By Daniel Lamb
‘Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Dragon Ball Z! Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Come get me!’
Alright, so lyrically speaking it’s not exactly William Blake, but this was the theme song of a generation. It’s the year 2000, it’s 5:30pm, you’ve just come home from a long day at school learning about Vikings, and now you’re tuned into Cartoon Network. Of course, you are; you don’t want to miss the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball Z!
‘Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Dragon Ball Z! Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Come get me!’
Alright, so lyrically speaking it’s not exactly William Blake, but this was the theme song of a generation. It’s the year 2000, it’s 5:30pm, you’ve just come home from a long day at school learning about Vikings, and now you’re tuned into Cartoon Network. Of course, you are; you don’t want to miss the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout In 1984, Akira Toriyama created the single most influential and iconic shonen manga series of all time. Dragon Ball followed the adventures of a young monkey boy called Son Goku and his various escapades to find the seven mystical and titular 'Dragon Balls', which when collected together would summon the eternal dragon, Shelong (or Shenron in the English dub).
Along the way, Goku met a number of allies and enemies (and, in the case of Vegeta, both at the same time) as we saw him grow and develop from a naïve monkey child into a naïve monkey man. Taking a drastic sci-fi turn (resulting in the familiar ‘Z’ appendage) mid-way through its run, the franchise became astonishingly popular as both a manga and anime series. But chances are you don’t need me to summarise Dragon Ball Z for you. Chances are you’ve already got your favourite characters, scenes, sagas, moments, lines, and fights. And chances are you’ve played as these characters and recreated these moments in many a Dragon Ball Z video game. But there was a time when that wasn’t possible. As a kid I had to make do pretending to be Goku in the playground and going up against Freeza/Frieza in the form of my mate James. It could take up to one whole play time to charge a Spirit Bomb. And turning Super Saiyan meant rushing inside to the water fountain, sticking your hair up, and rushing back outside to recommence the fight. But I’d always longed to play a Dragon Ball video game and sometime after 1997, with the North American release of Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout for the PlayStation and with the magic of importation, I finally got my wish. (And I didn’t even need to collect the Dragon Balls.)
And… I was disappointed. The controls were fairly horrendous, some of the playable characters were unfamiliar (seeing as Dragon Ball GT was years away from airing in the UK), and even as a tiny child with all the youthful enthusiasm in the world, I knew that this was not what a Dragon Ball game should have been like.
Along the way, Goku met a number of allies and enemies (and, in the case of Vegeta, both at the same time) as we saw him grow and develop from a naïve monkey child into a naïve monkey man. Taking a drastic sci-fi turn (resulting in the familiar ‘Z’ appendage) mid-way through its run, the franchise became astonishingly popular as both a manga and anime series. But chances are you don’t need me to summarise Dragon Ball Z for you. Chances are you’ve already got your favourite characters, scenes, sagas, moments, lines, and fights. And chances are you’ve played as these characters and recreated these moments in many a Dragon Ball Z video game. But there was a time when that wasn’t possible. As a kid I had to make do pretending to be Goku in the playground and going up against Freeza/Frieza in the form of my mate James. It could take up to one whole play time to charge a Spirit Bomb. And turning Super Saiyan meant rushing inside to the water fountain, sticking your hair up, and rushing back outside to recommence the fight. But I’d always longed to play a Dragon Ball video game and sometime after 1997, with the North American release of Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout for the PlayStation and with the magic of importation, I finally got my wish. (And I didn’t even need to collect the Dragon Balls.)
And… I was disappointed. The controls were fairly horrendous, some of the playable characters were unfamiliar (seeing as Dragon Ball GT was years away from airing in the UK), and even as a tiny child with all the youthful enthusiasm in the world, I knew that this was not what a Dragon Ball game should have been like.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Then in 2002, I finally properly actually got my wish…sort of, nearly. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (its title taken from the Tenkaichi Budokai tournament from the series, roughly translating as ‘Strongest Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament’) was very nearly everything I could have hoped for. It allowed players to play through from the Saiyan Saga up to the Cell Saga, and even had a number of ‘What If?’ modes, veering away from the established story and exploring new and interesting territory. For instance, one such episode featured what would happen if Cell accidentally absorbed Krillin instead of Android 18. The answer is he would look even sillier and lose a hell of a lot of power. The gameplay vastly improved on Final Bout and the game featured an impressive cast of playable characters. There were a number of other modes such as World Tournament mode, in which the objective was to win the World’s Martial Arts Tournament, and The Legend of Mr. Satan, which was an arcade style mode in which characters could play as the ever deluded Mr. Satan (Hercule in the English dub). What it didn’t feature (if you happened to live in Europe) was a familiar voice cast.
