Replace Lots of Screaming with Lots of Talking

I've only gotten around to picking up two games for my Nintendo DS since I bought it in the fall, and Chrono Trigger was a Christmas gift I haven't actually started playing yet. Which leaves DragonBall Z: Attack of the Saiyans.

The story starts after Goku's loss to Tien in the World's Martial Arts Tournament, and runs through the end of the fight against Vegeta on Earth. Which, due to the nature of that last fight, does mean that the game ends with a thud, due to a lot of dialogue boxes. Since I already knew how that fight went, I kept skipping them and then, whoops, the game is over.

On the positive side, they added a bunch of small chapters that aren't in the canon story, focusing on the non-Goku characters, to give you a chance to level them up a bit before everybody starts working together. And it's just nice to have the story mode not focus exclusively on Goku. I leveled Krillin up more than anyone, for two reasons. One, he's my favorite. Two, he's involved in the fight against Vegeta all the way up to the end, so I figured it'd be important for him to be strong enough to hold up. It didn't end up being as critical as I thought/hoped, but no regrets.

The gameplay is the standard turn-based RPG model. Roam various locations, looking for various objects. Randomly fight enemies and gain experience. Level up and stuff. This is one of those RPGs were you can't see the enemies as you wander the map, you simply walk until the game decides you've had an encounter and the fight begins. Once in a fight, you decide what you want all of your characters to do in a turn, then see how it plays out. Using items, blocking, standard attacks, special attacks, that kind of thing. There's a meter that builds over the course of the fights, and when it's full, you can unleash the super-special attacks, or combos if two of your characters have their meters filled.

Because it's an RPG, there's a lot of backtracking through locations. Especially late in the game when you have the option to put off the final battle to go hunt down fake Dragon Balls that will let you choose from a limited set of wishes. Like getting a lot of money, or a lot of experience. That kind of thing. After a certain point in the game, money really wasn't much of an issue, because I seemed to be picking up enough items after fights there wasn't a need to buy stuff.

You can collect them as many times as you want and keep making wishes. I think four was my limit before I decided I'd roll the dice and see if I was strong enough to win. Even before that, though, there are locations or treasure chests that are blocked off behind rocks that you can't break through until you reach a certain level. I didn't see and rhyme or reason for when the game decides you're strong enough to break through, and I'd forget where some of them were, but that just makes for a pleasant surprise when I stumble across one again.

It's an enjoyable enough game, if not one that reinvents the wheel. Save points are plentiful, so it's easy to play for just a short while if that's what you want. Or play for a few hours if you're in a groove. I definitely lost track of time more than once while playing.