DB 3: The Story of Goku

System: Famicom
Release Date: October, 1989

Follow the entire Dragon Ball story in this adventure/RPG.

This game takes us back to where it all began. Although the game engine itself is basically an improved version of the one used for Resurrection of the Demon King, the story starts before its predecessors, beginning all the way at the start of the series and continuing up to Goku's defeat of Majunior (known simply as Piccolo in Dragonball Z).

One of the things that shines about this game is the experience distribution feature. When Goku raises an experience level, you are given the choice of how to allocate the experience points earned among skills like technique, speed, power, etc.

This is pretty cool game, with somewhat Mega Man quality music (which was arguably some of the best ever produced on the NES). Still, the game's not without problems. All of the old Dragon Ball games were stuck on this "battle card" system, which isn't so bad, but they're hardly differentiable from one another unless you look at the cover of the cartridge to see which one you're playing. Some of the other game elements are just boring, as you seem to spend most of your time playing concentration or other children's card games. Even the battles are card games, with most elements based on chance and not skill or practice.

Once again, a Dragon Ball game that's not horrible, but not especially memorable, either.

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