Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo
By Christopher Healy,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Difficult boss battles ruin the rest of cartoony fight game.
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Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo
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What’s It About?
The story behind DRAGON BALL: REVENGE OF KING PICCOLO revolves around the search for seven magical spheres -- dragon balls -- which, when put together, will grant wishes. One of the balls belonged to the grandfather of young hero Goku. His search for his family heirloom brings him into conflict with the evil Red Ribbon Army and other villains in search of the dragon balls.
Is It Any Good?
This side-scrolling fighting game starts off with a nice old-school feel to it, but soon becomes repetitive. For instance, the first three bosses you'll encounter, though very different looking characters, all put you through what is essentially the same battle. And bosses are the game's biggest problem -- they're far too difficult. The interior of many levels can actually be deceptively easy, which makes it all the more frustrating to suddenly find yourself engaged in a near-impossible boss battle. The only way to survive is to either be really good, or to replay early levels over and over until you earn enough money to buy power-ups that will increase the size of your anemic health meter. There are no power-ups to replenish your health meter during boss battles, which is excessively punative to young kids trying to enjoy a video game. The two-player tournament mode is much better and can actually be a lot of fun, provided you've unlocked enough characters from the solo adventure.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the ways in which martial arts can be a good thing. Why have they, throughout history, been so repected and revered throughout so much of the world? What good traits can one learn from martial arts? What's the difference between two people sparring in a martial arts competition and two people getting into a fight?
Parents can also engage their children in discussion of racial stereotypes. How can simply the way a person's face is depicted be offensive to some people?
Game Details
- Platform: Nintendo Wii
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Namco Bandai
- Release date: October 22, 2009
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating: E10+ for Cartoon Violence, Mild Language, Tobacco Reference
- Last updated: August 31, 2016
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