/vr/ - Retro Games

Shenron no Nazo is my favorite kusoge. I've tried to play the translated cardbattle famicom RPGs, but they are just not good. I should probably play the GBC RPG, I've heard good things about it.

I've told this story a few times here already, but here it goes again. My favorite is DBZ Legends (PSX).

Back in 1999, my mother had just bought me a PSX. We were rather poor until a year before, and a PSX cost at least three times minimum wage here (really). The lady at the shop asked me to choose three games from the ones they had at the display, but I already had a list:
- Street Fighter Zero 3
- Resident Evil 3
- Dragon Ball Ultimate Battle 22

I asked for UB22 because I saw it at magazines back then and thought it was a fucking awesome game. But the lady told me she didn't have that DBZ game, only Legends. So I played a little of it, and took it home. I was hooked on it for hours, probably played it for a good 8 hours my first time through it. I don't know if it was because the controls were completely alien (the game was in japanese and the magazines around here never talked about it), but I enjoyed discovering how to do the combos, the dodges and all that other stuff. By the end of those 8 hours, I had discovered probably 99% of the game's attacks and strategies. Then I realized I never even touched RE3 or SFZ3.

Anyway, I probably played over 40 or 50 hours of it, completing the story mode and the SP mode many times. The only thing that completely eluded me was the Z Rank stuff. This was way before the heyday of the internet, so I only discovered about the secret ending years after. Probably in 2004 or something. For whoever never saw it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2RA1wjOrs4

One thing this game did and no other game after it did, was "Narration Mode". It worked like this: remember in shounen anime, when other characters narrate and react to the fight? Well, you can do this here. If you push SELECT during a battle, it'll bring up a character select screen. Depending on the fight, you have different available characters, and also different characters who react to the battle.
(cont.)

>>6128095
They react to stuff like someone being blased off, someone dying or reinforcements coming. There are two sets of characters who react, you can alternate between them by pressing SELECT again twice. The first set are the characters actually fighting, and the second is secondary characters. For example: during the Boo fight, the first set is Goku/Vegeta/Fat Boo, while the second are Satan/Dende or Old Kaioshin/Kibitoshin.

The music was really fucking awesome in the game too. Every stage has a memorable bgm, but I specially like "Sign ~Omen" and "Restorations". The music changed depending on the situation at hand, so you could change it by your actions. For example, in the first two stages (vs Vegeta and Vs Ginyu Force), if you tag in Goku, it'll change to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1pCZExTMhM
(it starts at 1:30)

You could also change the flow of the fight by doing a few things, usually tagging other characters in. Examples are:
- if you call Goku during the Androids fight, Android #16 will tag in, making the fight harder
- if you call anyone that isn't Goku or Gohan during the Cell Games, Cell will create a Cell Jr. for each opponent. If you only choose Goku or Gohan, Cell will fight alone from the beginning.
- in the Boo fight, if Goten or Trunks are in the stage when Fat Boo is defeated, they'll show the fusion scene (if they aren't in the stage, they'll fuse offscreen)

DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (PS2) actually went back to this and had some secret conditions based on what you did during the fight. A really nice callback.

>>6127898
Definitely not the best game; but the best OST is Super Butouden 2 for SFC (the original that plagarized Pink Floyd and other bands). Worth playing one or two times just to listen to it.

>>6128249
>Definitely not the best game
I'd actually say SB2 is my favorite.
>Worth playing one or two times just to listen to it.
I played it countless hours with a friend who also plays it.
But even single player it's worth playing at least several times to see everything on the story mode.
Also, Cell's Theme barely resembles the Pink Floyd song, like you can tell it may have been influenced by it because of the bass in the intro, but that's it.

>>6127898
Unironically this.

This game sucks complete ass, but I loved it as a kid, mostly because in the late 90s we were so starved for anything Dragon Ball related, that having a game with GT characters was just awesome. So this is essentially a nostalgia pic for me.

Non-retro would be Budakai Tenkaichi 3, which is actually an incredible game.

Is there any good DB non-Z game?
I love the original Dragon Ball and its atmosphere.

>>6127898
My friends older brother had a Super Famico. DBZ game based on the Frieza saga. It consisted of Goku flying around and fighting random battles where options were chosen to perform attacks/defence. It was in Japanese and he somehow finished the damn thing (he didn't know how to read Japanese). To this day, I don't know how he did it.

