Do you know how I even discovered those DBZ parodies?
Well, one day, I was watching youtube vids. I was watching playthroughs of various videogames. One of the games I watched was DBZ: The Legacy of Goku II. I thought, "Hey, this game looks pretty good. It's a Zelda clone, for sure, but it looks like I might actually like it." Sometime later, I wanted to look up those DBZ playthroughs again, so I punched in, "Dragonball Z" but one of the matches was for an abridged series, I watched it, and I liked it.
But I also saw a playthrough of another DBZ game. One called Dragonball Z: Legendary Super Warriors for the Gameboy Color. This game actually looked really good. I have attempted emulation of Gameboy games before. Although I deleted my GB/C/A emulator and ROMs a long time ago*, I was inspired. I downloaded the latest build of VisualBoyAdvance, went looking for ROMs, and miracle of miracles, I found a working DBZ: LSW ROM in a surprisingly short amount of time.
LSW, being a GBC game, lacks stereo sound, and has the graphical quality of a latter NES game. Nonetheless, it's great fun. LSW is a turned-based strategy game where you re-enact the most famous fight scenes from the entire DBZ tv series. (Yes, the entire series. It starts with when Vegeta was a full-blown villain, and ends with Kid Buu, and every alien overlord and android in-between.) The game is card-based. You draw a card to attack your foe, move around, block or evade an attack, raise one of your stats, lower one of your enemies' stats, and "power up". I don't think it's based off the DBZ trading card game, though. I'm pretty sure these are original cards. Anyways, there's a good amount of depth to this game. It's not always as simple as unleashing a kick combo or a Spirit Bomb every chance you get. Your opponents will read your moves, fake you out, and exploit your character's weaknesses. Luckily, you can do the same. You play as all of the Z fighters, including Goku, my favorite Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, Vegeta, among others. You can level up your characters in an RPG-like manner, and you can actually choose which stat to build up when you gain a level. Putting more of the role in roleplaying. Part of the strategy is knowing which cards to use in battle. You can only use so many cards. Also, some cards can't be used by some characters. Goku can't use Piccolo's regeneration ability. Likewise, the Saiyans can't use Super Beam Cannon.
The game is rather challenging; the AI doesn't hold back. Also, luck is a factor. Having save states makes the game easier, but also allows for cheating, which ruins the fun, I think. However, I have read that this game has a "New Game+" feature, meaning you can replay the game with every character you've played as, at heightened levels, and with every card you've collected. Theoretically, on your second playthrough, you could fight Nappa as Gotenks. In SS3 form. Talk about overkill.
It is a great game, and makes the fight scenes a lot shorter than they were in the anime. My only gripe is the dialogue was poorly translated. Characters sometimes speak in NES-era broken English, this, depsite the fact that the game came out in 2002! Hey, shortly after the release of the GBA, how quaint. So, just skip all the story sequences, and you'll be fine. Another example of a licensed game done right.
But now I wanna try out The Legacy of Goku II. My emulator does play GBA games.
*I had downloaded VBA back in early 2005, and I found a website with GBA ROMs. With this, I played Megaman Zero 2, 3, and Sonic Advance 3 on my PC. Sadly, the ROM site went under, and I couldn't find any other reliable sites back then. Also, I got bored with my few games, so I baleeted them and the emulator. I mean, can you compare MMZ3 with MM3, or SA3 with S3&K? I can't. But now, that might change, especially since I haven't played MMZ4 yet . . .
And, now that I seem to have become some kind of bizarro DragonBall fan, who only likes DB videogames and fan parodies, I now end this in a mockery of a typical DBZ episode:
(sounding like DBZ narrator) Next time, xm0123 reveals an enlightening chat he had with his mother in the real world. What does the chat hold in store for our heroic scholar of the 21st century? And what it have to do with the latest manga series xm is into? What is the connection between xm's mom and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle? Find out . . . in the next installment of . . . . . . . . . .XM0123'S . . . . . . DO . . . . . . . . . MAIN! *insert electronic keyboard riff*
P.S. You can add Bulma and Android No. 18 to my list of "Anime chicks who are Not Cute." Yes, there are some people out there who seem to regard Bulma and 18 with Krillen's mindset. God damn fanboys! You have no taste at all!
