A competent enough action platformer, could have been great if not for its natural shortcomings. I've seen some comparisons between this game and the Mega Man X series, but really i don't think Dimps has or will ever be able to do level design to the Capcom standard, and this is no exception. The platforming stages range exactly from boringly simplistic and linear to confusing and maze-like (also they all have the Dimps-trademarked bottomless pits), with no middle ground whatsoever, and that makes the return to those stages for the extras mode not as fun as it was probably intended.
But i'll be damned if the game doesn't throw some cool ideas. The control scheme for the platforming levels is fine, a little clunky yet ultimately solid, but the game really shines on the 1-on-1 fighting; it could be jarring to make the game kind of a platformer/fighting game hybrid but the simplicity of the controls make the transition not as harsh as it could be, and bring the intensity the fights really need. It's commendable how much depth they could squeeze into a sorta-fighting game with only one attack button and a couple support buttons, the stamina system is flawed but it works well in avoiding that the system feels button-mashy, and the parry is very satisfying once you get the hang of it. What doesn't make sense to me is why all boss fights don't use this system, like the Yamcha one specially, since throwing the platforming control scheme into this 1-on-1 fighting format exposes so much of its flaws.
As for the story, well...it was inevitably gonna be a challenge to condense such a long period of the Dragon Ball manga into a short and sweet GBA title, and, for the most part, it's a nice adaptation, specially on the visual side, the character sprites all look round and lively in a great job of "pixelizing" Toriyama's art style, the character portraits are my favorites. The narrative itself is a bit weird, with some puzzling omissions like Goku's Oozaru form, his losses on the world tournament, Yamcha befriending Goku and the gang, the entirety of post-timeskip, and others I can't recall. It kinda felt like the developers were not really interested in doing a faithful retelling of the manga, and instead tried to do their own thing taking the original story as a foundation, and that comes through specially on Goku's personality, who's a lot less playful and naive and more threatening and tough, a bit like the more modern manga heroes of the time. Those changes are a blessing and a curse, since indeed, they do make the game more straightforward but also loses a lot of the personality of the source material, making the final product a little generic (the musical department specially took that 'generic' memo and went with it).
And then there's the post game content, ranked in order of how much i care is minigames, extras mode and "Krillin mode". Minigames are just way too basic pallete clensers of the story mode shoved into their own mode, not fun. Extras mode is a retread mode where you take your time exploring story mode levels for collectibles with a fully powered character; I have no idea why this had to be a separate mode, and it only made the ominous red doors confusing for no reason, but as it stands, backtracking lives or dies in its level design, and as i mentioned, I'm not fond of it in this game. Unlocking Krillin on the story mode with a completely different moveset is not only hilarious, for seeing Krillin do all of Goku's feats in the original Dragon Ball, it is the coolest way this game brings replayability to the table, by far. There's also an exclusive 1-on-1 mode, with multiplayer no less! It makes me wish for a Dragon Ball (no Z) fighting game that will never happen.
I may have sounded overly critical but i would absolutely recommend this game, specially for people who are fond of Dragon Ball, it is short and a lot of fun. It's just I've heard of this game being one of the best DB games ever made for so long (a reputation mostly due to being one of the few OG Dragon Ball games, i assume), i kinda expected more, but it's still a worthwhile experience with a lot of charm.
But i'll be damned if the game doesn't throw some cool ideas. The control scheme for the platforming levels is fine, a little clunky yet ultimately solid, but the game really shines on the 1-on-1 fighting; it could be jarring to make the game kind of a platformer/fighting game hybrid but the simplicity of the controls make the transition not as harsh as it could be, and bring the intensity the fights really need. It's commendable how much depth they could squeeze into a sorta-fighting game with only one attack button and a couple support buttons, the stamina system is flawed but it works well in avoiding that the system feels button-mashy, and the parry is very satisfying once you get the hang of it. What doesn't make sense to me is why all boss fights don't use this system, like the Yamcha one specially, since throwing the platforming control scheme into this 1-on-1 fighting format exposes so much of its flaws.
As for the story, well...it was inevitably gonna be a challenge to condense such a long period of the Dragon Ball manga into a short and sweet GBA title, and, for the most part, it's a nice adaptation, specially on the visual side, the character sprites all look round and lively in a great job of "pixelizing" Toriyama's art style, the character portraits are my favorites. The narrative itself is a bit weird, with some puzzling omissions like Goku's Oozaru form, his losses on the world tournament, Yamcha befriending Goku and the gang, the entirety of post-timeskip, and others I can't recall. It kinda felt like the developers were not really interested in doing a faithful retelling of the manga, and instead tried to do their own thing taking the original story as a foundation, and that comes through specially on Goku's personality, who's a lot less playful and naive and more threatening and tough, a bit like the more modern manga heroes of the time. Those changes are a blessing and a curse, since indeed, they do make the game more straightforward but also loses a lot of the personality of the source material, making the final product a little generic (the musical department specially took that 'generic' memo and went with it).
And then there's the post game content, ranked in order of how much i care is minigames, extras mode and "Krillin mode". Minigames are just way too basic pallete clensers of the story mode shoved into their own mode, not fun. Extras mode is a retread mode where you take your time exploring story mode levels for collectibles with a fully powered character; I have no idea why this had to be a separate mode, and it only made the ominous red doors confusing for no reason, but as it stands, backtracking lives or dies in its level design, and as i mentioned, I'm not fond of it in this game. Unlocking Krillin on the story mode with a completely different moveset is not only hilarious, for seeing Krillin do all of Goku's feats in the original Dragon Ball, it is the coolest way this game brings replayability to the table, by far. There's also an exclusive 1-on-1 mode, with multiplayer no less! It makes me wish for a Dragon Ball (no Z) fighting game that will never happen.
I may have sounded overly critical but i would absolutely recommend this game, specially for people who are fond of Dragon Ball, it is short and a lot of fun. It's just I've heard of this game being one of the best DB games ever made for so long (a reputation mostly due to being one of the few OG Dragon Ball games, i assume), i kinda expected more, but it's still a worthwhile experience with a lot of charm.