Dragon Ball Z fans don't seem to care that much about quality. The last few DBZ fighting games on console and Game Boy Advance have been less than stellar to say the least. Yet, fans of the mega-hit Cartoon Network anime series have purchased them in droves. Now, Atari and Banpresto have joined forces to finally give DBZ fans a title they can enjoy beyond the license; Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors for the GBA.

On the surface, Supersonic Warriors is your standard GBA fighting game. Thirteen characters (many of them hidden from the start) can battle it out in up to 3-on-3 battles (in team or singles play). Each character has a weak and strong attack, and can perform special moves using various combinations of the L, R, A, and B buttons. The Dragon Ball Z license adds a Story Mode that follows the anime closely, and even offers new story twists depending on which character you choose. However, this is about the extent of similarities Supersonic Warriors shares with other GBA fighting games, and DBZ games in general.

Unlike other Dragon Ball Z fighting games, Supersonic Warriors actually has some gameplay depth to it. A quick tour of the Training Mode tutorial teaches you all of the fighting tactics available in the game. As Gohan, players will be trained by Piccolo (just like in the anime), as he covers all of the basics and advanced techniques that can be used during battles.

Everything from flying, to super attacks, to an array of energy blasts can be used. In addition, advanced tactics such as the Battle Gauge, Z Combos, Z Combo Finishers, and Instant Transfers add a great deal of depth to the standard fighting game formula.

The Battle Gauge is a bar at the top of the screen between each character's life bar. A small circle will start in the center of the bar and move toward one side or the other. Blocking an attack will move the circle closer to your side of the bar. Once the circle is completely on your side, you will not be able to block until it returns to the center of the Battle Gauge (which can take a decent amount of time). During this period, players will have the ability to pummel their foe with any series of attacks they wish. Advanced players will even be able to make use of the Z Combo Finishers.

Your basic Z Combo is simply put, the number of attacks you can string together. Once your opponent's Battle Gauge has been depleted, any series of attacks (no matter how unlinkable they may seem) will chain together to form a Z Combo. It may sound simple, but that's where the Z Combo Finishers come into play. At the exact moment the Battle Gauge returns to its normal position, if you execute a strong attack, your character will perform a Z Combo Finisher. Fans of the anime should already be familiar with these attacks, as they blast your opponent across the screen and into a nearby rock, boulder, or mountain (complete with a special cut scene). These attacks do considerable damage, but they will require a decent amount of practice to perfect.

Instant Transfers can occur in any team battle. When you have two or three characters on your team, simply press the L button together with a direction on the d-pad and your partner will appear in that direction. This tactic is best used to surprise your opponent from behind or above, or when your current character is running low on energy.

Of course, no DBZ game would be complete without a bevy of energy blasts to toss at your opponent. By holding down the R button, your character will power themselves up until they reach 100% full power. While holding the R button, simply press B for a quick energy blast, or A for a slower, more powerful blast. You can even press all three buttons for a super attack (think Kamehameha for Goku and Gohan).

The feeling you get when you combine all of these tactics during a battle is very reminiscent of watching the anime. As your characters fly back and forth throwing energy balls at each other, powering up and unleashing a barrage of attacks, you really get the feeling you're actually playing through a battle in the anime. If that weren't enough, almost all of your favorite transformations are included in the game.

As you progress through the various modes of play, you'll earn points. Players can use these points to unlock hidden characters, or power up the existing characters. Some of the power-ups include multiple Super Saiyan upgrades for all of the Saiyan characters, an extended Story Mode and more. Unfortunately, it will take a great deal of time to earn enough points to unlock everything, and non-DBZ fans will likely get bored of the title unless they have a second player to link up with for versus battles.

After spending a good deal of time with Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors it has become quite apparent that this is hands down the best DBZ fighting game released in the last few years on console or GBA. Now, for the average fighting game fan, that's still not saying much unfortunately. However, for a Game Boy Advance title, Supersonic Warriors offers everything a DBZ fan could want in a fighting game, and enough depth to keep non-fans interested for a decent amount of time. It's not perfect, but we'll take it over the other DBZ options any day of the week.