Between March and June 1991 , Dragon Ball fans across Japan were petrified: on a remote planet about to explode, Son Goku, the protagonist of Akira Toriyama’s work, was left at the mercy of inordinate anger. The fate of the galaxy and the legacy of his warrior race were in his fists. In his eyes, a feeling of revenge without limit.
Facing the saiyan, the mighty Freeza . The most evil being that Goku will meet in his life. But what really had half Japan on its feet was not that cold and cruel enemy, but the reason why the hero’s hair now looked golden: Goku had become the legendary Super Saiyan .
The climax of the Battle of Namek is one of the most exciting, iconic moments in Dragon Ball . The awakening of the glorious and legendary power in Goku will remain in the retina of millions of fans. Readers, anime viewers and, through Bandai and Banpresto, countless video game enthusiasts.
The climax of the Namek battle is one of the top moments of Toriyama’s work
It took years for that amazing fight that moved Japanese fans to be experienced in the West. The glorious awakening of the Super Saiyan began to be experienced on a global scale, not only through a manga and an anime that reaches new countries in a staggered way, but through video games.
In video games, beyond the NES, the Battle of Namek exploded and reached its decisive moment in 1993. And if Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden blew our minds on SNES, Banpresto’s Dragon Ball Z did the same in the recreational rooms. A fighting game that, on paper, could seem to follow in the wake of Street Fighter II in many respects.
However, as you can see just below, that spectacular arcade that was even distributed in Spanish territory has more points in common with the much more recent Dragon Ball FighterZ than with Capcom’s timeless classic.
Designed on the Sega System 32 and jointly developed by Cobra Team and Magical Formation, the Dragon Ball Z arcade game was the first major attempt at offering an arcade fighting experience based on the anime of the same name. An experience with enough of his own ideas not to be considered a substitute for Street Fighter starring Goku, Gohan, Piccolo or Vegeta.
And although the passage of time is evident in its finishes, many of its ideas and premises will constitute a very solid base on which Bandai itself will later build great Dragon Ball games like DBZ: Hyper Dimension, the two installments of DBZ: SuperSonic Warriors and, from the hand of Arc System Works, the already mentioned Dragon Ball FighterZ.
Dragon Ball Z, the legendary cult anime in the key of arcade fighting
In video games it is allowed to participate in the Grand Tournament with armor
Generally, in the early 90s the plot and context of fighting games were considered secondary . The selectable heroes’ own design coupled with their repertoire of moves was more than enough for the button masters and those who took singles and doubles seriously. That Dragon Ball Z had a huge background, on the other hand, gave an extra value to the whole.
In this regard, the first arcade based on Dragon Ball Z covers two story arcs: the invasion of the Saiyans and the Namek saga. However, there is an essential nuance here: the arcade lacked a story mode or any plot reference. That is, anyone who was alien to the manga or anime would go through the eight fights without having notions of what is happening.
In the absence of a proper campaign or story mode, Dragon Ball Z made a distinction between the stages of the story through the two sections in which the experience was divided:
- Initially, four initial fights whose order is not established and which take place in the scenarios of the Invasion of the Saiyans.
- Later, four fights on the planet Namek in which we will have to face the Ginyu Commando and, finally, the Freeza himself.
The settings of Dragon Ball Z are very recognizable and are full of details and cameos. We will see Krillin, Master Roshi and the Turtle at the Kame House; Dende and Nail in the vicinity of the home of the great old man of Namek or Kami Sama and Mr. Popo in the Heavenly Watchtower, among many others. However, where the game itself knows how to shine the most is in the great finish of the fighters.
The stages were destructible, and that was amazing
Dragon Ball Z only has eight eligible characters plus a secret one, but they were all huge and tremendously detailed for the time. The limitations of the hardware and its game system perhaps limited its mobility and pace, but the finishes, inspired by the manganime, were simply spectacular.
The heroes and villains available at the arcade? Possibly, Dragon Ball Z is one of the few Dragon Ball games in which the heroes are a minority. Taking into account, of course, that Vegeta was part of the elite of the worst in the galaxy. Literally. All in all, the selectable panel was and still is concise, but pretty neat:
- Son Goku, whose setting is the Great Martial Arts Tournament, is the most balanced in the game.
- Vegeta, fighting from the Rocky Field, continues to offset the range of his blows with a wide repertoire of missiles.
- Son Gohan is tiny and very fast, and that gives him a special advantage in the game. His battlefield is the Kame House.
- Piccolo is one of the greatest and most versatile fighters. The setting is the Kami Sama Watchtower.
- Reecome excels at physical attacks, alternating strong punches with roundabout assaults. Its setting is a village on Planet Namek.
- Burter combines superb reach with great speed. The battlefield is one of the vast natural landscapes of Namek.
- Ginyu has strong projectiles and great finishing touches. As a curiosity, it has two scenarios: the interior and the exterior of Freeza’s ship.
- Freeza is the ultimate enemy of the game and this is reflected in his exceptional technique and his willingness to fight with his arms crossed. His stage is Namek destroyed.
In addition to the eight previous characters, if we chain five victories in the game we can select Son Goku Super Saiyan . A very successful number of rounds, since before achieving that state, Goku himself had to defeat Vegeta, Reecome, Burter and Jeese, Ginyu and at least once – by the minimum – Frieza.
