The Dragonball series has been out for quite some time and in its era has spawned countless games. None of them ever were critically acclaimed titles, but they always seemed to do the cartoon series justice by including most of the main characters and an art style that was consistent with the animation seen on the television show. I used to watch the cartoon series back in college, usually on a Sunday afternoon, hungover on the couch. It provided mindless entertainment with a slight sense of humor that was perfect as I tried to overcome numerous shots and games of beer pong from the night before. Dragonball: Revenge of King Piccolo has its its ups and downs. Does it have enough ups to provide you with at least a couple hours of mindless fun? Hit the jump to find out.

You play as the protagonist, Goku, who is on a quest to round up all seven Dragonball’s that have been mysteriously scattered throughout the land. It is said that whomever is able to accomplish such a feat will be granted any wish they desire, much like the genie from Aladdin. Wouldn’t you know that Goku is not the only one looking to collect all seven of these mysterious orbs, thus creating quite the obstacle for our main character. Two modes of play are available with the game. The first being the Adventure mode, that plays through the main quest of the game and is only single player. The other mode is a World Tournament mode where 1 or 2 players can face off against one another in a Street Fighter type battle arena. Many characters from the Dragonball universe are available, allowing you to create the match up that you have always dreamed of (if you are a die-hard Dragonball fan that is). This second mode of play is very basic, so please do not expect a full fledged fighter game from this mode. It is more of an afterthought that was put in to allow two players to go at it. It is “nice to have”, but by no means is it what you are looking for from a Dragonball game. Other games created from the series have already done this much better, so your best bet would to stay clear from this mode and stick with the Adventure mode.

The Adventure mode can pretty much be summed up as a beat’em up genre of game. Dragonball: Revenge of King Piccolo is played from a 2.5D perspective. Imagine Streets of Rage with a little bit more freedom to move around in any given space. It even has the classic “Go!” after defeating a wave of enemies, directing you to proceed further within the level. Graphically, the developers have gone with a mix of cell-shading of characters, with flat backgrounds for environments. They do a decent job of portraying the Dragonball world, and slow down is never an issue. However, it is hard to not think that this game could have easily been pulled off on last generation’s Nintendo Gamecube. This game never really shows off the potential of the Wii, as many other titles have already done. The sound effects featured are all standard, and nicely feature some voice over work that is in tune with the original series. Sadly, the music is as repetitive as elevator music. After only 30 minutes of playing, I already wanted to completely turn off the volume and blaze through the levels listening to some Pearl Jam or some other classic rock and roll.

Dragonball: Revenge of Piccolo does exactly what it sets out to be. It provides a strait froward game design, simplistic graphics, and a story that a ten year old could write. However, I still found myself enjoying playing, especially when I didn’t want to concentrate enough for a more mature and complicated title like Modern Warfare 2 or Uncharted 2. It was this ease of play and mindless enjoyment that brought me back to my thrift store couch in college, where thinking was the last thing I wanted to do. On top of that, Revenge of King Piccolo features not a single move activated by the motion controls. At first I was going to knock down the final score for not including this feature, but then I realized that I didn’t want to shake my controller, or throw my arm behind my back to execute an attack. I just wanted to pretend I was a bald headed kid named Goku looking to collect some Dragonball’s.

[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]