The Terrible World of MGA Entertainment Dragon Ball Z LCD Handheld Games! (Review)
Here we go again, more DBZ merch released by MGA Entertainment.
No, you aren't high or having a dream, these are real games (happy 4/20). Disclaimer: I don't smoke, okay?
Previously (on Dragon Ball Z), I reviewed the obscure Battleship knockoff known as Battle Strategy Game - Frieza Saga Edition and a pinball game (Summon the Dragon Pinball) which re-uses sounds from a Windows pinball game called Space Cadet.
In this post, I'll be looking at some of the Dragon Ball Z LCD games released by this company that I own. This will be the last part of the "MGA Entertainment Saga", as I don't really care about some of the other DBZ merch that they released.
I love LCD handhelds. My first exposure to them was when I was at my granny's house and my cousin had these collection of SEGA LCD toys. You know, "SHADOW BASKETBALL". That one.
Confused? Well, it’s a meme from this terrible ad:
I definitely remember the Rouge and Amy Tennis game.
Someone out there actually emulated these games! I might cover each and every one of them in the future.
Besides that, the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Tiger LCD game, which Hasbro re-released years later. I didn't know what I was doing playing these games - just me mashing buttons, but I found the backgrounds so fascinating on them and the "gameplay" fun on these things.
Starting with...
Battle For Namek.
Possibly the first DBZ LCD handheld game by MGA since this one came out in 1999. It comes with a Goku figure so you can stick him up on the console, but I can see why some sellers who sell this don't include the figure. One, it's so easy to lose or possibly break, and two, who wants to play this thing with a figure on top? I feel as if it's either more distracting or covers up some of the artwork at the top. The packaging covers that hole where you place the figure at with a dragon ball. Honestly, I'd take the dragon ball over this.
I remember seeing this on eBay a while back and was like, "I didn't know this existed!". I didn't buy it until last year, new in the packaging and yes, it works! 26-27 year old game, new batteries. Still works. The seller who sold this item gave me a free Broly figure and a Gogeta keychain.
Here's the packaging, if you're curious:
Okay, I don't know why I provided you guys with the packaging when there's photos already out there of the game in its packaging. This game is actually pretty easy and common to find; I did see another version where the big button on the right lacks the one star and the button and shell colors are different:
Still the same game. I find the version I own better than the one without the one-star dragon ball.
This game, unlike the Tiger handhelds, does not have an on/off button. Instead, it auto shuts off.
Now, the gameplay. Remember that I said in my Summon the Dragon Pinball review that MGA likes to re-use sounds, gameplay, etc.?
I mentioned that this game is a re-skin of a couple of WWF (now called WWE) games. Same shell, same sounds, same dang gameplay. They made a couple of WWF handhelds based on these wrestlers:
- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
- The Rock
- Sable
- The Undertaker
- Mankind
- Kane
I might be missing some.
When I watched this video (around 11:15), I was shocked to learn about this game being a re-skin of those WWF games made by the same company. A series of them, by the way, sharing the exact same gameplay and sounds.
Oh, don't worry, there are more re-skins that I will bring up later in this post.
And here's another video of some gameplay:
Both didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know how to win.
I'll explain how to "win" at this game since this re-uses gameplay from the WWF handheld games.
So, there are dragon balls where Jeice and Ginyu are at. Once the first dragon ball spawns in the center where Jeice is at, you press the start/attack button, then press up. Then, when the dragon ball appears on the second row, far right where Ginyu is at, same thing. Press the start/attack button, then press up. Then you fight Frieza by mashing start/attack while avoiding him trying to kick you in the nuts (heh) and once he disappears, you press right and you win. And then you get points. And then the game loops, speeding up.
You could also make things faster by going backwards: defeat Frieza first, then get the dragon balls, and then go up and win.
That's it.
This YouTuber by the name of Lucky Penny Shop took forever figuring out what to do and I believe it took him minutes to finally figure out how to win level 1. Level 1, by the way. If you don't have the instructions to this game, well, tough luck.
I have a clean scan of the instructions since I bought the game in its original packaging! You can use these exact same instructions if you own one the WWF handhelds made by this company since it's the exact same game, just different skin. Hopefully, this helps.
Also want to point out that Jeice is misspelled as "Jiece" and Ginyu is "Ginya" despite them spelling Ginyu correctly earlier.
