The Dragon Ball game masterpieces that were developed during the early days of new hardware!
Aiming for a “Super” recreation of Dragon Ball with 3D graphics!
Dragon Ball Z series1
Coming out in 2003, the fighting game Dragon Ball Z was actually the first game in the franchise to come out after six years of hiatus.2 Making full use of the PlayStation 2’s capabilities, the Dragon Ball characters were magnificently recreated using 3D graphics. Praised for its high quality both domestically and abroad, the game played a role in the revival of the entire franchise.
Series Data
Dragon Ball Z (“Dragon Ball Z: Budokai”)
• Gaming system: PlayStation 2
• Release Date: February 2003
Dragon Ball Z 2 (“Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2”)
• Gaming system: PlayStation 2
• Release Date: February 2004
Dragon Ball Z 3 (“Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3”)
• Gaming system: PlayStation 2
• Release Date: February 2005
All titles above released by Bandai
Memorial Interview: Daisuke Uchiyama
Dragon Ball Z series producer
“‘Dragon Shading’ took three times the usual amount of work to implement, but we still did it because it looked cool.”
PROFILE: Producer at Bandai Namco Entertainment. He also worked on the .hack and the Naruto: Narultimate Hero series.
Secret Files
History of the development of the game
The history of the development of Dragon Ball Z, the first game in the franchise made for the PlayStation 2, is also a story of a lot of trial and error, and the fact that it ended well was nothing short of a miracle. Looking at the various documents detailing that history, it is clear that the developers spent a lot of sweat, tears and persistence completely recreating the Dragon Ball world and its characters in 3D, in a constant fine-tuning process.
The complete cover art illustration
There was actually a full-body version of the first game’s cover art.6 After seeing the powerful, final illustration, the developers were convinced they would succeed.
The before and after of the character models
There was a lot of trial and error with the first character models and they had to be remade so thoroughly that the game’s release date had to be delayed. On the right, you can see how the models looked before and after the revisions. The improvement is glaringly obvious.
Magazine advertisements
Some advertisements that show the game’s sense of speed. They have a very stylish design that make the most of the Dragon Ball characters’ strengths, to the point that you can tell who it is just from the colors and some blurry images.
Advertisements
Anticipating that the fans that grew up with the original comic and animated television series have since grown up, a sense of nostalgia was emphasized.
Posters
These are simple but powerful advertisements, showing only a drawing of the characters’ eyes in a white background. These posters, which came out at a time when both the comic and the animated TV series had already long ended, were designed to create a sense of anticipation.
Ad design proposals
When the time came to sell the first game, many advertisement suggestions were considered. Since it was a revival after six years of hibernation, many of those suggestions strove to deliver a powerful impact.
2 While it was certainly the first “console” game since Dragon Ball: Final Bout in 1997, it was beaten to the overall video game market by both ImaginEngine and Infogrames’ western-developed Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game for the Game Boy Advance in May 2002, as well as Banpresto and Bandai’s Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors for the Game Boy Color in June 2002 in America and August 2002 in Japan. Dragon Ball Z (“Budokai”) then hit Europe in November 2002, followed by America in December 2002, followed finally by Japan in February 2003.
3 (NOTE: The following text is a translation of a footnote that was present in the original interview text. See footnote 4 below for additional context.) Cel-shading is a technique used to give three-dimensional computer graphics a style reminiscent of the one present in animated series or illustrations. At the time, the specific technique developed for use in Dragon Ball games was called “Dragon Shading.”
4 Relatively speaking, perhaps it was still “new”, but games like Sega’s Jet Set Radio (“Jet Grind Radio”) and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker were already popularizing the technique several years earlier. While not addressed here in the interview, Bandai actually did another pass on the first Dragon Ball Z (“Budokai”) game’s graphics for a cel-shaded-esque style instead of its original presentation as-is when they ported it to the Nintendo Gamecube (though this port was handled by another studio and was not released until Dragon Ball Z 2 / Budokai 2 was prepping for release).
5 Incidentally, the game’s engine, overall graphical style, and even direct character models went on to serve as the basis for Dimps’ Dragon Ball Heroes card-based arcade game series.
6 The cover illustration of Goku created for the Japanese release of the game was drawn by veteran Dragon Ball animator, character designer, and illustrator Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru.