Hello everyone, this is my 2nd review here and it's on Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku. I'm sure everyone at one point or another has played a game in a series, but there is that one game in it you never played. For me in the Legacy of Goku series, that was the first game. Like my last review this is a game that I never actually played in my younger days. I was a very avid fan of the show itself and enjoyed both of the other games. However since this is the first and precursor I will not make any comparison to the later games. You might also notice the score and feel this review is intended to be hateful or an antithesis of all the other reviews. It is different, but I'm being very honest and straightforward about anything I felt was wrong. Without any further statements on to the review.

Graphics: 7/10

You'll notice that the game uses clips and pictures from the show which might be seen as neat, but those aren't really graphics so I'm not taking them into consideration. The character and enemy sprites look nice, colorful, and defined. The character portraits not so much. Some look ok such as Goku and Gohan, but others like Master Roshi and Vegeta are a bit unsettling. Master Roshi looks as though he's in the middle of choking, and Vegeta looks like he had his picture taken from far away. The consistency isn't strong here but they are all for the most part passable.

The background is again in a half and half situation. Sometimes the ground will look normal and other times it can be a pixel-y mess. There in variety in the areas you travel so it helps off-set most of any bad background. Attacks are not as fortunate in the variety factor, but look decent. The final fight with Frieza is pretty cool with a showcase of lightning and other effects though you'll again see spots of squares and misplaced pixels. Overall the problems are not that high or dire so it's good for the most part.

Sound: 5/10

The sound of the game when you first hear it is not that bad, but it suffers from something. That would be how it was placed. As you first enter into East District 439 (Goku's home area) you hear this music that gives off a nonchalant vibe. It feels like something you would hear in a city surrounded by people walking around without a care, not a forest punching squirrels and blasting snakes. Another thing I noticed is that there seems to be a lack of transitional sounds. 

What I mean is if you play a game and normally hear a theme in a dungeon, if you run into a character typically the theme will change to show this change in situation. You could get a very tense theme if it's the boss or enemy, or a relaxed theme if an ally. This however lacks that so those moments like Raditz stealing your son don't really have that tension they should. Namek and the final fight might be the only times the music feels truly fitting. The sound effects are ok, but nothing impressive either. In the end it's not that the music is bad or poor, but it doesn't mesh with the area like it should most of the time.

Addictiveness: 2/10

There isn't much to say in the means of being addictive. All the other factors mixed together do not add longevity to the fun of the game. Once you've beaten the game once it lacks anything to do after the fact, no secrets or side stories. I've probably beaten Frieza more than once after I've done it the first time, but replaying just the final boss is not really an addictive thing in itself. Unless this was the only thing you had to play I don't think you'd really want to do it again, even that may be wrong with how much stuff there is on the Internet this day and age.

Story: 3/10 

The story in game is loosely based on the story in the show and I really mean loosely. It gives you a general gist of what happens but as bare bones as possible, almost a rough outline. The game doesn't have any story created for it solely so you only get what is given, and if you're a fan or have just watched it in general you have a much better grasp on the story than the game can possibly give you. I think some of the worst problems is that the little story that does exist is not all accurate.

For example in the game you learn the Solar Flare technique from an old man in some house, when it was really from Tien in the show. You also learn the Kamahameha wave from King Kai (though not the Spirit Bomb strangely). Limiting techniques is a part of game-play but they could have refrained from having characters state they taught the technique and just have them learn it on their own to avoid any confusion. You also go through some ruins that were non-existent in the actual show. You even end up solely fighting the Ginyu Force. It is a game based on the show so expecting everything to be included in it is having overly high expectations, but I feel at the very least what they did include should have remained true to the little story did they offer.

Depth: 3/10 

The game lacks a lot in the realm of depth. Beside being the definition of linear there really aren't many map areas in total. Each area tends to be it's own so it leads to a lot of variety but still lacking in quantity. This also leads to the game not being very sustaining and if you start going through maps fast you'll finish in no time. The game for myself probably only took 3-4 hours to fully complete, however it does sustain itself through another source.

