Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu

Super Saiya Densetsu for the Super Famicom is actually a remake of two Famicom games - Dragon Ball Z: Kyōshū! Saiyan and Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza, combined into one title with the filler elements from the anime removed. This is also a bit of an odd one for me, as while I played those games back in the early days of emulation quite a bit, I never really considered reviewing them on here for whatever reason.  Super Saiya Densetsu is a considerably better experience, though - while the core gameplay is largely unchanged, the animations for attacks are much shorter (they ran upwards of 15 seconds in the original game) and visually it's a much more appealing game, making good use of the Super Famicom's sharper animation and mode 7 effects to capture the dynamic feel of the anime series.  The combat system is based around cards; you can carry up to five at a time, and each has an attack and a defense rating numbered 1-7 or "Z" (representing 10).  Each card also has a symbol - if you match it to a particular Z fighter's fighting style, they'll attack all enemies in the current battle, or do a charge attack against a single enemy for some extra damage.  Choosing a card with the Ki symbol allows that character to do one of their flashy energy attacks from the show (at the cost of some Ki points), while numerous character cards serve as expendable items and grant various advantages.  Restoring varying amounts of HP or Ki, boosting a card's attack or defense (or both) to Z, changing the symbol on said card, or even tossing out your entire hand for a new one.  The game is also faithful to the show, kind of to a fault - Goku is far and away your most powerful character for about 90% of the game, with the rest of the playable characters usually being average at best and useless at worst unless you spend an enormous amount of time grinding random battles to power them up.  Training centers can also boost a character's maximum Ki, though you only get so many "training points" to spend at any given location.  Progression is also pretty linear - while you do get a bit of a chance to explore and find items, train up and places to rest and recuperate, the only real goal for any given area is to grind out some levels, go to the end and fight the boss.  If you're a big fan of Dragon Ball it's probably a game you'll enjoy in spite of its shortcomings (add a half-star to the rating in that case), otherwise you can probably skip it.

Developer: TOSE
Publisher: Bandai
Released: 1992
Platform: Super Famicom