GameSpot editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Terrible
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 12/18/2003
- Released on: 11/24/2003
- Originally published on GameSpot: Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (Game Boy Advance) Review
Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu is a 2D fighting game based on Akira Toriyama's manga-turned-anime series, and it is downright awful. Atari showed how willing it was to turn a quick buck off the Dragon Ball Z name earlier this year when it released the 8-year-old Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 for the PlayStation, and Taiketsu is as offensively bad. Perhaps even more so, since the age of Ultimate Battle 22 could be blamed for its terrible quality, while Taiketsu is a brand-new title.
Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu plays as bad as it looks. And it looks terrible.
The selection of fighters in Taiketsu is a predictable mix of heroes and villains from across the Dragon Ball Z timeline, with the only real surprise being the inclusion of Broly. The combat in Taiketsu is on the verge of being totally broken. For starters, the hit boxes are wildly inconsistent, causing some erratic behavior--characters will slide across the screen seemingly at random, and they'll regularly pop over to the other side of one another when in close-quarters combat. The actual fighting itself is sloppy and simplistic, with every character only having a few combos and a special move or two of its own, outside of the catalog of punches and kicks that all of the characters share. The only component of Taiketsu that's even moderately original is the sky battle mode, where both characters will jump into the air and exchange a quick volley of punches and kicks, but all you need to do to come out on top here is mash buttons. Actually, the gameplay is so sloppy and the artificial intelligence so simplistic that all you need to do at any point in Taiketsu is mash buttons. The game also contains link cable support, so you can play this mess with a friend, if you're so inclined. While playing with a friend takes the sloppy AI out of the way, it really isn't any more fun.
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Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (Game Boy Advance):
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