Five wins in a row and you could unleash the power of the legendary Super Saiyan
The repertoire of techniques of Goku Super Saiyan, who happens to occupy the panel of Goku himself, does not change: he continues to have his four special attacks and his basic movements and blows. However, in addition to the detail of the color and the golden hair, we will see that it receives an increase in strength. Logically, this positions him as the best fighter in the game.
Now entering the gameplay, the gameplay of Dragon Ball Z for arcade games are really intuitive for those who are passionate about fighting games: a punch button, a kick button and a hard hit button . In addition, executing specific sequences we can integrate projectiles or special assaults. However, there are details that are worth highlighting.
- From the start, air combat has a special weight. Instead of jumping, the characters can move freely in all directions. Which not only makes the stages huge, but also unusually tall.
- In this sense, Dragon Ball Z was one of the first games to successfully establish a system of fast forward or retreat movements. And not only that: we could run them in all eight directions in the air. As an additional detail, all the characters always looked at the opponent, whether he was in the air or on the ground.
- On the other hand, there are no huge energy cannon shots that cover the entire screen, but projectiles of different sizes and strengths. That said, if we hit them hard in time we can return them. And that generates very interesting moments.
- Finally, there might not be Meteor Attacks, the powerful cinematic attacks that make the difference in all Dragon Ball fighting games, but each character had a brutal technique that they could use without more limitations than a wide margin of time until it started. . For example, Goku’s Kaito technique.
The merits of Dragon Ball Z do not end there: its scenarios were destructible and some evolve based on the damage received. Details like this, added together, made -as a game- a very special experience for fans of the series. But what about those who did not know her?
Ginyu, the only character in the game with two stages. Would you have one left over?
Banpresto’s arcade Dragon Ball Z fighting game was openly focused on anime fans. Even after beating the story mode, during the credits, we could see the illustration that Toriyama created for the spines of the manga volumes digitized. However, at a competitive level it could not be measured with Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat.
In this way, the value that Dragon Ball Z can receive for everyone outside the battles of the Saiyans is considerably reduced. And despite this, the foundations that Banpresto left for the emerging video game saga were spectacular.
Dragon Ball Z: an arcade with a spectacular legacy
The warriors of Earth trained at Kami Sama’s Watchtower before the arrival of Nappa and Vegeta.
It may sound like a no-brainer, but as a video game, Banpresto’s Dragon Ball Z arcade is a designed experience that only shines properly when played on an arcade machine. It probably wouldn’t have worked as well on consoles.
Despite its detailed characters and settings, its replayability in domestic format was excessively limited. What’s more, the three characters of the Ginyu Commando share the same ending. Perhaps a well-thought-out Versus mode could have expanded its value, but the cross-head pads played against the deep-rooted eight-way mobility.
Bandai was aware of this and, instead of making an adaptation, the same year he launched a new fighting experience tailored to Nintendo’s 16-bit: the referred to Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden . With many more characters, a much more elaborate story and an original and simple system with which to integrate aerial combat into the equation: the split screen.
Returning the projectiles is one of the great successes of the Banpresto recreational area
In many respects, the sequels to the successful Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden would give continuity to the successes of each. And if Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 (released in Spain as Dragon Ball Z: La Légende Saien) is considered a gem, Banpresto’s Dragon Ball Z 2 is one of the great unknown of Goku’s legacy in video games.
Facing the sequel to Dragon Ball Z , Banpresto eliminated air mobility and experimented with a completely original new artistic section. Without too many ties to anime or manga, or at least not as well executed as in the 1993 game. In the plot, the step taken was the logical one: the sequel will address the Androids saga and the Cell Game.
As a closing animation, the characters performed their most powerful techniques on screen
However, and gradually, Bandai was rescuing individual ideas from Banpresto’s arcade for various console games based on Dragon Ball. Alternative experiences to the very successful Super Butoden saga.
- In DBZ: Hyper Dimension, the split screen was removed and the arcade sensations were restored. In addition, in some levels the confrontations in the air in the eight directions returned.
- In DBZ: Legends and DBZ: SuperSonic Warriors Bandai continued to fine-tune and explore airborne battles with more and better success while eliminating the great weak point of the arcade: these games were loaded with characters.
- Skipping several games, in DBZ: Extreme Butoden the game and combat sensations were more aligned with the 1993 arcade than with the SNES classic, although it incorporated much of both titles.
- For its part, the fan-made game Hyper Dragon Ball Z takes up the base of Dragon Ball Z and infuses it with the playability, aesthetics and spirit of Capcom’s fighting classics from the 90s.
Finally, the biggest heir to the Banpresto machine is Dragon Ball FighterZ . The fights become teams and the rhythm and intensity of the games are at another level, of course, but each and every one of the milestones of that arcade says present. From the detours to the mobility options on the ground and in the air, passing through the destructible stages and that reverential cult of detail.
The best moment of the game: Super Sayan Goku against Freeza
Unlike manga and anime, the arcade in which we saw (and lived) the transformation of Goku into the legendary Super Saiyan has not aged well. In fact, and in fairness, today it pales enormously when compared to other contemporary classics such as Street Fighter II: Champion Edition , Virtua Fighter or Fatal Fury Special.
And yet, for an entire generation that lived with emotion the adventures of Toriyama’s Saiyans on TV, in magazines and whatever format they appeared in, that recreational was an obsession. A dream come true, at 25 pesetas the game.