>>6128560
DBZ Super Saiya Densetsu, it's a well known game especially because it was one of the earliest japanese games that got fan-translated and people could emulate, I remember playing it in the year 2000.
It's not that hard to figure out the battle system so you can still brute force your way through the game without reading.
It's actually a remake of the first 2 Famicom RPGs.
>>6128548
Dragon Power on NES is a reskinned Shenron no nazo game for Famicom, which is based on the Pilaf saga. It's not bad and has some comfy atmosphere, you might like it.
Probably the best one is Super Gokuden, the first one. The title says "Dragon Ball Z" but it's really non-Z DB. A weird mix between interactive VN with quizes, and RPG battles. The fun thing is unlocking different alternate scenarios. There was a sequel that covers the saiyan saga up until the final battle with Freeza in Namek.

>>6128095
>>6128119
comfy story anon.
I just remember it was also my first PS1 DBZ game, but I had already played the SNES and Genesis games before.
Legends is great and as you say has a lot of great detail and nice events. It reminds me of the story mode of Super Butouden 2.
I didn't play as much as you did though, I just remember mashing buttons and seeing all the spectacle happen.
I do remember Android 16, I guess because I always picked Goku, didn't know I could have avoided him if I didn't select him.
As for the ending, that looks like what I remember... was the normal ending different?

>>6128852
The normal ending is a slideshow + credits while "We gotta Power" plays:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2RA1wjOrs4

To get the secret ending, you have keep your Z Rank at a high number. To do that, you have to do stuff exactly like in the anime (character gets attacked, switch out, etc). Problem is, this was back in 2000, so the only DBZ saga available on the West was the Saiyan Saga. I knew the number went up or down depending on what I did during the battle, but because I didn't watch the source material entirely, I didn't know how to keep it high.

One of my first discoveries was that, on a fight with multiple opponents, the side with fewer characters got a handicap. So instead of just throwing 3 guys versus one enemy, you had to fight one-on-one to finish the fights faster (or the enemy would have a huge handicap). In fights against 2 or 3 opponents, if you only chose one, you could finish the fight 70% faster (if you don't get hit a lot) because each attack would take a ton of the enemy bar.

Other things I recall:
- if you let Kuririn get killed against Freeza (stage 3), Goku turns Super Saiyan
- in the Cell fight, if there is more than 1 Cell Jr. and they activate a Meteo Attack, it'll have all Cell Jrs. firing the Kamehameha on the same screen. This is the only way to see this attack.
- In the Kid Boo fight, if you let Goku get attacked twice, he'll detransform. If you let Vegeta get attacked twice, the Fat Boo will come to help you.

That GBA DB platformer game and that other fighting game were incredible.
The GBA RPGS were concentrated AIDS though.

>>6128571
>DBZ Super Saiya Densetsu
Thanks for that Anon. I'm guessing the story wasn't anything to write home about?

>>6129626
>I'm guessing the story wasn't anything to write home about?
It's the whole Z story up until the battle with Freeza on Namek.

>>6129632
I didn't miss out on much then as I knew most of the story up to that point. Cheers.

>>6129657
Most DBZ games follow the original story.
Some of them do have some original scenarios though, and DBZ Gaiden on Famicom had a 100% original story with new villains, that eventually made its way into animation as the 2-episode OVA "Plan to destroy all Saiyans"

>>6128548
Not retro but Dragon Ball Origins on NDS was good.

DBZ The Legend/Legends, Gokuden 1 and 2(enjoyed 1 more), Butoden 2, Hyper Dimension, Super Saiya Densetsu

Gokuden 2 was odd. It had many what-if endings, but every time you finished one ending you had to start the game all over again, instead of unlocking that ending and starting at some point of the game. I only remember getting Tenshinhan to sacrifice himself at the 23rd tournament because he used mafuba the moment he learns Junior was Piccolo, or that one that Piccolo kills Goku by mistake against Raditz and then Gohan in rage kills Piccolo with Gohan joining the saiyans while having fun destroying the Earth.I cant imagine what other strange what-ifs they pulled in this game, it seems nobody bothered to get them either

Then there is this game that if I ever played as a kid it would definitely be one of my favorite games, but I never did even today... but this looks mindblowing for any fan back in the day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM4ubAMRTcs

>>6128095
>>6128119
I had the Saturn version, it was called "The Legend". It didnt had any voice acting in the summary of each chapter nor those background characters spoke because it was the French version of the game
Got the game in 97 or so, but the series was at Freeza saga so the game spoiled me the series. The only way to get the secret ending was waiting for the end of Z, because I knew about the 100% in the saiyan saga and namek sagas since i tried to mimic the events like the anime and realized if you got things closer to those events the score would be higher.
I know I completely missed 16 for months because I never knew he was a thing. I think Goku stops being an option after Gero and to pull 16 out you need to remove Goku before 19&Gero fights are over or something..
Still, cool game, with great ost. That special mode was a pain in the ass though. Sucks that that FTrunks from Cell games is exclusive to that story chapter and isnt an option for other modes since he was the fastest character in the game

