Many years ago, on the slopes of a mountain range thousands of kilometers from anywhere began a fantastic story. Son Goku , a cheerful boy with a monkey tail and an enormous talent for martial arts, decided to accompany an intrepid adventurer around the world.
The objective of our young hero: to find the dragon balls, magical spheres capable of fulfilling any wish. And, in the process, his greatest wish: to become even stronger. That was the beginning of a great friendship that will lead to crazy situations, hilarious combats and, much later, in tremendous battles across the cosmos.
Which reminds us that every legend has an origin, and the very prolific joint legacy between Dragon Ball and Bandai takes us back to 1986 with an exceptional Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon . Although, as you have surely deduced, that was not its original title. What’s more, the title with which he landed in the West had nothing to do with Akira Toriyama’s work.
Released under the name Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo in Japan back in 1986, Le secret du dragon marked the debut of Son Goku and his friends on the Famicom, Nintendo’s 8-bit system equivalent to the NES. It was not the first video game based on the well-known manganime, but, definitely, it was the first great adventure on consoles of the boy with the monkey tail.
An adventure that combined different gameplay alternating the route in Top-Down scenarios with combats and side- scrolling platform challenges. And, despite the enormous limitations of the time and its enormous creative licenses, a sensational conversion of the original work through its most subtle details.
Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon: a great adventure full of emotion
When Bandai published Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo he was fully aware that he was adapting a hit to video games. And that, in itself, is a responsibility to the millions of Son Goku fans and Shonen JUMP readers throughout Japan. What Bandai did not know is the enormous legacy that will be born from that first adventure.
To be fair, Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon is an adaptation closer to anime than manga with notable plot licenses. But his biggest milestone then and now is still the way of transmitting Toriyama’s humor and little Goku’s adventurous spirit. Of course, with the limitations of the 8 bits of Nintendo.
In the plot, the game takes us directly -and without preludes- to the moment in which Goku and Bulma met on Mount Paozu and, from there, the original search for the dragon balls is completed with small licenses.
From there, the argument of the video game itself takes its own course to introduce the player in an original way the Great Martial Arts Tournament , the incursion of the little fighter in an alternative version of the Muscle Tower and even take us to the Moon. That satellite that, by the way, Toriyama tends to destroy with some regularity in the Dragon World.
And how do you defend Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon command in hand? To start with, here we leave you no less than 20 minutes of play with the initial bars of Goku’s nintendera adventure.
From the start, Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon does not invent too much: through Son Goku we will explore scenarios created in Top Down mixing elements of marked action and subtle exploration dyes. And, in the process, promoting that we clear the screen of enemies whose appearance is more humorous than threatening . Exquisitely inspired by the characters from the first chapters of the manga.
And while there are no dungeons in Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon , exploring interior environments carries a special weight. An aspect that is reinforced with blatantly inspired combat from Konami’s Yie Ar Kung-Fu and platform areas conveniently distributed throughout the game.
As expected, the dragon balls, the spheres on which the anime revolved in its initial bars, also have a presence in the game, so that when you collect them by completing chapters 6 and 14 of the game we can choose between four rewards . Multiplying the replayability with a kind of New Game + or placing a little emphasis on the humorous tone of the proposal.
Of course, Bandai watered the stages of Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon with manga-inspired Power Ups. An interesting way to integrate the magic staff or allow us to execute the Kamehamehas in the game, but also to be faithful to the character: the timer reflects Goku’s hunger, so it is convenient for us that the little saiyan does not go hungry.
Very special mention to the combats and the integration of the Great Martial Arts Tournament. Although the way of presenting the competition is very different, we will be given the opportunity to participate in a great fighting event in which we will face well-known characters, including friends and enemies drawn from practically any moment in the manga.
And, although the combat system has not aged well, it is worth remembering that when Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon was published, not even the original Street Fighter existed. Another experience of struggle that today is dire, all is said.
Despite its weaknesses and limitations, most of them the fruit of its time, Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon was an exceptional conversion of Dragon Ball to video games. Perhaps not as successful as that mythical Captain Tsubasa from NES, but he knew how to penetrate the fans on his own merits and through a series of details that make him even more special.
Seven exceptional curiosities of Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon and a tip
At first glance, Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon might seem like an ordinary game for Nintendo’s 8-bit systems. In reality, and despite its limitations, it is a key piece in the long history of Goku in video games. And, for sample, these seven details. One for each dragon ball.
Don’t call it Dragon Ball: call it Dragon Power
The good commercial performance of Dragon Ball in the Japanese Famicom made Bandai and Nintendo consider taking it to the West. However, there was a serious problem: no one knew Goku and his friends beyond Japan and Asia.
As was relatively common, it was decided to locate all the content and modify the sprites and the plot so as to not deal with licenses that would not have been an incentive among the players either. So Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon came to the United States as Dragon Power.
As an added curiosity, elements such as Master Roshi’s perversion and his fetish for feminine lingerie were softened , so that instead of being obsessed with panties, he was a glutton who lost his mind over sandwiches . Well played, Nintendo.