I would record footage of me playing this game... but someone has caught a good close-up of this game in action. Here's gameplay by Gordon Techno. Well, that saved me time.
And now, for the next game, Power Showdown, released in 2000.
*sigh* I wish I could play this. So badly too when it arrived, as the seller I bought it from claimed it worked. But, I put in new batteries and it wouldn't power on. I even tried cleaning the battery compartment and pressing the reset button. I would see the display temporarily turn on for 1 second and then turn off.
So, sadly, I cannot get this to work. But on the plus, I do have a Super Saiyan Goku figure. This game also comes with a Frieza figure but mines sadly lacks him. About the figures, as shown in the photo above, you can use them as a joystick. And yes, you can pop out the controllers. Pretty cool.
But my issue is, who want to play this with the figures as a joystick? Try not to even put your thumb on Goku's spiky hair. And the controllers... they feel small and probably not fun to play.
So, what this game does, well... it's a fighting game. The "gameplay", if you can picture it in your head and judge by the back of this game's packaging, reminded me of those terrible cheap handhelds a YouTuber by the name of Ashens reviewed. The most common game he kept encountering was this fighting game (commonly named City Fighter) and seeing the images on the back of the packaging reminded me of that game.
This video above, I had to pick because well, he mentioned the mouse controller.
"...except of course, it's got the rubbish controls on the back" (6:09). Heck, the size of the controller looks small, it reminded me of this game's controllers.
If you zoom in on Goku's sprite from this game on the back of the packaging and look very close enough, you can see that he doesn't have his symbol on the front. Instead, it looks like a little bean.
I want to bring up the controllers again, it vibrates every time you get hit! The LCD screen can pop-out and this game is one to two players.
While I sadly can't provide footage since mines does not work (but makes a good display piece!), someone on YouTube luckily has footage of the game. Also, video is in terrible quality since it's old.
And just in case it gets deleted, I'll archive it here:
So, a fun fact about this game. Yup, bringing up the re-skins again.
This is a reskinned WWF game. I found out about this game being a reskin via that same video I embedded earlier in this post and was also shocked by this being a copy/paste game (13:05).
Yep. "Gameplay".
I luckily have the instructions saved of this game since I bought it in its packaging, so feel free to use my scan. It also applies to that WWF game since it's a reskinned game. Hint: Look at the "TO WIN" section and notice how it mentions pinning. This is definitely a sign that this is a reskin of that WWF game. DBZ isn't about wrestling, it's about fighting and ki blasts. And shouting until you power up.
If I get this game working, then that may be in a separate post.
There's more, isn't there.
Yep. Two more.
And this time, they're both keychain games. And not just any regular, boring keychain game. They're playable dragon balls... with a screen that you can flip to make it look like a regular dragon ball to clip on your purse or bag (which I don't recommend cause what if the chain breaks and the game hits the ground?). Both were released in 2000.
These small keychain games remind me of something you would get in a happy meal, like the SEGA LCD handheld games. Playing these gives me that nostalgia.
There's one more I'm missing sadly and it's called "Final Showdown". I cannot find it anywhere, but if future me does find one, yes, I will cover it in a separate post.
According to the post, Captain Ginyu, Jeice, and Frieza are enemies in this game and you play as Piccolo. I'm not sure if the game is similar to Super Saiyan where there are two parts to the game. Looking at the buttons, this game shares the same MODE/ON button as the Super Saiyan game, meaning it auto shuts off. However, there is no mute button (similar to Fire Fight). I actually like the background on this one, as you can see the dragon balls at the bottom.
Lil' bonus and unrelated, but here's this cursed thing posted by the same guy:
Poor Janemba. I laughed so hard seeing this.
These keychain games are hard to find... first found out of its existence via GameFaqs. Not even joking.
I don't have packaging for the two I own, but here's someone else's packaging:
Now, back to the review. I am getting sidetracked.
Starting off with:
Super Saiyan. No, seriously, it's actually just called Super Saiyan.
There are four buttons that control Goku: JUMP, LEFT, RIGHT, and START/ACTION. The fourth button is pointless, as there is no label below it. Why would they make this a button when it does absolutely nothing?