The game was entirely in Japanese with accompanying subtitles, something which doesn’t bother me at all now, but which, as a kid, I found slightly alienating. This doesn’t take anything away from the gameplay though and I still look back on this game as the first example of a Dragon Ball Z game that felt like it captured the spirit of the show. Another thing this game didn’t feature was any trace of the Buu Saga. But not to worry, Budokai 2 would see to that.
The game was entirely in Japanese with accompanying subtitles, something which doesn’t bother me at all now, but which, as a kid, I found slightly alienating. This doesn’t take anything away from the gameplay though and I still look back on this game as the first example of a Dragon Ball Z game that felt like it captured the spirit of the show. Another thing this game didn’t feature was any trace of the Buu Saga. But not to worry, Budokai 2 would see to that.
Exploring the Dragon Universe Released a year later in 2003, Budokai 2 was an overall improvement on the first game. It featured sharper graphics, slicker gameplay and a more interesting and expansive story mode, opting to go down a board game inspired route. The cast of playable characters also increased. Another new feature was the ability to fuse two characters to create a new, more powerful entity, just like in the show. This included the option to create some character fusions that had not taken place on the show, such as Tiencha (Yamcha and Tien) and Gokule (Goku and Hercule). This was also the case with Majin Buu’s absorption technique, which allowed for some interesting character mixes. Speaking of Buu, another new mode was Babidi’s Spaceship, which could be unlocked only after playing through and completing the story mode. In this mode, the objective was to play through a number of special stages and build up enough Ki (energy) in order to release (and thus unlock) Majin Buu. Budokai 2 also featured the North American voice cast, which was a welcome inclusion for me personally as I was always a fan of the English Dub, even at its most ludicrous.
Budokai 3 followed a year later to greater critical acclaim. Many critics felt it did more to improve its gameplay. Its story mode was also praised, as it allowed players the freedom to roam the Dragon Universe, something which had been lacking in the previous two games. It also had greater replay value, as certain choices made by a player could affect the story in various subtle ways. The playable roster was once again expanded, this time including characters from Dragon Ball GT and the movies. There was even a rumour that Bulma was available as a playable character, but although a model of her was made and some lines were recorded by her voice actress, ultimately she didn’t end up in the game. A new battle ranking mode was also added, wherein the player had to defeat one hundred characters in a row in order to prove themselves as the number one fighter in the world.
Budokai 3 followed a year later to greater critical acclaim. Many critics felt it did more to improve its gameplay. Its story mode was also praised, as it allowed players the freedom to roam the Dragon Universe, something which had been lacking in the previous two games. It also had greater replay value, as certain choices made by a player could affect the story in various subtle ways. The playable roster was once again expanded, this time including characters from Dragon Ball GT and the movies. There was even a rumour that Bulma was available as a playable character, but although a model of her was made and some lines were recorded by her voice actress, ultimately she didn’t end up in the game. A new battle ranking mode was also added, wherein the player had to defeat one hundred characters in a row in order to prove themselves as the number one fighter in the world.
So, I got my wish. I had endless hours of fun playing against my friends in three solid Dragon Ball Z video games. If you could have gone back in time and somehow coloured me an intangible abstract concept, you could have coloured me content. Then, of course, there was Budokai Tenkaichi, and Burst Limit, and Raging Blast, and Battle of Z and countless other releases, all harkening back to the Budokai series and never quite feeling different enough. Now, with a new generation of consoles and a new Dragon Ball Z game set to be released next year, I can only hope that Dragon Ball Xenoverse goes back to the drawing board and makes things fresh again for Dragon Ball in gaming.
Come on Shenlong, do us a favour.
Come on Shenlong, do us a favour.
Kamehamehaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Dragon Ball Xenoverse will likely be released next year and will be the first Dragon Ball game on the next generation of consoles. The game will featured a customisable protagonist and feature classical gameplay, mixed with RPG elements, and feature an original storyline.
Are you excited about it? How would you approach a Dragon Ball game if you were a designer? Let us know in the comments below or via our Facebook/Twitter feeds. We'd love to hear from you!
Are you excited about it? How would you approach a Dragon Ball game if you were a designer? Let us know in the comments below or via our Facebook/Twitter feeds. We'd love to hear from you!
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