March 14th
Today's challenge is: Bad Day Cure
If I'm having a bad day, and want to cure it with videogames, I know exactly what I want. I want an uplifting game with great controls and with moderate to intense difficulty. The idea is to have a game that can resist me, but that gives me a way to vent my frustration without adding to the reasons why I may feel down. At first, I thought of Super Punch Out since it does all of the above really well, but I thought of something much better.
That game is
Dragonball Advanced Adventure, on the GBA. It's pretty interesting that, considering how many games there are about Dragonball Z, there are very, very few games about Dragonball. And this one might possibly be the best of them all! It's a 2D sidescrolling beat 'em up for most of the game, with some shmup stages as well, and it sometimes becomes a 2D fighter with a completely different control scheme. And, oh, by the way, I consider this game to be the best Game Boy Advance game ever made, but for very subjective reasons for the most part, as there are plenty of other great games on the system that people might feel more drawn to.
The platformer stages cover some of the most iconic adventures in the original Dragonball saga, but taking a lot of liberties to enhance the experience. There are also a lot of hidden items to find. You can use either Goku or Krillin in the main story (each having their own routes, and it pretty much plays by itself. Everything you can and want to do comes out so fucking fast, as you'd expect of a Dragonball game. It's really fun! And this nails the Kamehameha like no other Dragonball free roaming action game.
The fighter stages are a little more interesting, as the way they work is very unique. You usually have to find a way to jump on your opponent, and trade hits with them. It does no damage, and you don't receive or deal hitstun. There's a small stamina gauge, and the first one to empty the other player's stamina bar, gets to do a combo on them (which deals damage), aerial or ground based, which may then be followed up by a launch attack or a special move. This may sound weird, but honestly it makes you feel like you are playing the anime most of the time. And this is where I would get to vent most of my frustration. I also think this is one of the most underrated “fighting games” of all time. And, cherry on top, you can use a lot of characters in this mode.
There are also bonus modes, which are mostly unlocked by unlocking every collectible. In these modes, you can use ANYONE. Down to the shittiests grunt in the game. It's not that unique, but they've made them all play really well.
The music and art are sublime. The former is actually not taken from the anime, but mostly arrangements inspired by the show's OST, and it works super well. I wouldn't listen to it on its own, and honestly it's not the same without the sound effects, but it's incredibly satisfying. The artwork did take some liberties here and there, but it does a great effort of doing justice to the source material.
If I had any complaint about this game, it's that it didn't cover the 23rd world's martial arts tournament (at least, not by a whole lot, only cyborg tao is in there), but other than that, it's fucking amazing, and it can be quite hard too!
It's only available on the GBA, and it's a must have title, Dragonball fan or not. And fun fact, I personally own a PAL copy, which features different artwork on the cover of the box. I prefer the NTSC goku look, but the one I have doesn't have a DBZ Goku in the back, so I like it a bit more.
