I've never been much of a DBZ fan, in fact, I hate it after going deep into the world of anime (full review on this), but I cannot jump down the throat of any game based on the series because its based on the series. Who knows, the show sure has the potential to become one really amazing game. That is why I gave Legacy of Goku a shot. That and it only cost me $20, which is dirt cheap for any GBA game on the market.
Nice Visuals
Hey! I recognize those guys! Characters in the game, enemies and friends, are really well done and are recognizable without having to talk to them. Characters don't blend into the backgrounds, and those backgrounds are really nice and the color use is excellent. The game even uses a sort of FMV from the shows/movies for the opening and closing cinematic. Only problem is that items on the ground don't look right, especially the senzu beans, which look like little brown turds. All in all, this is a good use, though not utterly amazing use of the power of the GBA.
Recognizable Characters.
Most every character from the start of the DBZ series is here. Though a lot of them don't really play much of a part in the game, they are there. In contrast, the characters seem to be more like background fixtures. For example, in the series, Piccolo helped Goku fight Radditz. In the game, Piccolo just stands around while you proceed to whoop up on Radditz, and then when you are about to beat him down for good, you grab on and Piccolo just kills the both of you. Seems like Piccolo caused more harm than good. Other characters are just glorified experience fountains, whose only purpose is to give you a one-time experience boost.
No Surprises Here
The story of Legacy of Goku follows the series loosely. A lot of it doesn't make sense, like why Goku goes home, talks to Chi Chi, then takes a stroll in the woods to attack snakes and wolves. Also, I fail to understand why, when his son is in mortal danger, he stops to pick flowers for a village kid so he can impress the girl he is interested in. The story is goofy, thrown together to increase game time, and follows along with the series so there aren't any major revelations.
MUTE! MUTE!
Without a doubt, the music in the game is horrible. Just plain horrible. For those who have seen the series, the music is infinitely worse than either the Japanese or American versions. There aren't any familiar tunes, just a bunch of weird beats that are annoying and repeat after 10 seconds. The sound was turned off rather quickly since it really isn't important to the gameplay and even the sound effects like the ki blast or death noises are awful as well.
Gameplay Sucks
The gameplay is as good as Krillin would be against Majin Buu, a weak little man being embarrassed by the competition. The first major problem is the lack of diagonal movement. I thought the concept of the four way movement died out with the early NES system. Another problem is the general slowness of Goku. He walks around VERY slowly, with only three instances when his speed is boosted, but then still moves slowly. Only when he is flying does the speed of movement become reasonable, but flight is VERY limited and isn't really viable until later in the game when you become maxed out in level. You have no choice but rely on your energy attacks since punch is entirely useless as it misses half the time and enemies cause major damage. The solar flare move is useless and the enemy recovers before you can get a sufficient amount of energy behind an attack.
Circus Midget
The game is like a Circus Midget, really short and gets really easy. At first, the game poses a decent, though illogical, challenge. It takes a bit of strategy and dodging to kill most things early on, but once you start gaining levels, things get easy. Since there are only 25 levels, and experience levels seem to be almost random amounts of experience needed to get to the next one, and the wandering enemy around Namek gives you enough to boost up to that point after killing 200 (that really isn't a lot since there are a lot of them and they spawn every time you leave an area, and they go down fast). After hitting 25, you start acting like the Goku from the show, and unstoppable warrior. Enemies in your path drop with a single weak Ki shot. Bosses fall to a pair of Kamehameha waves. Even the mighty Frieza (I'll entertain you TV guys by calling him Frieza and not Furieza) falls to 4 or 5 attacks in each form. Because of such, the game racks in 5 hours of gameplay max and has absolutely no replay value.
Misc. Gripes
Why is Vegeta weaker than the random Frieza thugs on Namek? That makes no sense. Also, "story elements" pop up when you walk over a specific part of the world. For example, I walked over a spot and King Kai (dang, I hate that name, Kaio-sama is better, but oh well) tells me Tienshinhan and the others are training. I leave the area, come back, walk over the same spot, and Mr. Kai has the urge to tell me AGAIN! Seems that certain events don't trigger an off switch, and I HAVE to read it again. Luckily the B button allows me to speed through dialog boxes. The puzzles are also braindead as well. Plant trees, save a kitty, pick a flower. "All in a days work" as Goku so painfully says or your most powerful entity in the universe.
Bottom Line
Unless you are a HUGE DBZ fan, avoid this game, run away, if someone tries to give you some on the street, run, call a cop, kick him in his soft places, but run! Even for die-hard fans, this is only worth a brief rent, you can beat it the day you rent it. But, please, avoid it if you don't like DBZ!
