Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension Review

As I said so many times before, I’ll say it again. I am a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z. No matter what anyone says, I still think it is the greatest anime show ever created. However, the games based on DBZ happened to be terrible. A lot of the DBZ games are either fighting games or RPG’s. DBZ: Hyper Dimension is probably the best game out of nearly all DBZ games.

DBZ: Hyper Dimension is a fighting game for the SNES, with characters, moves, and arenas all extraordinarily similar to the series. However, that’s not why I love this game so much. It’s because the control scheme is not only easy to get into and play, but it takes real skill and strategy to become a master.

The A button is used to send a Ki Blast (an energy blast that can be shot from a distance). Each time you send a Ki Blast or any energy attack, some of your energy will be depleted. The B button is used to kick. The X button is used for close-ranged attacks and throws. The Y button is used for punching. And finally, the L and R buttons are used for dashing. Combinations of these controls will allow you to do more moves.

Each character also has a desperation attack. This is where the character has less than 80 HP and has the ability to perform a very strong attack. Pressing B+Y will allow you to charge up. Charging up in this game serves two purposes. The first purpose is to increase the amount of energy you have so you could use Ki Blasts and other energy moves. The other purpose is for regaining your health. Because of this system, fights can virtually last forever (my longest fight lasted about an hour).

There are 10 characters in this game. They are Goku (the main character of DBZ), Majin Vegeta (the rival of Goku), SSJ 3 Gotenks (the fusion of Goku’s and Vegeta’s youngest sons), Gohan (the oldest son of Goku), Piccolo (an old friend of Goku’s), Majin Buu (a warm hearted magical creature), Evil Buu (the evil counterpart of Majin Buu), Freeza (an old enemy of Goku’s), Cell (another old enemy of Goku’s), and Vegeto (the fusion of Goku and Vegeta). Each character has 12-14 moves. I really did wish there were more characters (hidden characters would have really been nice), but remembering that this game is for the SNES, it’s not that bad. More arenas would have been nice also.

By performing a special combo, you can take your character and knock your opponent into the air. When in the air, I found that it’s much harder to fight. Improving air combat would have been greatly appreciated.

There is a good amount of stuff to do in this game. There is a story mode as well as a multiplayer mode. Unlike other DBZ games, the story mode doesn’t suck. This is where you control a “good� character and verse an “evil� character. Unlike other games, you can actually get to lose some battles in the story mode. Also, if you die in a battle you must win, you get to eat a Senzu bean. If you never saw the show, a Senzu bean is a mystical beat that totally replenishes your health. That was a nice touch. I beat the story mode from anywhere to 8-14 times (I lost count).

The multiplayer was really nice. I got a good 100 hours just versing friends. I am not the biggest fighting game fan, but I sure had a fun time playing this game. Make sure that if you are planning to get this game, you have a friend to play it with.

The graphics in this game are amazing. This game has some of the best graphics for a fighting game on the SNES. The creators accurately depict how the characters and scenery look, as well as give a unique mood to each arena. This is one of the rare fighting games whose graphics depict what you are supposed to feel, just like in the show. The sound is also accurately depicted. Not only does it help give that unique mood, it’s also pretty catchy. It actually reminds me of the series when I hear it.

I have found this game to actually be fun to non-DBZ fans, which is pretty amazing. There weren’t that many games that could please both DBZ and non-DBZ fans. Bandai did an excellent job with this game, and a couple more months to add more stuff (i.e. more characters and arenas, improving air combat) would have made it one of the greatest fighting games of the past 10 years.

As a DBZ gamer, Hyper Dimension is up there with the PlayStation’s DBZ: Legends, the Saturn’s Shin Butoden, and the GBA’s Super Sonic Warriors. Let’s just hope I could add more games to the “Worthy DBZ Games� list. If you have the chance, don’t let this game pass you by, whether you are a DBZ fan or not.