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Dragon Power (NES) review

"Dragonball was a huge series in Japan in the late 80's and early 90's. While it had not reached American shores in the same fanfare, a single game had found its way through the barrier. The game was Dragon Power. Most Americans who then found this game never really knew its roots. Years later the TV series reached American shores, but Dragon Power had died out and had become unnoticed. But the game itself was entertaining, even if the roots were unknown. It mostly resembles the more modern day G..."

Dragonball was a huge series in Japan in the late 80's and early 90's. While it had not reached American shores in the same fanfare, a single game had found its way through the barrier. The game was Dragon Power. Most Americans who then found this game never really knew its roots. Years later the TV series reached American shores, but Dragon Power had died out and had become unnoticed. But the game itself was entertaining, even if the roots were unknown. It mostly resembles the more modern day Goemen games, except instead of being sidescroller it has a viewpoint more similiar to Zelda.

STORY (4/5): The story of the game is similiar to a simple Dragonball story. Any fan of the show can tell you that by collecting 7 dragonballs you can summon a dragon to grant a wish. That is basically the story in Dragon Power, albeit it minor. You have to collect dragonballs as the kid Goku for your friend Bulma. That is basically the storyline, ripped from the TV show, but it was a story nonetheless.

GRAPHICS (12/15): This is an above view game. First of all, I would like to comment on the color scheme in Dragon Power. It is pretty dazzling with the array of colors. It is a very colorful game, and that fits the overall idea very well. Japanimatoin, also known as anime, is the used type of character form in Dragon Power and fits the overall scheme. The enemies are colorful, and yet not very intimidating or strong on the screen.

SOUND (4/10): The sound in Dragon Power is nothing astounding. It fits the purpose, but music is really not appartent within the game. It is there, but yet it's not. It's like faded into the background and easily forgotten. The sound affects are the normal fading away sound, and the swinging of your power stick.

GAMEPLAY (38/55): As I stated earlier, Dragon Power feels alot like the gameboy version of the Goemen series. You run around from an above perspective, and your derectionals move you either up-down, right-left. You strike enemies with the ''A'' button. That is basically all there is to Dragon Power. It is not a complex game, with simple control scheme, however it is hard. At first the game is simple and straight forward. Defeat your enemies with the power rod. Later on however, the levels become like a labirynth and the enemies become pyscotically difficult. The only way to beat these enemies is by collecting the powerups. They are random mostly, and make your power rod more powerful, or reach longer. These are key to your survival, and if you don't collect them your life will quickly be deplenished. So survival is key.

REPLAYABILITY (4/10): I never really got into this game. While the feel and idea is all there, you can only do so much without losing interest in the game. I believe Dragon Power had the tools but not the proper execution, and I never really played it that much in my life. If you beat the game, you might pick it up now and then for a quick playthrough, otherwise it will just sit on a shelf.

DIFFICULTY (2/5): It is a very difficult game to master. While at first you will think it is very easy, later on in levels you will get lost and fight battles against enemies which you stand little to no chance against, unless you have all the best powerups.

OVERALL (64/100): Dragon Power is not the perfect game. In truth it is not even an average game, but yet it does do a few good things well. The difficulty is hard enough for even the master players, and the controls are responsive and smart. The problem is for the gamers interested in DragonBall the game is fairly difficult, and just not intriguing enough to stick with it. I do not reccomend this game to anybody that is not a rabid DragonBall fan. Otherwise you are just throwing your cash in a dumpster.
3.2/5

Community review by ratking (April 01, 2003)

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