The Saga Continues…
Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury, much like the previous games in the series, takes place within the Dragon Ball Z storyline. Whilst many fans of the franchise will no doubt enjoy the references throughout the game, casual fans or those of whom aren’t familiar with the Dragon Ball Z universe will soon be lost in a mist of confusing plot holes, twists and references to past events.
The story basics remain in this addition. Another evil power has risen and the safety of planet Earth is at risk. As you'd expect from the title, this evil character is the devious Buu - an ancient creature brought back to life to cause havoc once again. It’s up to you, the gamer, to play through the saga and defeat Buu and a list of other baddies that’ll, in turn, restore the Earth back to it’s peaceful self. Original isn’t it? Throughout the course of the game gamers will get the chance to play as Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, as well as several other surprise characters along the way. Gamers will be able to venture off in separate stories and side-quests for individual characters throughout the game (for example: Goku has several missions in the ‘Other World’ whilst Goten has all of his on Earth).
Probably the one feature that has kept me interested in this series is the inclusion of side-quest and extended stories not mentioned in the Dragon Ball Z storyline. It allows gamers to take a break from the linear path setout for them and allows for a little freedom. The game features a few unique areas where gamers must acquire items to progress further in the game. Nothing too drastic, but it does break away a little from the traditional story of the saga and gives the fans of the franchise a taste of something new.
Saiyan Old, Saiyan Old
Once again, the gameplay in Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury is still quite juvenile. Nothing has drastically changed at all from the predecessors in terms of how the game plays and controls. Players will once again be able to use a variety of punch/kick combos to dispose of the enemy. To spice things up, you’ll also be able to use a number of energy attacks such as the Instant Transmission, Kamehameha and the common energy blast. The newest addition to the set-up is the much needed block function. Although it was an essential feature to include, the developers still failed to realise it’s full potential and, without decent counter-attacks from enemies, blocking is almost useless – a truly wasted opportunity.
The game's balance is terrible. Straight from the get go gamers will have the opportunity to equip items to their character that’ll increase their received experience points, which in turn makes leveling up - and subsequently fighting enemies - a lot easier. The once difficult task of defeating enemies has been eliminated completely, and now the game welcomes a much more simplistic button-mashing system. There’s absolutely no strategy involved in defeating enemies. Lure the enemy into a corner and hit that A button as fast as you can and you’ve assured yourself victory – the same can be said for boss battles.
It’s truly sad to see this happen, too. The game has, in the past, had a great battle setup where the enemy would fight back and cause you to fall back and rethink your attack. But now, the battles are just way too simple. And if the enemy does fight back, the block feature comes in handy to repel those attacks – again making battles way too easy.
Another new inclusion to Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury is how, once you've defeated an enemy, you receive currency that’ll allow you to buy upgrades for their stats. Again, this is another flaw in the game’s design that makes it way too easy.
If your friend has a GBA and a copy of the game, you can enjoy the game's multiplayer modes. These include the ability to trade items or battle in a dojo, none of which extend the game's life for very long. Still, it's fun to play around with.
Fusion
For anyone who has played either of the two past Legacy of Goku games will soon feel a slight repetitiveness in terms of the game’s graphics and audio. The developers, in many places, have simply taken certain areas and have redesigned them for the game. Although, most of the areas in this game are indeed new, the game loses that sense of originality because of these reused graphics and areas.
It’s a shame to see that it’s been a year since the previous title was released for the GBA and yet Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury retains the same graphics-engine. Although the graphics have been tweaked, the game still looks too similar to last year’s Legacy of Goku II.
The overall quality of the game’s audio is quite good, yet the repetitiveness is a shame. Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury has used tracks from the previous game and has merely remixed some others. The soundtrack fits perfectly well into the context of the game and builds up a nice Dragon Ball Z atmosphere, though. One problem with the audio is that the fighting sounds are truly annoying - and since the game is a fighting game you’ll soon find yourself turning the sound off completely.
Buu turn you into…bad game
I’ll confess that I was truly expecting a lot more from Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury. New gameplay elements, neat new graphics, new tunes and a new feature that cries out addictiveness are all present and correct. However, we’ve been presented to a game that is affected by minor flaws that hurt the game’s overall experience and enjoyment. The game fails to offer any sense of difficultly that, in turn, makes the game relevantly easy. It’ll certainly be a game that’ll satisfy most Dragon Ball Z fans, since they’ll be familiar with how the game progresses and will recognise all the references throughout the game. But those wanting an action/adventure game that offers all the elements needed to create the perfect adventure title will be sadly disappointed with the outcome of Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury.
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