Keiran McEwen
Keiran McEwenDragon Ball is one of only three anime I have enjoyed, and all three have decent games already: Pokémon is the influence for every turn-based RPG since 1998, Yu-Gi-Oh! is every card game, and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 is the best fighting game. Somewhat bold statements aside, I think I should say two of them have come together to create Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission.
However, I’d like to state before I step properly into this review, that we were given all concurrent DLC and the pre-order bonus in the review copy. The pre-order bonus is 11 early unlock cards and the DLC is two music packs; all of which is from what I could only assume is Super Dragon Ball Heroes, the anime I have not seen.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is an installment in the “trading card arcade game,” Dragon Ball Heroes, based on the Dragon Ball series. World Mission is possibly best surmised as Yu-Gi-Oh! with the characters of Dragon Ball. To my knowledge, this is the fourth game in the series to make it out of the arcades of Japan and onto consoles, with Dragon Ball Heroes being the original arcade release and Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission 1 and 2, followed by X for consoles.
You play as a Saiyan Hero, modeled after Beat the lead from the previous games, and are a fan of the trading card game in town, “Super Dragon Ball Heroes.” You rush to the local tournament that is happening at the beginning of the game and notice some people having an amateur battle. This is followed by the great idea to join the amateur tournament.
Does it matter you’ve never played a game of Super Dragon Ball Heroes before? Apparently not, as the receptionist that takes your name gives out some cards at the beginning, almost as a gentle smack on the bum before sending you out into the arena of rabid fans of the game. This is possibly the worst example of, “Hurry up and get into action, now!” that a story focused card game has done in a while.
Not that I am complaining, though it does proceed to hold you up with reading the story, and learning the tutorials in staged fights. However, this is as far as the gameplay goes. There is nothing about skill or learning you could not have gathered with the shouty Japanese man and the on-screen prompts that declare, “This direction!” or “Waggle that analog stick (or mouse) like you are a dog and it is your tail.”
The tutorial in itself is less than helpful, on PC at least with, “Touch Action Abilities (TAA) are abilities you activate by touching the screen or performing special swiping motions.” Touching the screen? Either the PC port is a copy/paste job of the Nintendo Switch port, or there is very little effort put in after the fact.
I’d like to say the Touch Action Abilities (TAA) and Card Action Abilities (CAA) get easier and more enjoyable, but thrusting the stick around as if you’d get some cake for the pleasure, isn’t fun or engaging. Aside from moving some cards around the field, that is as engaging as the game can get. The worst of all, is there aren’t any spell or trap cards, i.e Yu-Gi-Oh!. Everything is homogenized into one with three different styles of cards; all primarily attack cards, which can do more damage but it depends if they are a frenzy, balanced, or elite card.
There’s nothing complicated about the card game factor. Really, it all just gets in the way of the story. You’ll watch as the same animation plays for the 100th time, bored as you know you’ll have to rescind Goku so he can regain his energy. It is mindless, as you hit the button prompt to gauge how much damage you dish out or defend. Mindless is probably the best way to explain Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission. It is nice and full of fan fair for just that, the fans, all be it a small portion of them.
I’d like to say I enjoy the story, but it is just a visual novel. If you aren’t a fan of visual novels, there isn’t much around for you. Again, I’d like to say I enjoy the visual novel end of it all but it is too twee; airing on the side of simple and child-like, rather than worrying about the impending doom. The story early on (so I don’t mind spoiling it) is that you are special, the anomalies from the card game are coming to the real world, and only your special team assembled by Great Saiyaman (Goten) can stop them. An early assumption would say it expects you to know the backstory of Dragon Ball and Super Dragon Ball Heroes, though I can’t confirm that, as I know enough to enjoy it.
Who is Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission for? Well, super fans of the Dragon Ball series. I’ll admit, I’m not the largest fan, and I don’t get a kick from standing alongside Goku and Vegeta as I beat a child in a tournament. I said it a moment ago, there is no skill, it is mindless and full of fan fair. If you are a huge fan you would enjoy Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission. If you are new to the series and don’t know who Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Bulma, and the rest, you are either a child or have lived under a rock. If I wasn’t being the bitter old curmudgeon that I am, I’d tell you to get into the Dragon Ball series first, before getting into Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission.
In conclusion, everything works and has a purpose; solitarily the cards, the story, and the side activities work. However, combining them all into one game feels strange. They feel disconnected and don’t compliment each other well enough to get me excited about playing more. Watching Super Saiyan Goku Kamehameha someone in the dirt is fine the first few times; several hours later it is just busy work.
I have seen some describe the game as addicting but personally, I can’t get this and it is why I’d suggest Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission to fans only. As much as I would disagree about calling the game addicting or something I’d have a chronic desire to play, I can see why major fans would say such a thing. I guess what I’ve been fumbling to say is even I, an average Dragon Ball fan, cannot get enthralled by playing. I highly doubt a fan of lesser knowledge of the mammoth franchise would get as much or more enjoyment.
A PC review copy of Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission was provided by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment for this review.
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🔥441Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission
$59.99
Pros
- Nice Anime Style Graphics
- A Simplified Yu-Gi-Oh! Style Card Game but Still Fun
Cons
- Unskippable Animations
- Not a Good Begining to the Dragon Ball Series
