Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury - GBA's GREATEST Game

This game is often slept on, passed over, and over-looked for a variety of reasons. It's the 3rd sequel to Legacy of Goku, which was an awful experience to play. The fighting mechanics were unforgiving as Goku's punches never seem to phase the enemies, but at least the developers found a creative way to make "solar flare" useful... Other than crappy combat, the story had a few shining moments (Frieza's transformations, Goku turning Super Saiyan) and left fans of the series wanting more DBZ RPGs. For those brave enough to pick up the sequel to the original frustration, they quickly realized something was different and special about Legacy of Goku II. They fixed the combat. They improved the game tremendously! Goku's punches actually have a staggering effect on the enemy! They also added other features such as power, strength, and stamina capsules to boost your stats throughout the game, an individual Super Saiyan meter overlay, amongst other quality of life additions. This is the game where I'd recommend most newcomers start because it's actually enjoyable to play and it's during an arc of the DBZ series that is many people's favorite: The Cell Saga

Then in Sept. 2004 released the final installment (with a name rebrand?) that built upon the shoulders of it's predecessors and went even FURTHER beyond Cell's perfection in Legacy of Goku 2. Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury brought out Goku's Super Saiyan 3, and then some... The Buu Saga has some of my most memorable "holy shit!" moments in the series, and this game is a pleasure to relive those moments from the anime in an action rpg type format! The game begins as Goku trains for a martial arts tournament in the Other World.

**From this point on there will be minimal spoilers, but hopefully enough to encourage you to play the game!**

Goku discovers more powerful fighters than the ones he knew on earth and is motivated to be trained by some of the strongest, known as Kais. Meanwhile back on  Earth, Gohan is about to start a new high school and we learn that Chi-chi basically forced him to give up fighting and focus on his studies and pursuing academia. On his way to school he encounters criminals in the city and tries to disguise himself to be able to fight crime and not be recognized by his classmates, one of which is the "Earth's Martial Arts Champion - Hercules's daughter, named Videl. He eventually gets discovered by her and is asked to compete in the upcoming World Martial Arts Tournament. Mysteriously, Goku is also allowed to visit earth for 1 day to compete in the tournament and tells Gohan to inform his friends including Krillin, Piccolo, Bulma, and Vegeta. Until the day of the tournament Gohan trains with younger brother Goten, and Vegeta trains with his son Trunks. Each discovered the young half-Saiyans held incredible power for suck a young age! Vegeta was more motivated than ever to have his opportunity to defeat Kakarot (Goku's Saiyan name) at the tournament and prove himself as the superior warrior. 

Goku arrives the morning of the tournament and is reminded he has 24hrs until he has to return. They all register at the check-in tables and Trunks and Goten are forced to compete in the juniors division due to their age. There's a few fun rounds of kids fighting, whining and crying, with erratic parents cheering them on from the stands. This game as many moments of comic relief and captures the spirit of the original Dragon Ball and DBZ very well! During the adult division of the tournament, mysterious fighters seem to know who Goku and his friends are and instruct Gohan to turn Super Saiyan. Two other shady characters tag team Gohan and use a device to capture his energy. The tournament is disrupted at this point with all the super-human like activities happening, and the fighter who instructed Gohan to turn Super Saiyan reveals himself to be a Kai. He explains that he must follow those men who stole Gohan's energy back to a ship that harbors a creature powerful enough to destroy the entire universe! Goku volunteers to come with and help, upsetting Vegeta because their match hadn't taken place at the tournament yet and Goku only has a limited amount of time to fight. Not wanting to allow Goku to find a way out of the challenge, Vegeta also volunteers to come along to "help" speed things up so they can get back to the tournament. Gohan regains consciousness and the Kai's friend, Kabito fills him in as they catch up to the group.

The Supreme Kai tells a tale of a Wizard named Bibidi who created a creature powerful enough to wipe out entire galaxies. The creature became defiant so Bibidi sealed him away in a magic ball that lays dormant underneath the Earth, and then Bibidi was destroyed. Now his son Babadi aims to release the creature and restore it to full power. That's what they wanted Gohan's energy for. They arrive at an alien spaceship in the Southern Forest where they encounter Babidi and the Demon Lord Dabora. Babidi retreats into the ship while Dabora spits on Krillin and Piccolo causing them to turn to stone! The Kai explains they must kill Dabora to restore their friends. Debora lures them into the ship and Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan are unphased whether it's a trap or not. They must rescue their friends! 

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