
	Platform DS Genre Role-Playing Publisher Namco Bandai Developer Game Republic ESRB T (Teen) Released June 22, 2010

- Combat is fun - Well integrated tutorials - Lots to do and explore

- Uneven difficulty can ruin the experience for some - Game feels extremely repetitive at times - Checkpoint system is frustrating

Review: Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans (DS) Review: Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (PS3) Review: Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo (Wii)
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Dragon Ball Origins 2

Score: 7.0 / 10

Anything that reminds me of Zelda automatically gets a few points in my books. The combat in Dragon Ball: Origins 2 did just that and in some ways, improved upon it. The game lets you decide from the beginning if you’d like to perform your moves with the stylus only or a combination of buttons and the stylus which I found to be a

Advertisement

- DS Game Reviews
- Role-Playing Game Reviews
- Games Published by Namco Bandai

refreshing choice. At the time I started playing I decided to go stylus only but the fact that you’ve got a choice is something that other developers should really take note of.

Like the first game, you’re going to be guiding young Goku into finding dragon balls and fighting off the Red Ribbon army in doing so. If you’re familiar with the anime then you

Advertisement

are going to find that this one follows the plot pretty much verbatim and the story will unfold in cut scenes that are told using the game engine.

The boss fights are where the difficulty ramps up – and it will ramp up – but this brings up a large downside to the game. If you die during one of these fights be prepared to start the entire level over. If you’re like me, this is going to frustrate you tremendously. I like the progression that comes from completing a game and feeling a sense of accomplishment. If I have to keep redoing parts of a game I’ve already beaten, I tend to not take it so well. There is joy here when you do knock a boss down with some interesting moments in between as long as you can get past the frustrating moments.

The checkpoint system doesn’t just frustrate you at the boss level, it can happen anywhere in a level and right back to the beginning you go. It’s 2010 people, checkpoints were put into most games for a reason and the reason for their absence here seems incredibly elusive.

The overall feel of the game is polished and you will enjoy exploring the levels and the treasure chests you will find along the way. The music and sound effects are nothing all that special but the storytelling has been carefully put together and will keep you interested along the way on your quest.

Of course, you’re going to find special power up moves that make you even more powerful and laying a smackdown to multiple enemies at once is oh so satisfying!

Overall, even considering the frustrations, this game is above average and if you love the source material you’re going to love the game even more.

- Syd Bolton

(August 8, 2010)

Syd Bolton surrounds himself in thousands of classic video games at the Personal Computer Museum (http://www.pcmuseum.ca) in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.