>>6130405
Same anon. Posting the special ending the other part of the special ending
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46LZqwTeE6Q
And there is a vocal version of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RpoBzTqlk8
I remember using my game disc a lot as music cd just to hear this glorious ost especially this track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US4WTcrBCl4

>>6129626
The game had neat things like, bringing all humans to namek and a hidden final boss after credits that was Super Saiyan Vegeta
The main problem with that game is that you will hear A LOT that same battle theme for all game

If you DBniggers haven't tried it yet if recommend Attack of the Saiyans for DS. Not retro but people have already talked about non retro games in here so who cares. Basically it's a fairly standard JRPG with timed hits but it looks fantastic, takes place in kino end-of-DB until end of Saiyan Saga which is objectively the best time for the series. Lots of references to DB stuff as well even though it's overall a DBZ game. Plus you can fight Broly as a super boss. Pretty good time of a game but it doesn't get talked about much. I'd call it a solid 7/10 isolated from the franchise, but if you like Dragon Ball it'll obviously have more for you than any random person unfamiliar with the series. If you haven't played it yet, you should.

>>6129673
Wasn't that game made as a direct tie in with the OVA

>>6130520
No, it's like this.
The original game, "Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku" came out in August 6, 1993.
The OVAs, released in September 6, 1993, are actually a strategy guide that was released on... VHS. They tell you how to do things in the game, like using energy attacks against certain opponents.

Later on, in 1994, the OVAs had additional footage produced, and were re-released as a Bandai Playdia game, called True Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans.

The OVA that came with Raging Blast 2, from 2010, is a remake of the first OVAs.

>>6130405
The Super Gokuden games are awesome!
Gokuden 2 lets you start from either the very beginning of the game, the beginning of the Saiyan saga, or the beginning of the Freeza saga, but you have to finish the game to completion first in order to be able to select where do you want to start.
The game has a list of all the different possible scenarios, and they appear black in the list if you haven't unlocked it yet.
There are some that are optional and don't really give you a bad ending, for example, one of the most bizarre ones I remember was Goku accepting going on a date with Bulma's mom before going to Namek, they go to the city and Goku eats a cake with her.
I wish they made a Gokuden 3.

>>6131310
Didnt know that. Now I can always go back and replay that and learn about every scenario
>Goku going on date with Bulma's mom
Kek. I hope they did stupid scenarios with Ginyu's ability of swapping bodies.

The US gets the the Famicom, Super Famicom, and Game Boy games along with The Legend in the alternate timeline.

>>6132403
Super Butoden 2 almost got an american release.
Hopefully the proto will surface one day.

>>6128095
I loved this game on Saturn. Ended up making a parody of its cover for Custom Maid 3D 2.

There were a lot of quirky things that Legends did right. The tug of war style of gameplay made fights more interesting than other fighting games. It was less about health and supers and more about gaining an advantage over opponents. It's lock-on style for flying around was simple and to the point too. Xenoverse has a similar style for movement but it's not quite the same.

Legend's 3v3 system somehow worked better because it was less about techniques and more about pressuring opponents and fighting proactively. There hasn't quite been a fighting game like it since.

>>6131034
Oh haha that's funny, that's really weird. Also, in the mobile game Dokkan Battle, Hatchiyak has been a shitty card since around the 1 year anniversary but it's been speculated it will improve soon to become usable. Obviously Hatchiyack is from that game

>>6129515

>>6133547

>>6129515
>>6133547
>>6133552
NOT RETRO REEEEEEEEEE

>>6132403
Why would the US get games for a franchise that didn't exist in any form over there at the time?
As soon as Dragon Ball started to be marketed in the US (1996 with the release of the Saban Dub), they started releasing games there, even if it didn't make any sense, like GT Final Bout.

>>6136504
>when Europe didnt gave a fuck about that
>when France would get some games translated in French or just in japanese with a fucking adapter like that MD fighter game
>when some countries also got those games that way
>when The Legend/Legends got released with the series in the namek or Android sagas depending of the country
>when Final Bout was released in 97 when the anime was only a thing 99 or 2000
Fun times

>>6127898
Dragonball Z: The Secret of the Sacred Ointment.

Super Butoden 3 aka DBZ Ultime Menace in EU.
I'll defend this game until the day I die, unfairly underrated for not having a story mode, but the actual gameplay and mechanics are even more refined than Butoden 2, making it the best of the Butoden series, from a gameplay standpoint.

Buttlord GT: the final fight in the hyper dimension.