Your First Dragon Ball Video Game

[MetaMoss]

I thought it might be a bit fun to go back and remember the first Dragon Ball video game you played/owned. Were you a fan at the time? Did the game increase your fandom all the more? Let's kick back and reminisce about some games. I'll start. My first game was this one:



DBZ: Buu's Fury for the Game Boy Advance! It was my dad who actually got it for himself as the game he got with his GBA SP, while I chose Fairly Odd Parents: Shadow Showdown. Needless to say, he had a better taste in games than I did at the time. He was kind enough to share, fortunately, and we both had a real great time with this game! For those who haven't played it, it's a top-down action RPG (like Secret of Mana for the SNES) that adapts the anime from the Afterlife Tournament all the way through the Majin Buu arc to the finale of DBZ. In the story, you can play as Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Vegeta, with Goten and Trunks able to fuse into Gotenks, Goku and Vegeta into Gogeta, and Vegetto available for one boss fight against Gohan-absorbed Buu. "Wait, when does Gogeta show up in the Buu arc?" you might ask. He does not, but Buu's Fury includes retellings of Movies 10 and 12 in its story, among other liberties taken. Nonetheless, it is a faithful adaption of the storyline into video game form (even though it rips its dialogue straight from the Funimation dub).

[Hellspawn28]

Dragon Ball Z Legends on the PS1 back in 2001.



I remember my neighbor had it on the PS1 and it was in Japanese. It was a very fun experience to play a DBZ game that was never release in the US as a kid and this was before Budokai 1 came out. The game blew me away as a 10 year old kid at the time.

[Lord Beerus]

Budokai 1 on the PS2 in 2002. Me and my best friend spent hours on the story mode. Good times.

[Ajay]

Good ol' Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout.



A horrendous game in every way, but little me was just excited to be able to play as characters I loved. Though at the time, I had no idea who many of them were having never seen GT.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Oh man, I'm definitely feeling the nostalgic memories flooding back just thinking about this topic. It's honestly kind of hard for me to remember for sure which one I played first, but I'm fairly sure it was the original Budokai for PS2.



I didn't have a PS2 of my own at the time, but one of my cousin's did, and he brought it down for me and my mom to borrow for a couple of days. I was already getting pretty into DBZ at the time, and he was a fan too, so when I saw he had Budokai, I instantly threw that in. And it. Was. AMAZING. Going back to the game now, it doesn't hold up that well compared to the memories, but at the time it put me in nirvana. The cut scenes, the actually playing as these characters, the feeling of such speed in the action (yeah...that...that's the part that doesn't really hold up ), it was mind-blowing.

...And then he left and took his PS2 with him, leaving me high and dry. The jerk! So I soon found the next best thing I could at the time, and bought/played Ultimate Battle 22 for PS for a good while.

Now, the reason I'm only 'fairly' certain Budokai was my first, is because I got a GBA for Christmas, as well as the first 'Legacy of Goku' game and the 'DBZ: Trading Card Game' for that system, in close enough to the same timeframe. So I can't recall for sure if I played Budokai before those two with 100% certainty. But I'm pretty sure the two console games came first for me.

[Super Saiyan Swagger]

Budokai 2. I had heard about the Dragon Ball series and I decided to purchase the game back in 2005. I played the crap out of it and still remember losing my shit when I lost to Kid Buu in the final stage. That stage was a paaaiiin to get through when I was a kid.

[Anime Kitten]

Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors on the Game Boy Advance.

Don't have the cover, but the cartridge is all I need. Still love that game despite the terrible character selection.

[sangofe]

DBZ UB 22 on ps1 was my first DBZ video game.

[Akira]

DragonBall Z: Ultimate Battle 22, Playstation 1 import, 1998. Was a fan of fansubs at the time, and had seen a few episodes of the Raditz fight on TV in english, and was glad some of my friends were finally getting into it, so I ordered this game from one of those mail order places that sold such titles at the time. Played it a ton, and shortly after, I ordered DBZ Legends, and played that too. Getting imports was a big deal back then, you had some "exotic" games that few others even knew existed.

[ShadowBardock89]

Oh man, I'm definitely feeling the nostalgic memories flooding back just thinking about this topic. It's honestly kind of hard for me to remember for sure which one I played first, but I'm fairly sure it was the original Budokai for PS2.



I didn't have a PS2 of my own at the time, but one of my cousin's did, and he brought it down for me and my mom to borrow for a couple of days. I was already getting pretty into DBZ at the time, and he was a fan too, so when I saw he had Budokai, I instantly threw that in. And it. Was. AMAZING. Going back to the game now, it doesn't hold up that well compared to the memories, but at the time it put me in nirvana. The cut scenes, the actually playing as these characters, the feeling of such speed in the action (yeah...that...that's the part that doesn't really hold up ), it was mind-blowing.

