Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu, known as in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and Dragon Ball Z: Goku Densetsu in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, is a card based RPG for the Nintendo DS

Nintendo DS

The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...

. The game takes place from the beginning of the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Cell Saga. Players choose from one of the four main character, Goku

Son Goku (Dragon Ball)

Goku, known as in the English-language manga and original Japanese-language version, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. He is loosely based on Sun Wukong, a central character in Journey to the West...

, Gohan

Son Gohan

is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball universe created by Akira Toriyama as a protagonist for the media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, movies, television specials, video games, and other collectibles...

, Piccolo

Piccolo (Dragon Ball)

is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball manga, authored by Akira Toriyama. Piccolo was first introduced as the reincarnation of the evil Piccolo Daimao in chapter #167 first published in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on April 4, 1988, making him a demon and archrival of the primary...

, and Vegeta

Vegeta

is a fictional character and antihero in the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Vegeta first appeared in the manga chapter #204 first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on December 19, 1988, and in episode 5 of its anime adaptation Dragon Ball Z...

. Other characters also appear, but only as either enemies or support cards.

Gameplay

Each mission is usually broken down into a few key objectives, each mission taking anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to complete. The game is based on levels, the more fights you win, the more experience you receive which in turn makes your attacks stronger. In battle, the highest attack power of a card wins; however, you can also combine cards to create combination effects. For example, if you had 3 cards with a power rating of 7, you can combine these to create a 21 power card, which would most likely out-do your opponents cards. You can also combine defense in the same way.

There are several types of cards, each having a battle and map effect. In battle, Attack Cards attack the opponent with a melee attack or energy wave, Training Cards increase your defense power, Power Cards increase your power number on the other cards, Item Cards allow you to use items picked up on the board, Escape Cards allow you to leave random encounter battles (not boss battles), Reverse Cards allow you to switch the stats between your card and your opponent's, Support Cards allow an ally such as Tien, Yamcha, Yajirobe or Krillin to attack, and Z Cards allow you to choose one of the other seven actions.

Each of the eight cards has a different effect on the board, known as the map in the game. You move around the game in a boardgame like manner. The story is the Saiyan-Cell Sagas, and is split in scenarios divided up by the four characters.

Multiplayer Mode consists of a full-fledged four-player battle on a map in Wireless Play and a Vegeta-vs.-Goku 2 two player match on Download Play.

Reception

Reception in Japan was good. It was near the top of the best selling charts, and reviews were positive or mixed, with only a few negative. Critics were glad not to see a fighting game like Budokai Tenkaichi 2, while a little disappointed at the simplistic gameplay.

In America, the game was not as popular, but came in third place for its first week of release, only below Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. With the enhanced remake Pokémon Platinum, the games comprise the fifth installment and fourth generation of the Pokémon series of RPGs...

. Critics were glad to see a simple RPG and praised it for how close it followed the story and how it was a good card game. Most criticism was based on the simplistic gameplay, difficulty and repetitivity.

• Game Vortex: 88/100
• Gamers Temple: 78/100
• IGN: 75/100
• Worth Playing: 70/100