actual controller to play the game it felt jerky. Almost MORE jerky. Ick.
Next, the wonderful Story Mode, which revolves around twisting the actual story around and making it unoriginal with characters that aren't supposed to be there. The fight with Raditz is completely overlooked. Piccolo somehow survives and joins Goku in fighting Vegita. Vegita lives on Namek and somehow gets the chance to help SSJ Goku fight Frieza(and for some odd reason, is compelled to help him as well). It's just plain goofy.
...And to top it all off, the actual battles consist of nearly-impossible-to-dodge ki attacks and a terrible way of handling who fights who. You pick who fights, you lose and they're dead for the rest of the game. Yeah... what was the title of the game again?
The graphics are alright, I guess. In their normal stances the characters look often times... cartoonish, but I'd have to say the graphics were the high point of it all.
4/10.
 Dragonball Z: Super Butoden 2
Think of the first one, but slightly better. In a sentence, that's Butoden 2.
First, the controls from the first were improved, but only slightly. I still felt like I didn't have full control. I still felt like I was battling the movement of my character more than the enemy. The ability to control the rise of your BP was improved completely over the first, though, where flight was required for that sort of thing to happen. Ah yes, and the story mode is... better!
Unbelievable, but Bandai seemed to completely revamp their idea of how the story mode should be handled the second time around. You can choose 4 different characters, each with their own different stories and each having at least 30 different ways to complete it. Even if you lose a battle, it just means the outcome of the plot will be slightly-different. For instance, Cell. Gohan can end up killing him regularly, with a climatic, out-of-battle Kamehameha, have Goku sacrifice himself, or a combination of several of the above. And that's just Gohan's game. Impressive.
The graphics department had a major improvement as well. Each character actually looks unique and closer to the real thing for a change. I never realized how tall Piccolo was...
Not too shabby. Ah yes, and anyone should try playing the game as Piccolo before anyone else, as Piccolo is a Namek God who will kick you up some butt no matter how much you suck. Bow to him.
8/10.
 Dragonball Z: Super Butoden 3
The last of the Butoden series. Problems have been fixed. Buu saga this time. Word.
The only thing B3's really missing is the story mode, which for some crazy reason was completely removed from the last of the series. But because of it being gone, the flaws of the past seem to be completely fixed. Can't have the best of both worlds, I guess...
The controls are as close to perfect as they'll ever get. Ki blasts no longer are homing, so you can't sit back and continuously shoot balls like a madman in hopes of hitting the enemy regardless of nearly anywhere he/she could possibly be. Raising your BP is still a matter of holding down two simple buttons. Thank god.
Even with only a basic 1P mode, it's pretty addictive. My character recommendations for B3 are East Kaioshin, Son Goku and #18. Very strange, but #18 seems to have an unusual edge in battle that the others don't...
8.5/10.
 Dragonball Z: Super Gokuden 2
If there was ever a game to reform the Dragonball series into an extremely long novel(or, in other words, make it somewhat dull), the two "Super Gokuden" SNES titles did it quite well.
In quite possibly the slowest, most boring Dragonball RPG of all time, you guide Goku throughout his whole life, starting from where the first game left off: the beginning of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai. Although this time around, you're switching between Goku and Gohan throughout the whole series as events pass. The game approprietely ends after the Frieza Saga, of course.
The graphics are so... bland, I'll say, it's scary. 99% of the battles that you don't fight in are handled on-screen with the character's icons jumping around and ramming each other. How exciting. The overworld and character sprites look pretty basic, but that really doesn't matter, considering you never get a chance to move around on it anyway. At all. Ever.
One of the interesting things about SG is it's "text decisions"... yeah, you should know what those are by now. Only thing is, in SG the decisions actually seriously effect things. Simply forget who Chi Chi is at the beginning of the game and you'll end up fighting Piccolo before anyone else(and you need the fighting experience beforehand). Tell Krillin not to head to Guru's on Namek to get the password and you actually get a bad ending. Very interesting, as well as frustrating...
The battles are like fast-paced games of rock, paper, scissors, meaning you actually have to use your head to win(and fast). One wrong move, and it may be your last. Later on, if you've spent your time training well though, and get the battle system down well, it's not so bad.
Aside from the extreme dullness that fester up alot of the time, Super Gokuden 2 ain't that bad.
...Oh yeah, and if you're playing the ROM that has the debug mode, head to the "battle" option and enter the code "2B". Then cover your eyes.
7/10.
The only two games I missed were "Dragonball Z: Hyper Dimension" and "Dragonball Z: Super Gokuden". Super Gokuden is currently meakly translated, and a meakly translated game that revolves around text is a no-no for me to play. Pointless. Silly. Yeah.
...As for Hyper Dimension, well, it just wouldn't fit on a disk.
-Grand Master Dragon
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