...And then he left and took his PS2 with him, leaving me high and dry. The jerk! So I soon found the next best thing I could at the time, and bought/played Ultimate Battle 22 for PS for a good while.

Now, the reason I'm only 'fairly' certain Budokai was my first, is because I got a GBA for Christmas, as well as the first 'Legacy of Goku' game and the 'DBZ: Trading Card Game' for that system, in close enough to the same timeframe. So I can't recall for sure if I played Budokai before those two with 100% certainty. But I'm pretty sure the two console games came first for me.

I'm with you, Kaliba. The PS2 version was the first DBZ game I played, but it was the Gamecube version that was the first I owned. My best friend had the PS2 version when it first came out.

[TekTheNinja]

I actually don't remember...

But what I do remember is I actually got in to Dragon Ball through the games. I'd seen the show beforehand, and while I liked it a bit I never knew what was going on. Eventually I got one of the games, and then decided to become crazy dedicated to the series.

[MetaMoss]

I actually don't remember...

But what I do remember is I actually got in to Dragon Ball through the games. I'd seen the show beforehand, and while I liked it a bit I never knew what was going on. Eventually I got one of the games, and then decided to become crazy dedicated to the series.

Is there any of the games in particular that you have fond memories of playing?

[Kokos]

Ultimate Battle 22, just like some other people here!

Were you a fan at the time? Did the game increase your fandom all the more? Let's kick back and reminisce about some games.

I was a fan back then, watched the cartoon as a kid. This game came in the picture when the Cell Saga was airing, my brother got it for his birthday who obviously also liked the show back then, so I got to play it too!
This game increasing my fandom? Not at all! It didn't have any impact. The games, while I usually quite like them, don't really elevate the franchise as a whole for me, but it's not like I'm looking for that. The ones that came close, was the original Tenkaichi trilogy. Many people disliked the first one, but I loved it back then, 10 years ago. "The fighting was so much like the show, it looks great, so many characters, such a complete story mode!" was what I constantly thought It was a real eye opener. Of course I was incredibly hyped by Tenkaichi 2 and Tenkaichi 3, the waiting for release was really hard to contain sometimes because the games always delivered! Such fun times!

Back to UB22: although I did enjoy it back then for what it was, the controls and commands really frustrated me even as an uncritical kid! I remember trying so hard to nail down how to do energy attacks and I finally nailed them at one point. My brother was taking a nap and I showed him, he was like "OMG so the player can actually use energy attacks too?! How did you do that?!" Game became much more fun this way of course, even though the energy attacks looked horrible I still couldn't figure how to do the energy attacks that were hidden in the manual though, like Recoome's Ultra Fighting Bomber or Vegeta's kicks + ki blasts combo.

Now that I look back, it wasn't a good game at all But it wasn't hopeless, I don't think the sprites are ugly (the environments on the other hand...) and the game had a great character roster for its time! Also had build up mode, which I didn't enjoy or care for, but it's pretty unique. The soundtrack is quite catchy too! I listen to it every once in a while when I play Tenkaichi or Raging Blast.
Could be better as a first game I guess Like Legends, Butouden or Hyper Dimension. But it didn't dissuade me, so that's good.

[Chelentano]

Mine would be this one. It wasn't officialy released here in Spain I think, but my dad got to get a french copy in a journey.

[Raditz]

Another spaniard!

I think my first DB game was one of the Super Butōden for the SNES.

[TekTheNinja]

I actually don't remember...

But what I do remember is I actually got in to Dragon Ball through the games. I'd seen the show beforehand, and while I liked it a bit I never knew what was going on. Eventually I got one of the games, and then decided to become crazy dedicated to the series.

Is there any of the games in particular that you have fond memories of playing?

The Tenkaichi series. I get that Budokai is a better series mechanically, But I always thought Tenkaichi's style felt more like you were in the world of Dragon Ball. I'd played others before it though, i'm sure.

[NitroEX]

I can't remember if it was Dragonball Final Bout or Ultimate Battle 22, they both arrived on store shelves around the same time and I remember playing both quite often.

[ryou766]

Final Bout for the PS1 was my first game, but I have faint memories of the time when I first played. Horrible game.

Then the Budokai franchise came along, and I instantly fell in love.

[Xeztin]

Mine was Budokai 1. My cousin had it and Goku vs Freeza seemed like it was really hard!

[ErikB]

Super Butouden 2 by way of emulator. At the time, I was only tenuously familiar with the franchise, mostly the '95 dub of Dragon Ball, but Dragon Ball Z was airing (I just had yet to get into it). That game introduced me to Super Saiyans and to emulation.
I remember my brother and I getting so proficient at punching in the secret character code that we would often make Broly interrupt himself saying, "Kakarotto". ("Kakar--Kaka--Kakarott--Kakar--Kakarotto")