The adventures of Goku and his friends did not start with Dragon Ball Z, however. The manga started in the 1980s under the title of Dragon Ball, and followed a younger, more innocent Goku on his quest to find the seven Dragon Balls, amongst other adventures. Despite not being as popular in the west as Dragon Ball Z, the original Dragon Ball certainly has charm and developed a small following, which Atari has noted by releasing a localisation of Banpresto’s Dragon Ball Advance Adventure.
Dragon Ball Advance Adventure follows Goku’s exploits from the manga and anime from the time he meets Bulma, until his final battle with the Demon King Piccolo. Along the way you will run into everyone’s favourite characters, such as Krillin, Master Roshi, Kami and Mr Popo, as well as reliving Goku’s greatest adventures, including fighting in the 21st and 22nd World Martial Arts tournament. Unfortunately, the game stops short of the exciting series finale - the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament, where a grown up Goku tackles Ma Junior, better known to DBZ fans as Piccolo. This is understandable, as the developers of the game would have had to draw all new sprites for Goku, basically doubling their workload.
An unusually cocky Goku.
Dragon Ball Advance Adventure’s gameplay is separated into three distinct portions – the platforming/beat ‘em up levels, the Flying Nimbus levels and the tournament fights (some major boss fights use this method, too). Between these levels, small cutscenes will fill you in on the story, though it should be noted that these have been somewhat altered to reflect censorship changes in the dubbed version of the anime - which is unfortunate for those of us who like laughing at perverted old men who haemorrhage blood at the sight of a woman’s panties.
The platforming component makes up the majority of the game - it essentially involves Goku running from left to right, pummelling the enemies that get in his way, and occasionally getting surrounded and having to punch his way out. While sounding relatively simplistic, these platforming sections are actually quite good, with tight controls, excellent move variety, plenty of enemies and solid collision detection. As the player progresses through the game, Goku will learn new moves, such as the Kamehameha, as well as gain more power for his existing moves.
The portions of the game that require the player to take control of the Flying Nimbus are really quite similar to the platforming levels, with the exception of the action taking place in the sky. The earliest of these levels has you chasing a rather nasty Oolong in bat form, which works much like a boss battle, except that other enemies seem to pop up out of nowhere. Other levels will have you taking on Red Ribbon Army aircraft and Piccolo’s demon spawn.
The tournament fights are easily a highlight of Dragon Ball Advance Adventure. These sections tend to mix up the flow of the game by offering the occasional one-on-one battle in amongst all of the platforming. These battles are much deeper than they appear to be on the surface, though not quite as deep as a standalone fighting game. Players have access to a slightly larger move set in the fights, with new moves such as the teleport and dash available. The basic idea in these fights is to beat the stuffing out of your opponent, and to do this you need to break their guard, which will then allow you to unleash a combo onto your opponent. Unfortunately, there isn’t that great a variety of combos to execute, but players can improvise by mixing the combos up – launching your opponent into the air, slamming him down only to have him land right into the path of your Kamehameha is quite satisfying. One-on-one battles are available outside of the story mode – normally players are restricted to Goku, but this will let you play as any one of the characters you face up against in the tournaments.
Training with Krillin before the World Tournament gives you all the skills you need.
While Dragon Ball Advance Adventure is easily one of the most solid efforts on the Game Boy Advance, it suffers from being a little too easy. Normal mode will take a player with an average skill level about 5 hours to wrap up completely. A harder mode is available, as well as a one-on-one duelling mode, which can be played over link up, but these do little to extend the life of the game past the 8 hour mark.
Several games over the years have shown us that the Game Boy Advance is a 2D powerhouse - and Dragon Ball Advance Adventure does not disappoint graphically, offering up great looking sprites with amazing fluid animation, with very little slowdown. The major characters have obviously seen more attention than some of the enemies, and look excellent as a result. Stages are well designed, with some impressive backdrops. The game’s soundtrack is actually quite good, offering up some suitable music depending on the situation and the location. A few minor voice samples are also included in the game - these appear to be from the Japanese actors, though many would consider that a blessing (Dragon Ball does seem a lot more cohesive in Japanese).
Fortunately, it didn't take Goku five episodes to charge this Kamehameha
In conclusion, Dragon Ball Advance Adventure is a solid platforming/beat ‘em up game with impressive visuals and sound, which is only really let down by its length. It is, however, easily the best Dragon Ball game released to date. Very few games on the Game Boy Advance can hold a candle to Dragon Ball Advance Adventure - it could be argued that it is better than the cult anime hit Astro Boy The Omega Factor. If you’re not put off by the relatively short length, pick it up today.
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