There are side-quests that you can perform for minute amounts of experience to help you through the game, but they're as simple as go get X and bring it back. I mentioned before there is also a lack of attacks, only numbering 4 in total if you count your punch. Goku did not have a large assortment to pick from at that, but that also means it shouldn't have been that bad to give all of it to him. Once you've gotten Goku to level 25 and done every side quest possible (which only number around 15 anyway) you've 100% done everything in the game you can.

Difficulty: 9/10 

I said before the game doesn't have a long play time to sustain it, but something else. That something else would be how bad the difficulty is early on for the game. You start off with your normal punches and a Ki Blast which is essentially a long ranged punch. You'll encounter enemies like squirrels and snakes which do no damage, and then something like crabs and wild dogs which do immense amounts. The game seems to be balanced almost entirely on the idea that you will be at a similar or higher level than your enemy.

As soon as you start off at East District 439 the wild Dogs can kill you in only 3 hits. They are faster than you and have a smaller hit-box leading to you likely dying unless you level up first. Once leveled up you can take around 5 and kill them faster, which is much better. Before that point however fighting a dog is almost suicide. This leveling up before fighting something is a trait to the game, as each new area will have as something killing you in three hits. Your Ki Blasts sometimes fizzle and unless charged are weaker than your punch. But your punch hit-box is that of the pixel your fist lands on. This means unless you hit with very precise accuracy you will miss, and enemies who get on top of you only show-case this to an extreme degree. Even at the end of the game I would sometimes miss my punches on enemies I've hit hundreds of times.

The worst part is that you will go into the game unknowing any of this. You might walk up to a crab and be shocked at how much damage it does, and then frustrated with how badly the dog will decimate you. The combat is clunky to say the least, it really lacks a sense of fairness and bosses no matter what level you are seem to always kill you in three hits. There are only two redeeming factors here. One is that you can use Ki Blasts early on for a slight sense of safety, and Ki slowly recharges so you don't have to worry about running out. The second is you can save at any point in the game and if you die will retain that experience you earned from killing before. So even if you die after killing only a single dog, as long as you save instantly after hopefully you will slowly crawl to a point where you can kill them easily and continue, of course this does nothing to help the frustration factor.

Punches do not stop enemies from hitting you either so going into brawls at any point in the game is a bad idea. Later on in the game though you will luckily obtain the Solar Flare which stuns enemies for a brief to extended amount of time, this will make everything a hundred times easier as long as you can get down the stun timing to stun, punch, run. The game does have difficulty but it's in all the wrong places. You have to do things like shoot from across a lake or cliff to kill things without taking hits, spamming a single ability in a robotic pattern for long periods of time, and that doesn't give any enjoyment. It only makes it feel as though the game is forcing you to adapt a play style for the bad design of the fighting.

Overall Score: 4.5/10

If I had to describe the game in one word, it would be "Unrefined". The concept for it is not bad, but it was not executed right. It leaves a lot to be desired in almost all the categories you normally judge a game on. The graphics and sound were alright, but the actual game fell short and a major factor in this was just not enough content. If there had been more side stories or secret areas it could have been more addicting. If it had more areas it would have been great for an interactive way to learn about Dragon Ball Z and have much more to offer in both story and depth. Maybe with more moves and more enemies the combat system wouldn't have been as clunky and monotone as it was.

It really feels like a game that was just released too soon and still needed fine tuning. It was a first attempt but that alone cannot truly excuse how much of the game felt like it was not treated with the care it deserved. If someone were looking to play this game because they wanted to learn about Dragon Ball Z I would say just watch the show or read the manga. It doesn't offer a lot for someone just looking at a game to play. If you're a die-hard fan of Dragon Ball Z then you might find some joy in playing this, if not only to complete the saga of Legacy of Goku games. That is just an assumption though, even as a fan of the show I couldn't enjoy the game personally. Perhaps the reason the game is rated as high is because mostly fans play it? Regardless that too is just an assumption. In the end the game fell short of what could have been something great, and I cannot recommend it.