Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu Review

Dragon Ball Z is one of the most popular animes in America, probably because it is one of the ones that has had the widest impact here. As with anything of its level of popularity, Dragon Ball Z has had its share of video games based on its license, and most of the recent ones have been reasonably good. The latest game in this series is the DS’s Harukanaru Densetsu. Why it couldn’t have been given an English subtitle instead of a Japanese one is anybody’s guess, but the name of a game is nowhere near as important as its quality. Is this, the latest Dragon Ball Z game, worth playing? Read on to find out.

Graphically, Harukanaru Densetsu is reasonably good. All of the graphics are of a style that matches the cartoon on which the game is based quite well. The special effects for the attacks aren’t overly awe-inspiring for the most part, but they are pretty good nonetheless, and luckily, these animations aren’t long enough to bore you. Still, they do seem to repeat a lot, which is a problem in a game this long, but that’s just Atari trying to be realistic and realizing that each character doesn’t have a repertoire of fifty different attacks. Overall, the graphics in this game are pretty good.

On the sound front, the sound effects aren’t really anything to write home about, but they aren’t bad either. The music in this game is actually quite good, and, although the number of different musical pieces is limited, what music there is is almost always appropriate to the situation that the character you’re controlling might find himself in. On the same front, Dragon Ball Z has long been among the few third-party series of licensed games to employ some level of voice acting. Granted, it’s only one-liners for the various attacks that the characters use, but it’s still more than many third party games bother to do. The story advancement in this game is done through textboxes though. Still, overall, the sound in this game is done quite well.

In terms of gameplay, this game is an RPG with a card battle system for fighting and movement. You use the same cards for both, and hold five cards at a time. Each card has a power rating, a guard rating, and an action type. The power rating of a card determines how many spaces you’ll move on the map and affects the strength of your action in battle. The guard rating, on the map screen, is compared to the power level of your potential opponent’s card when they appear at the end of turns where you didn’t reach a target point to determine whether you have to enter a battle or not. Obviously, only when you actually participate in a battle do you get experience.

There are seven different action types that you can use. These all have different effects on the map screen and in battles. For example, a hide action card allows you to avoid encounters for your turn on the map, but in battle it allows you to run from encounters, but not from scripted battles. The power and guard ratings range from 1 to 8, with 8 being represented by a Z. For the action symbols, Z allows you to choose which action you want the card to have. This system is really a lot simpler than it sounds, but it gets better.

As you progress in the game, you will unlock the ability to perform combos. In order to perform a combo, you must have multiple cards with the same value in a category. In performing a combo, all of those cards will be combined and the combined power or guard levels will be the level that you have active for whatever you’re doing at the time, although you cannot have a guard level above Z when you are moving on the map.

The game is based on scenarios. In each scenario you will have certain objectives to accomplish and you must move from place to place on the map to accomplish them. For each turn, you will play a card on the map screen or perform a combo. The power level of the card you choose will determine how many spaces you will move. When you reach an intersection, you will be asked which direction you wish to turn. Once you have run out of turns or reached a target point, your movement on the map will end. At some target points there will be scripted battles. These are forced upon you. In other cases, there will be no scripted battle at a location, and you will have a normal enemy find you. In this case, if your guard level is higher than the power on the card the enemy draws, you will avoid a battle that turn entirely. Otherwise, you will engage an enemy in a normal battle.

In battle, each participant in the battle will play a card or a combo of cards. Whichever player has the higher power level will be allowed to perform the action on his card. If your winning card is an attack card, then your power will be put against your opponent’s guard to determine how much damage is done. Most all of the types of cards are affected by power though, with the exception of the use item card, which just allows you to use an item regardless of how much power the winning item card had.

The most interesting aspect of a battle is the reverse card. If either player plays a reverse card, then the power levels of the two fighters’ cards will be reversed before the winner is determined. This is useful if you think your opponent is going to play a large power combo or if you just have a low-power reverse card. Still, the battle system in this game is a bit simpler than most card battle systems, which is good for those people who are not that great at card-battle games, but it is still challenging enough to be entertaining.

In terms of the story mode, there are four characters that you can choose to play as, although only three of them are available at the beginning. The four characters all have one intertwined story though, meaning that in order to progress you will have to move back and forth between the characters to advance the plot. You cannot just play through them one at a time. Still, we’re looking at a game that is really quite long for a DS game, probably at least thirty hours long for most people.

Each scenario stage has in it a spot where you can speak to King Kai and unlock a voice for your collection that you can go back and gather after you’re done. This will add some extra play time for the true Dragon Ball Z enthusiast who cares to go back and get them all. There are also a couple multiplayer modes to be had in this game to add some length, although there is no internet multiplayer. Still, this is a game that is obviously meant to be played primarily in single-player.

What then is the conclusion? If you like card battle RPGs, even if you aren’t a fan of Dragon Ball Z, you should consider getting this game. If you are a fan of the Dragon Ball Z anime, but don’t like card battle games because they are too complex, this one is simple enough that you should be able to understand it, so you should consider getting this game. If you are both a fan of card battle games and Dragon Ball Z, there is no logical reason for you not to get this game.