Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo (Wii)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.0 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Patrick Joynt
• Reviewed on: 11/20/2009
• Released on: 10/20/2009
• Originally published on GameSpot: Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo (Wii) Review

Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo is a good way to introduce younger gamers to Dragon Ball, but don't hope for anything more than that from Revenge. The game follows the adventures of a very young Goku, starting with his fight against the Red Ribbon Army. That's from the original Dragon Ball series, before it had a "Z" or "GT" in the title. And as you might expect from a Wii game with a child as its protagonist, this is a game aimed squarely at the young. Though it does have some juvenile appeal, the single-player mode is too simple to keep the attention of more experienced gamers, and the Versus mode is too simple for nearly everyone.

You'll see these few enemies over and over through the game.

Revenge of King Piccolo has the young Goku, clad in his traditional orange and armed with his fists and fighting staff, hunting down the dragon balls that have been scattered across the world. The Story mode plays out like a traditional brawler. You spend most of your time in side-scrolling levels that allow you a small amount of three-dimensional movement. Goku's quest takes him to the village where he fights Colonel Silver, the evil Red Ribbon army's Muscle Tower fortress, General Blue's underwater HQ, and a number of other classic Dragon Ball locales.

Unfortunately, Revenge of King Piccolo never sets challenges worthy of Goku's epic quest in front of you. Your core abilities are a regular attack, a block, a jump, and use of your kamehameha, which you'll use to plow through endless hordes of foes without any real effort. Some enemies and enemy projectiles (such as missiles) will be surrounded by a blue lock-on halo, allowing you to tap the Z button to zip to the target. You can also execute some simple combos, such as pressing down while beating enemies to bits to launch them into the air and then pressing the Z button to fly after the poor target. Though these combos add some mild variety to the combat, you don't actually need to use them to progress. Smashing through levels requires very little other than continuously hitting the attack button. You'll bash the same few robots, thugs, and humanoid animals over and over again throughout the course of Revenge. The simplicity of the combat and lack of enemy variety cause the action to turn dull quickly.

The limited platforming doesn't work particularly well either. You might have to jump over and duck under moving electrically charged balls while on a moving platform, but the jumping and hit detection are so imprecise that this is an exercise in frustration. If you need to explore up or down, it's a simple matter of looking for the floating objects with blue lock-on halos around them. If you press Z, you'll fly up to the object, and from there, you'll either have reached the height you need or just have to press Z again to reach the next object. Just as combat ultimately comes down to mashing the attack, the platforming and exploration elements ultimately come down to mashing the lock-on button. While kids might enjoy smashing through the game, there's no joy here for someone who wants to earn a victory.

Where to buy

store	price	in stock?	rating
	$17.96	Yes

see prices from 1 store

Compare prices for Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo

Amazon.com

$17.96