Your First Dragon Ball Video Game

[VegettoEX]

This is REALLY tough for me to pin down.

I knew about Dragon Power from reading Nintendo Power (it has a preview in the magazine's very first issue), and I rented games like a madman as a kid, so there's a very good chance I could have rented it. I have no recollection of actually renting it, though, so there's no way for me to know for sure.

So if we ignore that, we get to...

Well, maybe Final Bout in late 1997...? But early emulators were already on the scene by that point (Nesticle in particular), so it's possible I would have loaded something up somewhere. I didn't have my own computer until December 1997, so if I did emulate anything, it would have been at a friends' house.

This means that the only one I can 100% for sure say I played at the earliest point would have been with Final Bout's domestic release in late 1997. We all knew it was an awful game, but eh.

[Luso Saiyan]

Made a thread like this a couple of years ago, so I'll just repost what said there:

My first DB game was Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden for the Sega Mega Drive. Unfortunately it was only in japanese, so it was hard to navigate the menus, but it had great gameplay and a nice character roster to choose from:

[Chelentano]

Made a thread like this a couple of years ago, so I'll just repost what said there:

My first DB game was Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden for the Sega Mega Drive. Unfortunately it was only in japanese, so it was hard to navigate the menus, but it had great gameplay and a nice character roster to choose from:

Great game. That was my first too, but I had the French version "L'appel du destin".

[Marugoto]

First DB game I ever played was Ultimate Battle 22. A friend of mine had a bootleg copy. I only played it a bit. It was okay. Not as bad as most people say. But the first game I ever owned was:



Aaaand it was a turn based card game Never managed to beat Butta and Jheese. I was done with it pretty quickly. The game does seem to have a cult following. It just wasn't my thing.

On a side note. I used to have a giant poster of this kickass cover art (With kid Boo NOT shadowed out). But I threw it away when I was 16. I still hate myself for that.

[DBZAOTA482]

http://www.myfavoritegames.com/dragonba ... nament.htm This tournament game??

Yeah, that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCo5fGqSmZ0

[Kunzait_83]

This means that the only one I can 100% for sure say I played at the earliest point would have been with Final Bout's domestic release in late 1997. We all knew it was an awful game, but eh.

Awful indeed. Downright unplayable even. But that incredible, gorgeous soundtrack made it worth its existence.

The Super/Shin Butouden and Final Bout soundtracks have always in my mind been the "unofficial backup score" for the series, and the only music that legitimately holds a candle to Kikuchi in terms of just thoroughly embodying Dragon Ball in musical form.

Anyways, I'm now trying to remember whether I first came across Gekitou/Barcode Battler or Super Saiya Densetsu. I wanna say it might've been Gekitou: I first saw it in either an EGM or some European import magazine. Super Saiya Densetsu I came across in a Nintendo Power Pakwatch of all places.

Super Butouden I'd simply ordered from the EGM back catelogue, like I did most every other Japanese game I imported back then. A hot mess of a game now, but WAY ahead of its time and super interesting and original as all hell back then. The sequels more than improved upon its ideas with far better polished execution and still hold up. A rocky start to an otherwise generally awesome series that I still dearly love.

And Dragon Power... heh, well I know I'd definitely seen it in NP and probably one or two other mags, and I think I even came across it physically on an actual store shelf (that box art is certainly fuck-ugly enough to stick in one's mind for all the wrong reasons), but I don't think I'd ended up actually playing it back then. Sure don't remember it anyway.

I certainly don't think I knew right away that it was a re-skinned DB game, but I'd certainly find that out just a few years later. I'd instead wound up just straight up emulating Mystery of Shen Long directly some time later in the early emulation days (alongside the original Hokuto no Ken Famicom game: the original-original, not the sequel we randomly got in the U.S. - that I actually played on cartridge back when it first came out). Probably with NESticle.

[Dr. Casey]

Super Saiya Densetsu (the first SNES RPG)

What did you think of it? (Assuming you eventually went on to play it) Super Saiya Densetsu was the first Dragon Ball game I played, and I think might have been my introduction to Dragon Ball period - I remember being kind of confused and not having any idea who Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, or anyone else were. All of my early anime forays came from me looking into the source material of Super Nintendo RPGs I liked, the others being Slayers, Ranma, and Magic Knight Rayearth. The main things I remember about the game are the fact that Yamcha, Chaozu and Tenshinhan can all live to see Namek, which is a really cool addition, and the fact that - at least to my recollection - the game was absurdly difficult. "How the hell is anyone supposed to beat this game without savestates?" was something I thought many a time.

[Kunzait_83]

Super Saiya Densetsu (the first SNES RPG)

What did you think of it? (Assuming you eventually went on to play it) Super Saiya Densetsu was the first Dragon Ball game I played, and I think might have been my introduction to Dragon Ball period - I remember being kind of confused and not having any idea who Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, or anyone else were. All of my early anime forays came from me looking into the source material of Super Nintendo RPGs I liked, the others being Slayers, Ranma, and Magic Knight Rayearth. The main things I remember about the game are the fact that Yamcha, Chaozu and Tenshinhan can all live to see Namek, which is a really cool addition, and the fact that - at least to my recollection - the game was absurdly difficult. "How the hell is anyone supposed to beat this game without savestates?" was something I thought many a time.

