Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotstands out in many ways, but by far its most unique quality is its attention to detail and faithfulness in recreating the familiar story ofDragon Ball Z. While other games retold the story to a degree, noDragon Ball Zgame has ever been as ambitious as this in giving fans the whole picture as a video game.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotachieves this by not only including even some very obscure moments from the anime, but by building its combat system to rival the tenseness and high stakes of the original fight scenes. The fight between Goku and Vegeta at the end of the Saiyan Saga is a perfect example of this, and it is made clear by how differently this game handles the fight compared to prior games.
For the uninitiated,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarottakes players through nearly every moment of theDragon Ball Zanime, from thearrival of Raditz to the defeat of Kid Buu, and everything in between. One fight in particular, though, has struck a chord in the hearts of many fans: the battle between Vegeta and Goku.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s unique mixture of cutscenes and combat charge the battle with an energy most fans haven’t felt since watching the original fight for the first time. Compared to other incarnations of this fight in otherDragon Ballgames, this one is a clear winner.
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TakeDragon Ball Xenoverse 2, for example. The premise of theXenoverseseries (Mira and Towatravelling through time and messing with history) all but guarantees that the story won’t unfold as it did, but the changes here are pretty drastic. First, Nappa is still alive while Goku fights Vegeta, and the player’s character must handle him. Vegeta is powered up by Towa’s magic, meaning he should outclass Goku even more, yet this fight still isn’t particularly hard. Furthermore, both Vegeta and Nappa turn into Great Apes, but the mechanics for Great Apes inXenoverseare pretty lackluster, meaning this climax ends up being less than climactic.
The fight is somewhat challenging, and it is certainly a lot of fun, but it simply does not spark that feeling of hopelessness against a stronger opponent thatDragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s incarnation does. The uphill battle element is hardly there, especially when the player’s character may be overpowered by this point anyway (it’s even possible to have attained Super Saiyan already). It’s worth noting thatDragon Ball Xenoverse 2wasn’t necessarily trying to create those feelings or retell the story with accuracy, but it makes the work done onDragon Ball Z: Kakarotthat much easier to appreciate.
Other games, like theDragon Ball Z Budokaiseries, are unable to replicate this fight as well due to the constraints of their genre. As two dimensional fighting games, it is necessary to balance each character against the others. While some characters are clearly more powerful than others, they must be scaled to be at least close to each other in terms of power to keep all playable characters viable, and since Vegeta is a playable character in mostDragon Ballgames, he is no exception. The result is a boss fight which feels like every other fight in the game. The CPU controlled Vegeta may be differentiated with higher stats and hit points than the player, but for the most part, it is not different than fighting a friend who plays Vegeta.
By contrast,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarothas no multiplayer components. This means developers are free to truly ramp up the power of enemies during boss fights. When the player fights Vegeta on Earth, he is very clearly more powerful than Goku, and it takes a great deal of skill to overcome that power gap. This isn’t just represented by higher stats, but by unique techniques available to Vegeta during the boss fight. WhenVegeta becomes a playable characterin the next saga, the absence of these techniques doesn’t feel too out of place, as it is understood that he is going up against much tougher opponents now.
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During the fight with Vegeta inDragon Ball Z: Kakarot, the player feels truly threatened by his power. Victory is not guaranteed, and the focus on the story up till this point makes the stakes feel even higher. Even though players know a game over screen and a reload button are all that await if they fail, it doesn’t feel that way. The narrative is strong enough that it drives players to succeed, despite how uphill the battle may seem. Especially for those who haven’t seenDragon Ball Zin quite some time, the scene acts as a reminder of how truly evil Vegeta was early on inDragon Ball Z, especially compared to his behavior in the most recentDragon Ball Supercontent.
Finally,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotmixes in cinematic throwbacks to iconic moments with its combat. The fight is not simply a brawl between two characters fans recognize, but a complete recreation of the epic battle they remember. Moments like Goku’s Kaioken powered punch weave their way effortlessly into the fast and fluid battle, and it feels incredible to not only watch, but to take part in that struggle. In these ways, the final battle of the Saiyan Saga feels as climactic as it should, andDragon Ball Z: Kakarotdoes Vegeta justiceunlike any game has before.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarothas done wonders for the franchise, its heroes, and its villains. Fans are reminded of just how strong characters like Piccolo are when he faces down Second Form Frieza, andvillains like Raditz are redeemedas more than just tutorial bosses, but real threats to the Earth. The story ofDragon Ball Zis retold in a beautiful and engaging way that allows fans to not just experience it, but interact with it, and includes many new nuggets of information and original content. The fight with Vegeta is but one of many things that this game gets very right.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotis available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One
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