Dragon Power (NES, 1988)

Dragon Power is an action adventure game released by Bandai for the NES based on the Dragon Ball manga and anime series. For the North American version, the graphics and artwork were changed to be less anime like and more like other typical fighting games with Kung-Fu imagery. This game was released in 1988 so this was well before Dragon Ball anime and manga were popular here.

The game initially follows the plot of the first two volumes of the Dragon Ball manga. You play as Goku as he attempts to collect Dragon Balls while battling various enemies. Later, the game progresses to an original plot involving a Kung-Fu tournament in which you must face off against various opponents. After that, you go on a quest to find the Four-Star Dragon Ball which involves travelling to space, battling Kurilien and Monster Carrot and adventuring through Seven Island among other things.

Game play is sort of reminiscent of Zelda and various side scrolling action games. The graphics are really mediocre at best and controls could be better. However, there is a lot of variety here. The sound isn't great and is pretty repetitive but by itself that doesn't make it a bad game. There are some bad translations and unnecessary changes from the anime/manga but if anything, it just adds more humor to the game and doesn't really detract from the game play.

Overall, I would say this game is interesting enough to try despite its flaws, especially if you are a fan of the anime or manga. As far as I know, there were no other releases of this game so you would have to track down an original cartridge for the NES or play it on an emulator. It isn't the best game in the world but it's worth trying. The original cartridges are pretty affordable on eBay and I'm sure you could try it on an emulator for "free" to see if you like it first. A complete copy would make a pretty interesting collectible to fans of the anime/manga as well.

The ad at the top is from the April/May 1988 issue of Nintendo Fun Club News (the predecessor to Nintendo Power).

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