Dragon Ball Raging Blast

SCORE: 62

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, the newest installment of the Dragon Ball franchise, is a fighting game that focuses on character boosts and environment interactions. Fans of the franchise will probably purchase this out of loyalty, but Namco will be hard pressed to find others willing to fork out money for Dragon Ball: Raging Blast.

The game follows the story and characters of the famous Dragon Ball card game and cartoon. Dragon Ball: Raging Blast allows the gamer to play through the original story of the franchise (not necessarily in order). The story mode was a great idea, but the implementation falls short. If you are unfamiliar with the story of Dragon Ball, do not look for much information here. The story is told through introductory writings and the uninspired voice acting. Other modes include time trials, survival, tournaments, online modes and more.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is easy to navigate and looks good in the menu screens. The character models are also very well done. The designs are reflective of the cartoon and card game likenesses. The game goes for more of the cartoon look, instead of realistic graphics as seen in games like Tekken 6. As nice as the character models are, they almost look out of place in the bland environments.

The real problem with Dragon Ball: Raging Blast are gameplay and camera issues. The controls seem awkward at times, as the characters do not always react quickly enough to the commands of the controller. Often the opponent will “fly” away from and you will have no idea where they are (or how to find them). Then suddenly they appear and a super move dooms your character. Also, when up against a wall or cliff the camera will go below the character and at times your character is not even on the screen. These two issues lead to many frustrating moments.

One strong aspect of Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is the multitude of unlockables. If gamers can work through the gameplay and camera issues, then there will be plenty to unlock – including characters and customizable attacks.

As with other fighting games, parents will want to discuss violence with their children when playing this game. The violence in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is labeled as “cartoon” due to the over the top, animated look of the fights. Also worthy of discussion is how violence should not be used to obtain your goals in life.

The idea behind Dragon Ball: Raging Blast was a good one, but the game simply falls short of its predecessors due to nagging gameplay and camera issues. I look forward to seeing how Namco corrects these problems in future releases.
- Alan

Graphics: 59%
Sound: 70%
Replay/Extras: 78%
Gameplay: 50%
Family Friendly Factor: 55%
System: Xbox 360/Playstation 3
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Rating: 'T' for Teen
{Cartoon Violence, Mild Language}

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