Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku I & II offers a mash-up of action-RPG and beat ’em up mechanics that will feel instantly familiar to any GBA enthusiast. In the first installment, players progress through Dragon Ball Z’s Saiyan and Namek sagas with simple yet satisfying combat combos, energy attacks, and platforming segments. The second game refines these mechanics by introducing new playable characters—Gohan, Trunks, Piccolo—and expands on exploration with more elaborate maps and hidden items.

Leveling up is straightforward: defeat enemies to earn experience points, then allocate increases to health, ki, and attack power. While the skill tree remains rudimentary compared to modern RPGs, it still provides a sense of growth and encourages revisiting earlier stages for grinding. The balance between melee strikes and signature ki attacks ensures that combat never grows stale—even when you’re farming Z-Orbs in the Cell Games Arena.

Exploration is where the compilation shines. Both titles implement non-linear overworlds packed with secret passages, side-quests, and unlockable transformations. Whether you’re pilfering capsules for healing items or discovering the Legendary Super Saiyan icon in a hidden grotto, each moment of exploration feels rewarding. The smooth difficulty curve ensures newcomers won’t be overwhelmed, while any Dragon Ball Z veteran can still pursue 100% completion for bragging rights.

Graphics

Considering the limitations of the Game Boy Advance hardware, Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku I & II deliver remarkably detailed sprite work. Character animations capture iconic poses—Goku’s Kamehameha stance, Vegeta’s Final Flash—complete with frame-by-frame finesse. Bosses like Frieza and Cell loom large on the screen, evoking the drama of the anime series without pixelation or slowdown.

The color palette is vibrant, from the emerald green of Namek’s plains to the fiery hues of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Backgrounds are layered cleverly, creating depth in both indoor corridors and vast outdoor arenas. During cutscenes, simple but effective parallax scrolling elevates the sense of scale, making planet-shattering battles feel more epic than on most handhelds of its era.

While some repetition in environmental tilesets can occur—especially in the later stages of Dragon Ball Z II—each area’s lighting effects, such as Goku charging a Spirit Bomb or Cell unleashing his solar flare, remain a graphical highlight. The occasional screen flicker during intense boss fights is a minor quirk, but it rarely detracts from the overall visual appeal.

Story

The Legacy of Goku I faithfully retells the Saiyan and Namek sagas, streamlining the anime’s sprawling narrative into concise, mission-based objectives. Key dialogue beats—like Raditz’s ambush, Goku’s near-death confrontation with Frieza, and Vegeta’s reluctant alliance—are presented through brief text boxes that keep the plot moving. For fans, these sequences will feel nostalgic; for newcomers, they serve as an accessible introduction to the DBZ lore.

In the second cartridge, the storyline advances through the Android and Cell arcs with a focus on the evolving cast. Each playable character gains unique story missions—such as Trunks traveling back in time to alter fate or Piccolo training Gohan—which deepen the emotional stakes. The game’s pacing is tighter here, alternating between high-octane combat and quieter moments of character interaction.

Although the script occasionally leans on exposition to cover gaps between levels, it captures the spirit of the source material. NPCs recount battles in vivid detail, and pressing “A” during cutscenes triggers dynamic in-battle flashbacks. This narrative layering gives the compilation a surprisingly cinematic feel for a handheld title.

Overall Experience

Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku I & II on a single cartridge is a value-packed offering for retro collectors and mobile gamers alike. Each game provides 12–15 hours of core story content, plus additional time for side-quests, character upgrades, and exploration. The fusion of two titles ensures that you remain engaged from Goku’s first super-powered punch to the final clash against Perfect Cell.

Accessibility is a major strength: intuitive controls, well-paced tutorials, and generous checkpointing make it easy for players to dive in without frustration. The combined package also benefits from quick load times and a polished save-state system, letting you pick up the Dragon Ball saga wherever and whenever you please.

Whether you’re reliving childhood memories or discovering the Goku legacy for the first time, this GBA compilation delivers an engaging slice of Dragon Ball Z nostalgia. With robust gameplay, colorful graphics, and faithful narrative adaptation, The Legacy of Goku I & II stands as a must-own title for any side-scroller or DBZ aficionado.

Retro Replay Score

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