My introduction to the world of Anime came from Dragon Ball. It aired on a local station for a short time but it was enough to hook me and my friends to this great medium. Naturally I jumped at the chance to review Dragon Ball: Origins 2 which was released on June 22, 2010 by Namco Bandai.

The game opens with a summary of what happened in the previous one. After that, you are informed that Goku has once again set off on a journey to find the Dragon Balls. To be more specific he is searching for the 4 star Dragon Ball since it was given to him by his grandfather. You quickly learn that Goku  is not the only one searching for these items. The Red Ribbon Army is also on the hunt for them and if they get to them first they’re going to use their power for world domination. It’s your job to make sure Goku finds them before The Red Ribbon Army does.

There’s much I like about the game but at the same time there’s some very frustrating stuff about the game that takes away from the experience. For starters, the boss fights in the game can be frustratingly hard if you’re not careful. Many of the bosses have really powerful attacks so you need to be able to attack them when their guard is down and defend or dash away when they’re about to attack. If you use the power poll to block attacks you need to have good timing because there’s a small delay between you being able to use it again for defense. I died a number of times because I didn’t time it properly. What adds to this frustration is the poor execution of save points. Normally in a game you save right before a boss fight so you can avoid the level again if you die but in Dragon Ball: Origins 2 they’ll start you from the beginning of the chapter if you die.  Luckily the chapters aren’t that extensive but it can be a hassle.

One of the good things about the game is that the levels, or episodes as they are called in this game, are broken down into chapters. Each episode can have anywhere from 4 chapters to 8 chapters. To give the game some replay value you can actually go back and replay each chapter in order to find every treasure chest and beat your previous clear time. You are given a rank at the end of the chapter based on how well you did. If you get a good enough rank you are rewarded with a special item. Another thing I enjoyed was the way you make Goku stronger. As you defeat enemies they drop Training Points which can improve Goku’s abilities allowing you to upgrade his Super Gauge, Skill Power and Health Gage. If you want to power level your character you can go back to an earlier mission and replay it to collect more Training Points. Also, it may not sound like much but the fact that you can play as other characters was definitely a nice touch.

If your a fan of the original Dragon Ball series you owe it to yourself to check out this game.  Dragon Ball: Origins 2 for the Nintendo DS released in June, 2010.