2026 has been a journey for me to rediscover games that I missed in the past. Since I obtained a GBA emulator for my Android phone, I wanted to dabble in a few games. Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure pinged my radar, being that I am a huge beat’em up fan and heard great things. How I missed this title? I have no clue at all, and I thought I played all the Dragon Ball games, but as I recall, I think my first game was Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 in 1995 on the PSOne, but I had the import version before the English release. Let’s see what DB Advanced Adventure has to offer us.
The Beginning of Goku’s Journey:
This is the beginning of Goku setting out on his own after her Grandpa Gohan passed away. The young Goku, before he became the great Z-Fighter of legend, goes forth to see the world for the first time. As naive as he is, he is a survivor and meets some friends along the way. But most of you already know the beginnings of his story, where he takes on the Red Ribbon Army. Tackling the castle of Emperor Pilaf. Even learning the ways of the Kamahamaha wave from Master Roshi. All your skills will be put to the test when you reach King Piccolo.
That’s a beefy amount of content for a handheld game.
The Gameplay you take on!
This is your sidescroller beat’em up that gives you different combat tactics and items to discover. It is quite generous with the 1-ups. Playing as Goku is always fun, even though some of the enemies are repetitive. You can see the vision of Akira Toriyama shine nicely. You have your regular attacks that lead into an auto combo with his Power Pole, and if you hit the shoulder button, you can perform an AOE (Area of Effect) attack that hits everyone in his range. As you progress, you gain new abilities like the charged Ki Shot. Once you progress further, you can unlock the full potential of the Kameha Blast by hitting L+R at the same time. There are hidden areas to go into to grab special items to boost Goku, but be wary of the enemies waiting for you inside.
When it comes to the boss fights, it evokes a Mega Man-style battle sequence. Figuring out the boss patterns is not that bad for a seasoned gamer. It is rewarding once you figure out the gimmick and move on. One example is fighting two robots in Pilaf’s castle, where one was taller than the other. Had to jump up to get the hitbox on the towering robot, while the smaller one gave great defense.
It’s Toriyama’s World in my hands:
For a 32-bit handheld game, it holds up well, given that it came out in 2006. The environments and sprites all look good and recognizable. The music and sound effects work better than expected and have a nice pace throughout the map. There’s an interactive map; after you finish each area, you go to a world map and travel around like a game board. A great game design indeed.
Final Thought:
I know why I missed the chance to play this title; I was going through some personal matters, but better late to the game than never, right? I wish this was in the Nintendo Online Game Boy Advance area. Not sure if the license is still valid, or maybe someone has to talk to Bandai Namco. However, if they do get a chance to add this game, that would push the Nintendo Online users higher. Or just do a Dragon Ball collection for the Switch and Switch 2 with all the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z titles for GBA. It is a thought, and since Xenoverse 3 is dropping. It would pay a nice homage to the franchise.
Dragon Ball Advanced Adventures gets 4.5 out of 5 beastly paws. It is a great beat’em up, and thanks to the Retroachievements site, I can access some trophies while playing. Have you played Dragon Ball Advanced Adventures or still hold a copy? Let us know in the comments below. – Beast Out –
Verdict:
