Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu

Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu is a fighting game that includes 15 characters, including Goku and Broly. Some can be selected by default to play with instantly while others can only be unlocked by winning fights. The selection of the roster represents a mix of villains and heroes throughout the history of Dragon Ball Z. Each character has his or her own arsenal of attacks (a projectile and three special attacks), and the power to transform into a more powerful form. All special attacks require a certain part of the super meter, which fills up while standing still and holding down buttons to charge up some energy. Fights are typically ground-based, though the players can take part in an optional "Sky Battle". The fighter on the ground can either accept the challenge or wait around few seconds for the challenger to return. The game consists of two game modes: One Player and Multiplayer, where One Player consists of events like endurance, sparring, time challenge and tournament and the Multiplayer allows linking with another GBA user. There is also a "Z-Store" where the earned in-game currency can be used to unlock music, images, and bonus modes and settings. ==Development and release==

Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu was developed by American studio Webfoot Technologies. By the early 2000s, the Dragon Ball Z anime series had been enjoying immense global popularity, particularly in the US. According to Webfoot president Dana Dominiak, the developer was instrumental in helping publisher Atari acquire the license for Dragon Ball games from English language distributor Funimation by submitting proposals and tech demos. Webfoot was first responsible for the successful The Legacy of Goku duology of action role-playing games on the GBA. When Atari requested a fighting game adaptation for the handheld, Webfoot provided the initial concept for Taiketsu and development began in late 2002. Dominiak, who was the producer on Taiketsu, said that while the team took small bits of inspiration from previous Dragon Ball Z fighting games, Taiketsu was built "from the ground up" and was specifically tailored for US fans "clamoring for an intense, 2-D, Street Fighter-style game featuring all their favorite characters.", his inclusion in Taiketsu was the latter game's selling point. Taiketsu was first unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2003 and was formally announced by Atari the following month. ==Reception==

}} Upon its release, Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu was met with "generally unfavorable" reviews from critics, with an aggregate score of 40% on Metacritic. Screen Rant observed that the game felt "unpolished", while giving signs that "no real effort or care went into its creation". Publisher Arari reported that Taiketsu was its sixth best-selling product for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2004. According to Next Generation, the game sold approximately 620,000 copies in the United States, earning $14 million by August 2006. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, it was the 45th highest-selling game launched for the GBA, Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable in that country. ==References==