2.5/5 ★ – KHFanXIII's review of Dragon Ball Z: Sagas.

Dragon Ball Z Sagas, what is there to say about this game? This is one of the most infamously bad Dragon Ball games. Its reputation precedes it. I went into this with pretty low expectations, partly expecting to drop it without finishing it just due to how bad I heard it was. So, what's the verdict from me then? Okay, so it's not as bad as everyone says it is. ...Alright hear me out. So this game plays about as well as any mid-2000s licensed game did (think Ben 10 Protector of Earth, or Fairly OddParents Breakin' Da Rulez). Not great, but serviceable and with some genuinely fun moments. That's how this game is. Either I have a higher tolerance for these types of games due to growing up on them or maybe my standards are just really low, but this game just isn't that bad. This game is a beat-em-up (and honestly, I enjoyed this one more than Advanced Adventure lol), where you progress through fairly linear levels, collecting some collectibles around the way. As someone who 100%-ed this game, let me tell you, get the teleport and Turbo Ki Charge moves as soon as possible. They will make the game immediately more playable. Other than that, honestly the best strategy is to spam your special move against every enemy and if they dodge, teleport right behind them right before your move is fully charged up. Unfortunately, this reveals just how repetitive the game really is. You are really just constantly spamming the special move button, so much so you are constantly hearing the voice clips play 'Kamehame, Kamehame, Kamehame' over and over and over again. It's actually quite annoying and this repetitive nature is the major issue with the game. I imagine it's a lot better with a co-op partner (although the prospect of both of you screaming your attack names out sounds like hell). There are collectibles throughout the levels, as I mentioned earlier. There are health capsules, Ki capsules, and Z coins. After collecting a certain amount of the Health or Ki capsules, that meter will increase. The Z coins are what is used to upgrade your character, so I recommend getting as many of both as you can. Eventually, you can buy an ability that will let you see them on your map, so you can return to previous levels to get any you missed. Another major issue with the game is the camera. Now, the major issue is that it operates on a sort of fixed camera angle. Not totally as the camera will move when you do somewhat, but it's mostly stationary. This sort of auto-camera is really bad and gets in your way of seeing things. I really wish they would've just given you the ability to control the camera as that would fix the issue. The final issue I have, gameplay-wise, with this game is the final boss. The game requires you to go Super Saiyan 2 to do any sort of damage to Final Perfect Cell and to do that, you basically have to repeatedly punch and kick Cell over and over again until your transformation meter is full. However, since you must be in Super Saiyan form in order to go to SSJ2. The problem with this is the transformation meter constantly drains while you are transformed so it takes forever to be able fill up your meter enough to be able to go Super Saiyan 2. The only way I was able to do this was by spamming the longest combo attack in the game (one you have to buy with Z coins) over and over and over again. Also, a small thing, but they only made one Cell model for this game (the Perfect Cell one), so when you fight Semi-Perfect Cell it's literally just Perfect Cell and it's weird and somewhat funny. This is odd because there are a lot of unique models in this game, so why Semi-Perfect Cell didn't get one is anyone's guess. The story of the game is (once again everyone) the story of Dragon Ball Z. It covers everything from the beginning of Z to the end of the Cell Games (no Majin Buu for you). The story is presented via a bunch of edited clips from the anime. It actually begins with (what I believe) is brand new animation briefly recapping the story of the original Dragon Ball, but everything else after that is just edited anime clips with Kyle Herbert narrating what generally happens. A long way from Budokai 1's great presentation, but that's okay as I didn't expect much from this game. As far as side content (other than the collectibles) there's Pendulum mode. This is a special version of story mode which allows you to play through any of the levels with any of the characters (including unlockable characters like Broly or Future Gohan). This is neat, and maybe for a second playthrough it'd be worth it, but it's not really much of a good addition. According to HowLongToBeat, this game should've taken me 10-11 hours to beat, but I did it in 6 while actively searching for every collectible (and no I didn't use a guide). I dunno where they got their hours or if maybe everyone else who played were just unaware of how to actually play, but this game is no where near 10 hours. Overall though, this game was no where near as bad as I was expecting and honestly (after this and Legacy of Goku 1) it makes me wary of anyone's warnings about "bad" games. This is just an average licensed game that's interesting, but nothing special.