The second part is where you must defeat Frieza as Super Saiyan Goku by pressing the start/action button to attack, and to avoid Frieza's attacks, you press jump. Jeice is also at the top and I assume you must avoid him as well or he's there to prevent you from jumping if you're under him. You can go left and right in this part, but if you want to take the risk, go all the way to the right and spam the start/action button when Frieza shows up in front of you. Be prepared to press the jump button when he attacks.
After that, game loops and speeds up. As the game speeds up the further you go, it gets way too difficult.
And finally, last but not least, Fire Fight.
This also has a password system, but I find it pointless and not sure how it works, as I don't have instructions for this thing. I see the exact same password: "SAN". Does it let me continue where I left off at whatever speed? Does it give me a cheat?
The music when you start the game and beat a level, I find decent. Sounds can get annoying, especially during the second part when you're attacking Frieza and dodging his attacks, but luckily there's a sound button. For some reason on mine (possibly due to age), sometimes the game would unmute or mute when I didn't even hit the button.
It does shut off after a while. If you have the sound on, it makes a tiny, "beep", letting you know it turned off.
And for the first time on the internet, here's gameplay.
Unlike the Super Saiyan game (and photos of the Final Showdown game), this one has no auto shutoff. And you can't mute it, either.
Imagine playing this in public. Imagine a quiet space. You get bored and open the dragon ball, curious about the game. You start the game and it makes the most annoying music, followed by beeps. People look at you and you feel embarrassment.
There are three buttons that control Goku: LEFT, RIGHT, and FIRE. The two buttons that don't have labels are unused. Again, what's the point of making those two stars buttons when they don't do anything? At least with the Final Showdown game, all five buttons are usable.
So, gameplay is simple. Move left and right, dodging Jeice and Frieza's blasts. To fire, you would press the "FIRE" button and you earn 10 points every time you land a hit. Captain Ginyu, well, he's just there and doesn't attack you.
What's up with MGA just using Jeice, Ginyu, and final form Frieza as enemies for these games?
No Vegeta? No Krillin? No Gohan???
Game is easy. I managed to get about 10,000 points in this and then got tired of playing it because my thumbs was hurting pressing the stars. Heck, during my gameplay off camera, the speaker sounded like it was dying and wanted to give up even though the batteries the seller put in are new. Every time you reach 1000 points, you get like this bonus round and you score extra points (50) for 30 seconds, with Jeice and Frieza moving and attacking faster. After that, your lives flash and the gameplay is back to normal.
Oh no. Don't say it.
I kept losing to the game and gave up.
Then, I saw gameplay of the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys LCD handheld made by MGA (at the time, I was binge watching the show), by the Gordon Techno guy. And then I heard the sounds.
Oh no...
When I got this game in the mail, I was excited. And then I started playing it and heard those sounds. And then I was disappointed.
Say it with me now: A COPY/PASTE RESKIN!
Yep, same gameplay and sounds as the two I mentioned above. This makes me worry about the Final Showdown and Super Saiyan games being a reskin of an existing MGA handheld based on a different IP with the same sounds and gameplay... *shudder*. The Super Saiyan keychain game at least feels original and I like it. The Final Showdown game also looks original (if you look at the third photo of the game, it has the exact same lives system + game over message as the SS game).
This one at least feels easier compared to those two. I don't own both Star Trek & Hercules: TLJ, but both of them look like they have enemies and stuff all over the place that it's easy to lose. The Star Trek one I find hard because there's no sound cue (in both this game and in the Hercules game, there's a sound cue letting you know that an attack is coming at you). Here, I can easily dodge Jeice and Frieza's attacks. There's also a game 2 option, which makes the game faster.
And for some of my gameplay:
And that concludes this review of some of the MGA DBZ electronic handheld games. So many reskins... are you're shocked that the last one isn't a reskin of a WWF/WWE game?
What a wild ride. I have one last MGA DBZ product... but that will be in a future short post; it won't be long like this one and my previous two reviews.
Man, I put so much effort with this one than the previous two. So much research, photo taking, video recording, and crazy finds for these reviews. If I had to pick a favorite review of mine, it would have to be the Battle Strategy game for sure, since one, it's a cool version of Battleship, and two, it needs to be documented online! Not enough info of that obscure game.
Thank you so much for reading this final part of the MGA DBZ saga. I hope you enjoyed these reviews like I did. I really enjoyed typing them.
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