RSS
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo
Revenge of King Piccolo feels like a classic old school beat 'em up.
October 30, 2009 | 1:50 PM PSTKombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Dragon Ball: The Revenge of King Piccolo might sound like just another Dragon Ball game to come along, but don't be fooled. For years, the consoles have been inundated with Dragon Ball Z games. That "Z" is the key difference, because the original Dragon Ball series is more or less an origin story of Goku as he explores the world full of little boy mischief. Revenge of King Piccolo is a beat 'em up game that walks through some major sagas in Goku's life with an old school approach, which is uncanny to play because it nails the 16-bit beat 'em up experience.
What's Hot
It is entirely refreshing to play a Dragon Ball game that isn't just a straight fighting game. Revenge of King Piccolo is centered more around exploration than it is complex fighting mechanics. It doesn't entirely leave out fighting, there is a place and time for that but more on that later. The levels you play are 2D in appearance but have a 3D ascetic too that plays into the beat 'em up genre. It's like if you crossed one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games with a side scroller with light exploration elements. Think of a Metroid Lite. If this wasn't on the Wii, you'd peg this game as something the SNES or Genesis would produce and that is meant in the very best sense of the words. When games aim for the nostalgia factor, many of them fail because they start with the old and attempt to make it new. In Revenge of King Piccolo, the game is completely new and it works to feel like an old school beat 'em up. Part of the beauty is the simplicity.
It might sound horrific that you only attack with the A button for the entire game but that isn't close to being the truth. It is possible to modify your attacks with the control stick to build on your move combos. There is Goku's signature move, the Kamehameha, which will quickly clear the screen of bad guys if you point it in the right direction. The beat 'em up segments are broken up with platforming sections that require timing and some light problem solving so you are always mashing the attack button. The boss fights are fun to figure out since they fall under the classic boss fight archtype. You need to determine what methods work best for the boss patterns and will remind you of a Mega Man game.
What's Not
Dragon Ball is a very different beast to tackle than Dragon Ball Z. Where Z had a lot of spectacular fights, Dragon Ball had humor and adventure. That humor is missing from Revenge of King Piccolo perhaps because it might not be considered appropriate on North American shores or the developers favored a heavier hand in the action. Regardless of the reason, the game feels like it is missing something because the trademark personality doesn't shine through.
When you aren't exploring the level or throwing the smack down on the Red Ribbon armies, there are moments where the game will dip into the fighting aspect of Dragon Ball. It is hard to fight in these situations because the game isn't equipped that well to handle these occurrences. Unfortunately, there isn't a co-op mode for the story so these fighting modes are the only consolation prizes. Truth be told, it isn't much of a prize at all. It is hard to swallow when Revenge of King Piccolo goes without a standard co-op mode since Goku usually traveled with a fellow adventurer in the anime.
Final Word
The only unfortunate things are that the fighting mode isn't up to par with the beat 'em up stuff and there isn't a co-op mode to make this game a must have. Revenge of King Piccolo is a new game that feels like a classic old school beat 'em up. The gameplay is a delight and the entire experience is great with some nice elements like the boss battles. With the beat 'em up genre making a resurgence lately, future developers need to take some notes from this great, but flawed, tale from Dragon Ball.
What the Game's About
Dragon Ball: The Revenge of King Piccolo might sound like just another Dragon Ball game to come along, but don't be fooled. For years, the consoles have been inundated with Dragon Ball Z games. That "Z" is the key difference, because the original Dragon Ball series is more or less an origin story of Goku as he explores the world full of little boy mischief. Revenge of King Piccolo is a beat 'em up game that walks through some major sagas in Goku's life with an old school approach, which is uncanny to play because it nails the 16-bit beat 'em up experience.
What's Hot
It is entirely refreshing to play a Dragon Ball game that isn't just a straight fighting game. Revenge of King Piccolo is centered more around exploration than it is complex fighting mechanics. It doesn't entirely leave out fighting, there is a place and time for that but more on that later. The levels you play are 2D in appearance but have a 3D ascetic too that plays into the beat 'em up genre. It's like if you crossed one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games with a side scroller with light exploration elements. Think of a Metroid Lite. If this wasn't on the Wii, you'd peg this game as something the SNES or Genesis would produce and that is meant in the very best sense of the words. When games aim for the nostalgia factor, many of them fail because they start with the old and attempt to make it new. In Revenge of King Piccolo, the game is completely new and it works to feel like an old school beat 'em up. Part of the beauty is the simplicity.
It might sound horrific that you only attack with the A button for the entire game but that isn't close to being the truth. It is possible to modify your attacks with the control stick to build on your move combos. There is Goku's signature move, the Kamehameha, which will quickly clear the screen of bad guys if you point it in the right direction. The beat 'em up segments are broken up with platforming sections that require timing and some light problem solving so you are always mashing the attack button. The boss fights are fun to figure out since they fall under the classic boss fight archtype. You need to determine what methods work best for the boss patterns and will remind you of a Mega Man game.
What's Not
Dragon Ball is a very different beast to tackle than Dragon Ball Z. Where Z had a lot of spectacular fights, Dragon Ball had humor and adventure. That humor is missing from Revenge of King Piccolo perhaps because it might not be considered appropriate on North American shores or the developers favored a heavier hand in the action. Regardless of the reason, the game feels like it is missing something because the trademark personality doesn't shine through.
When you aren't exploring the level or throwing the smack down on the Red Ribbon armies, there are moments where the game will dip into the fighting aspect of Dragon Ball. It is hard to fight in these situations because the game isn't equipped that well to handle these occurrences. Unfortunately, there isn't a co-op mode for the story so these fighting modes are the only consolation prizes. Truth be told, it isn't much of a prize at all. It is hard to swallow when Revenge of King Piccolo goes without a standard co-op mode since Goku usually traveled with a fellow adventurer in the anime.
Final Word
The only unfortunate things are that the fighting mode isn't up to par with the beat 'em up stuff and there isn't a co-op mode to make this game a must have. Revenge of King Piccolo is a new game that feels like a classic old school beat 'em up. The gameplay is a delight and the entire experience is great with some nice elements like the boss battles. With the beat 'em up genre making a resurgence lately, future developers need to take some notes from this great, but flawed, tale from Dragon Ball.
November 20, 2009
