Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is going to do something incredible and seemingly have the entire Daima anime as DLC. With characters, areas, and fighting moves coming from the anime, it’s almost shocking that this isn’t an entirely different game, given all of the changes coming.
Now that Kakarot is seemingly ending its DLC, we think it would be great if the original Dragon Ball got a lengthy video game treatment. Similar to how the original Naruto needs a game that details his younger adventures, the antics of young Goku are ignored by modern games.
The last time we saw OG Dragon Ball in a video game was Kakarot. During the 23rd World Tournament DLC, players briefly control young Goku during his climactic battle against King Piccolo. It was a pleasant surprise, as many assumed this DLC would only cover Teen/Adult Goku’s battles in this arc.
After that, we haven’t seen any game cover Goku’s original adventures as a kid, and that’s disappointing.
We have games on the DS, GBA, and Wii covering bits of the original Dragon Ball, but those are outdated consoles that people rarely use. Sure, there are retro systems people can buy to give them a shot, but mostly, this historic part of the franchise is largely ignored. That’s a shame, because the original saga is some of the funniest and most charming shonen ever produced.
Considering how most fans only know Dragon Ball as a show filled with beam struggles, screaming, and fighting, we think a game of the original saga would change things. Sure, there’s still plenty of fighting, but that’s all mixed in with plenty of funny gags and beautiful set pieces. There are probably some Bulma-related jokes that these games won’t be able to cover, but they can always get over that in creative ways.
Using this saga would also give some of the side characters more depth, assuming this game gives it to them. We can finally see why Krillin is such a good friend to Goku, or how Yamcha first fell for Bulma. There’s also how Tien started the trend of Goku befriending his enemies, as they had a pretty brilliant fight in the anime and manga.
click to enlargeBeyond character, the focus on a younger Goku could also lead to less button-mashy gameplay. Granted, we at Gfinity love mashing our buttons, but the colorful settings of OG Dragon Ball can lead to platforming and flying challenges, among other things. Of course, fighting would still be the main attraction, but a bit of variety would make it distinct from Dragon Ball Z.
Please give the original Dragon Ball a game worthy of Akira Toriyama. At the least, we’d take a re-release of Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Features and Dragon Ball page.