My philosophy on video games is pretty simple: I like to see as many different types and genres as possible, so that video gaming diversifies to the point that anybody can find a type they like. Like movies or television. Those are industries that are successful enough that they can support minority interests... like independant films and golf channels. More styles means more people can play, and video games aren't relegated to males 8-22 anymore.
As a gamer, I get more excited about games that offer different experiences, interfaces, styles and play modes than I do about games that offer upgraded graphics and newer tech tricks. For me, the theory of gaming - gaming for gaming's sake - is king.
So, while I considered buying both Dragon Ball Z GBA games, Legacy of Goku and Collectible Card Game, I ended up buying only CCG. Chiefly because Legacy is only (only!) a superdeformed RPG, while CCG is attempting to emulate a card game. Both received terrible reviews from most major game magazines, so I knew I was in for a struggle with either.
I think the concept behind making a card game into an identical video game is pretty cool, especially on a handheld unit. This is not a new idea, but I think it's different enough that the casual gamer would raise an eyebrow of interest (or at least contempt) at the notion.
First, I want to stress the word 'identical.' DBZ CCG isn't some kind of video game-fied action version of the existing card game. It *is* the card game. With draw piles, card artwork, game phases, etc. Not like the pathetic Magic: The Gathering - Battlemage, which turned M:TG into an unworkable 16 bit turn-based strategy game. Nor is DBZ CCG simply a license cash-in, like the Digimon game series. If you're looking for DBZ action, this is not the planet to visit. This is a card game.
And I want to say - before I wander any further - that it is not great. The gold medalist of video card games is Pokemon Trading Card Game, a Game Boy cart that understands how you should adapt a real-world playing atmosphere into a 1.5 inch square. DBZ CCG is nowhere near as savvy.
On that note, let's continue singing.
I also picked up DBZ CCG because I wanted to learn how to play the card game itself. I own about 500 DBZ cards, but found the rulebook confusing and the sample games over-simplified. (Plus, the card artwork is amusingly dull. Despite cards having badass names like "Orange Fist Detonation" and "Frieza's Finger Tip Energy Blast," the associated image is most often just a closeup of a character's head in mid-bellow.) So I hoped that the GBA version would more fully demo the game's workings, the possible strategies, combos, and other such geeky card game stuff.
And it doesn't. I managed to grasp it pretty well after 5+ games, but only after double-checking the manual and applying my own well-nurtured card game sensibilites. For the first few games (and the tutorial), I was scratching my head and wondering how I could be so lost in a game that's so slow.
One of the big mistakes here is that the game wants to avoid as much card reading as possible. Your opponents will play cards to attack and defend, and the only way you can tell what they do is through a complicated series of menus. Unless you already have the card art memorized, I suppose. And looking at a card's text is inexcusably slow once you finally get there anyway. (You select View, then it does an obnoxious wipe from the hand screen to the card text.)
Another example of the game working against your learning curve: If a character plays a combat effect that will, say, block a later attack, you get zero notice of this happening when it finally does block. All it says is "Attack stopped" without even showing the card. In a real game, your opponent would announce that he is using the effect he activated earlier.
Navigation in general is a huge issue. DBZ CCG basically has two areas for cards: your hand and the table. Your hand is easy enough: View, Use, etc. But the table - which can collect a large number of cards during an average game - is divided into three vertical screenshots (which overlap). It is further subdivided into categories of cards you could possibly play to the table... allies, dragon balls, etc. Selecting those piles brings up a view screen that looks identical to your hand, causing unnecessary confusion as to where you actually are at the moment. Getting to the table from your hand, and vice versa, is through regular-looking menu options... when it could have been much more elegant to use the L and R buttons to switch between the two regions.
The beef of the game is combat, where you and your opponent take turns playing attack and defense cards. The game handles it like this: Gohan Attacks screen. Gohan plays card X. You draw three cards: card 1, card 2, card 3. Then jump to your hand for the option to defend. This is where you could back out to the table to view your opponent's card. You opt to play a defense card or pass. Screen showing the card you played, or No Card Played. Then the recap screens ("Attack Results"): Gohan played card. You played card. Attack results animation, which is nothing more than a flash of red or a shaking screen. Option for other player to continue combat by playing an attack card. Repeat. Once players are done playing attacks, both discard down to 1 card in hand. Combat Over screen.
At several points, you'll even see a "waiting" screen... waiting for who? I'm the only one playing!
And I must point out that this is all extremely slow. The pauses between screens are terrible, and some screens will pause when there's nothing there, just a portrait of the character. The time honored tradition of smacking the A button to advance screens does almost nothing here. You can speed up the rate at which you draw your three cards, but that's about it. To add further insult, pressing A won't instantly bring up the text screens, but send them away before you see it completely. Sloppy.
And it's ugly. There is NO variety in game graphics. Playing against Garlic Junior looks exactly the same as playing against Krillin. I would have expected some kind of differentiation between good and evil, or maybe some cartoon backgrounds to spice it up, but no. You get the same brushed chrome and pastel look no matter what's going on. I'm not kidding about those battle animations, either. These are worse than the first-generation Pokemon battle animations. In fact, you can't even call them animations... a red flash and a shaky screen? That's total lazy bullshit. There's not even an opening video.
And the sound is so lame that you want to die. There is one music loop that plays to infinity. Please turn it off in the options menu so you don't accidentally induce insanity in long car trips. Or short car trips. Or trips of any kind, even the ones where you fall. The only, only, ONLY sound effects are a swoosh and click for menu navigation, and a generic scream when a character levels up. Nothing else. No cartoon sound samples. No taunts from Piccolo. No boasts from Vegeta. No nervous giggling from Krillin. Nothing. I feel like they finished this game in one weekend, including the time it took to eat the pizza.
So the interface is unhelpful, the pace is coma-slow, the graphics are boring, and the sound is awful. How does it play?
It plays okay, card-wise. I guess I could appreciate this at a minimalist level, but the game forces you into a clunky, unnatural pattern of play. Reading card text should be smoother and manipulating your zones should be easier. If they had bothered to attend to those basic issues, I might be able to get past the utter lack of presentation and the almost complete ignorance of the Dragon Ball Z cartoon universe.
The main game consists of you playing your various decks against the CPU. There's no overworld to the game (like how Pokemon TCG had that whole land to walk around and find CPU players to challenge.) Just a scrolling ladder of opponents, of whom you must defeat every last one. There's not even dramatic entry scenes with your character facing the enemy, Street Fighter style. *They couldn't even do that*, for fuck's sake. The only pre-battle screen is your portrait with accompanying random text ("I'm going to win!") followed by the opponent's portrait and their text ("Why don't you just give up now!")
You start the game with only Goku, Gohan, Freiza and Garlic Jr. available as playable characters. To unlock more, you must play through the entire game as another character (ugh.) Goku unlocks Nail, Nail unlocks Goldo, Goldo unlocks Krillin. This is a concession to the video game world, since in real life, starters and boosters come with completely random characters.
You can also initiate multipak games with another human player, but I doubt I will ever meet another human who owns DBZ CCG, much less intend to play it.
Let's wrap it up by seeing if the game met my goals. I wanted to learn how to play the card game, and I did, sort of. I wanted to see another example of an alternative video game genre, and I did. So I guess it's a raging success then. Maybe I should have tried Legacy of Goku instead.