I love the game and find it to be easily the very best of all the "card battler" RPGs (which made up virtually the entirety of the NES' Dragon Ball library, with only a couple of exceptions). The little optional story changes you can make (like as you said, having most of the humans be able to make it to Namek) add a ton of replay value. Plus who doesn't love that SSJ Vegeta on Namek easter egg hidden near the very end? Some of the later NES card-based RPGs are still really damn good (I'm thinking especially of the Jinzoningen and Plan to Eradicate the Saiya-jin ones), but Super Saiya Densetsu was still easily a cut above for its overall depth and polish.

Again it wasn't the first DBZ game that I PLAYED, but I'd definitely seen and heard of it before the one I would end up first playing (Super Butouden) and would eventually get my hands on it not too great a deal long after. Again, Nintendo Power was such a weirdly random place to stumble across it since NP, unlike EGM or Diehard GameFan, was hardly known back then for its stellar coverage of Japanese exclusives and imports (one of many factors that I never cared for about the mag).

With Rayearth, I more remember the Sega Saturn game than the SNES one. A definite gem that. And as nifty as the RPG was, Ranma was definitely more all about the fighting games (Chougi Ranbuhen in particular for the win). Didn't play the Slayers one an especially great deal, so nothing about it is sticking out in my noggin at the moment.

[MetaMoss]

I'm pleasantly surprised with all the responses here. We've got folks who've been at it since the 8 and 16-bit eras, all the way to those who've picked it up in the HD era. It's great to see the longevity of it all.

Kunzait, after reading all you wrote, I now have the distinct desire to just talk with you about Dragon Ball fandom for hours on end, especially on the early 90's stuff. I mean, you were already a fan for years by the time I was even born (and a fan in North America, at that), and you're still interested in it after all this time!

[donkeyjack]

I wish games like Kyoushuu Saiyajin, Genkshin Freeza, Jinzoningan and Plan to Eliminate the Saiyans were remade for the 3DS. I hate the DB RPG since 2005.

[Spenzer]

The first Budokai game, I was ADDICTED! I remember the stress and frustration from the fight against Android 19

[Darknat]

The first Dragon Ball game I played was Shenron no Nazo at a friend's. I don't know if it was the japanese one or the Dragon Power one, I just remember my friend showing it to me, I played a bit and I didn't like it. That was on 1990 or 1991.

After that, I played Super Butoden 1 & 2 at another friend's home (he rented them with some tool that let him play japanese games), I rented Final Bout, and then I emulated a lot of old games.

The first game I bought was Tenkaichi 2 when it came out.

[desu]

Well, it's hard for me to remember, but I think it was Dragon Ball Z: Super Warriors 2
I remember downloading games of things I liked for my DS and I started to watch DBZ. My first console was the DS, so most probably that's the first DB game i ever played. Sadly through, the game I really wanted to play was Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and I couldn't get it until 2011. However I remember my first Dragon Ball (Original) game was Revenge of King Piccolo, I could choose 1 game for free with the Wii Mario Special edition and since it was Dragon Ball, I chose that game . It was a fun game, but it would have been better if it covered all Dragon Ball, including the Piccolo Jr. Saga

[MCDaveG]

DBZ Supersonic Warriors on Game Boy Color. Loved that gameplay, as it was soooo sloooow, like the actual show. I loved how you were charging your ki for a whole turn and could've change your position on ground or sky.
It was pretty strategic and I loved the stylization back then
It was a game that had that tv show spirit for a long time before Sparking came out.

[dbs fanboy]

Dragon ball z budokai 3, i freaking love that game .

[iiMajinVegitoii]

Budokai 2. My best friend sold it to me along with his PS2 back in '05 at a yard sale. Good times, may Gotenks vs. Vegito never happen again

[emperior]

Can't remember if it was Final Bout or Ultimate Battle 22

I didn't like those games. I was a little kid though at the time and I wasn't even good at them.
First DBZ game I really played a lot was Budokai 1 and then the GBA games. I even had the card game one but I was really bad at it ahah!
I used to buy every single DBZ game that got released on PS1, PS2 and GBA. Never played Super DBZ or Infinite World though.
I was a huge fan of the Legacy of Goku games, got so many memories of those games.

[TL18]

I can't really remember which one was my first but I'm thinking it was Budokai 1. I distinctly remember Radtiz's death scene and how hard it was for me to actually beat that part but that's all I could really remember. So, I'd say Tenkaichi 3 was the game I consider my first. At the time, I had watched a couple of episodes but wasn't too big on it.
I also remember not caring DB games either until my cousins came in from Mexico. From there they talked about DBZ a lot and they got me into it. So because of them I got BT3, and because they were around I had so much fun playing against them. BT3 and my cousins got me into Dragon Ball and I'm so into it now that they come to me if they have questions about anything Dragon Ball related.
BT3 will always have a special place in my heart And sorry if I rambled too much.

[dodonpa]

Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden was the first DB game I had in home, but before of that I think I played the first arcade game made by Banpresto.

[SuperSaiyanBatman]

Well...

...it was one of those Tiger Electronic games, if you've ever seen the AVGN's video on those, yeah. I got it and well, it filled enough time for me when I went places when I was like, 6 years old (?) and the Freeza stuff was still on TV as I remember. The first real video game I remember getting and going through was Legacy of Goku 1, which is horrifically slow to this day but the webfoot RPG stuff got better with each game, still have fond memories of them. Then Budokai Tenkaichi happened and yeah. I'm not a video game guy and I'm not as up to date on this stuff now but.