The first Dragon Ball game released on the old continent
The strong outbreak of the Dragon Ball phenomenon in France achieved the unthinkable: Bandai published and translated into French Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon for the Gallic territory in 1990, being a double milestone: in addition to being one of the first NES cartridges in read in French, it was the first Dragon Ball game published in the old continent.
And not only that, in 1993 Bandai itself repeated the move in Spain by publishing itself on the NES in Spanish territory. And, although we were behind our French friends, we were privileged: in addition to the NES game, Spanish SNES and Mega Drive players were able to enjoy the Super Butoden saga during the first half of the 90s.
¡Shenron, concede mideseo!
As we discussed, completing chapters 6 and 14 of the game meant obtaining all seven Dragon Balls and, by extension, receiving a wish from the Sacred Dragon Shenron. In the case of Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon we could choose between:
Chapter 6
- Let the title of the game move : a not very attractive reward: when we go to the main menu we will see how the dragon in the title moves.
- Travel to the Future – A true shortcut where Goku travels to Chapter 11 and skips the entire Martial Arts tournament.
- Be stronger : our health counter goes from 150 to 250. Not bad.
- Panties : we will see again the scene in which Master Roshi is surrounded by panties. A direct nod to the manga.
Chapter 14
- Move the title of the game : the same reward as in chapter 6: we will see how Shenron moves in the main menu of the game.
- Travel to the past : it could be said that it is actually a New Game +: Goku returns to the first chapter preserving all the progress.
- Panties : The game shows the scene of Roshi’s panties again. Or the Sandwiches if you play Dragon Power.
- Make Puf-Puf : very much in the same vein as the previous one, we will see a scene in which the excessive perversion of Son Goku’s teacher is once again evident.
Akira Toriyama participated in the design of the game
It is increasingly common to see contributions from Akira Toriyama in Dragon Ball video games. In fact, he already lent his brushes in Le secret du dragon through the design of several of his enemies.
That robot sounds familiar to me
It was common in NES games that many of the enemies were – basically – a color variant of the same sprite. However, in little Goku’s first great adventure some of them were really original. Even Tori-bot’s scoundrel, Toriyama’s alter ego, was in Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon.
How to beat the monster of the Muscle tower?
Do you remember Buyon? That huge monster that lived in the Muscle Tower was invincible to Goku’s attacks in the manga, in the anime and, also, in the video game.
In fact, to beat him in Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon the process is basically the same as in Toriyama’s work: we must break the wall and wait for it to freeze to give it the touch of grace.
Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon: Plots not so new, but created to measure
Bandai was relatively faithful to Toriyama’s original work during the first half of the game, but the second stage of Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon is a compendium of loose elements inspired by the manganime tied to a plot created for the occasion.
A different way of inviting us to climb the Muscle Tower, participate in the Great Martial Arts tournament and even enjoy a small original adventure.
Extra Ball: Son Goku is going to the moon !!
It is quite likely that if you have come this far you know the collateral effects of the child with the monkey tail seeing the Moon: as if he were a werewolf, Son Goku transforms into a colossal monkey the size of a building with colossal power. Le secret du dragon , however, there is a Chapter in which our hero travels to the moon.
A blunder? Not quite. It is about the expansion of a story in which we will ultimately have to face the Rabbit Chief. And it is worth remembering that in the manga and the anime it was Goku himself who left him there as a punishment. Those were good times and Toriyama took humor very seriously.
Le secret du dragon, the first great adventure of little Son Goku in video games
The first video game based on the adventures of Son Goku was Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyō , it was released at the end of September 1986 on Super Cassette Vision and provides just and necessary from the original work. Beyond the manga designs, basically, we will have to fly over levels with the kinton cloud fighting with the staff.
Le secret du dragon arrived at the Japanese Famicom just a few months later, and despite all its licenses, which were not few, it managed to reflect the spirit of the first antics of little Son Goku and that lighthearted tone so characteristic of master Toriyama.
A great game? Well, it might not be exceptional, but it did achieve something not so common among manga and anime-based video games: being a good adaptation.
The first great Dragon Ball game of many that will come later: after Le secret du dragon came role-playing experiences, original adventures, recreational with a thousand different experiences and, with Dragon Ball Z being broadcast on television, a very generous succession of fighting games that were in keeping with the explosiveness of the anime.
In return, Dragon Ball video games gradually lost what captivated us about the adventures of little Son Goku: the youthful spirit and irreverent humor in which there is always room for the politically incorrect. Especially when seen through the eyes of a cheerful young fighter with a pure heart.
It would be unfair to say that the legacy of Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon was lost when the Saiyans began to fly and change the color of their hair. From time to time Bandai has taken up the spirit of the first chapters of the manga through exceptional video games such as Dragon Ball Advance Adventure or Dragon Ball Return of King Piccolo.
In fact, the sweetest extra in the sequel to Dragon Ball Origins, the sensational Nintendo DS adaptations of the adventures of little Goku and his friends, is a digital copy of Dragon Ball: Le secret du dragon itself. An extra that, unfortunately, was exclusive to the Japanese versions.
And, at the same time, a reflection of how far Son Goku has come. As a fighter, of course, but also as an international hero and ambassador of the manganime. And, of course, as a video game superstar.
