2026-08-21 · blog
Dragon Ball: Final Bout (1997) — 245,000 copies in Japan, “the worst PlayStation fighting game” abroad
Episode 34 of “Today Is Release Day”: Dragon Ball: Final Bout, published by Bandai for the PlayStation on August 21, 1997 (5,800 yen, product number SLPS-00949, developed by TOSE). It was the first fully 3D fighting game in the series, built around the Meteor Smash — knock the opponent away, then enter a command on the beat to continue the assault — and around beam clashes settled by who presses faster. Eighteen fighters are playable, but six of them are alternate forms of Goku. The English-language reception was harsh: GameRankings averaged 50.00%, Next Generation (March 1998) called it “inarguably the worst PlayStation fighting game ever made,” and IGN concluded that fans “might as well go out and buy all the toys — at least they’re more controllable.” Electronic Gaming Monthly (December 1997), by contrast, split four ways, with Sushi-X praising it as “a ‘guru game’.” Sales came to 245,000 in Japan and 19,564 in North America, where the initial run was only around 10,000 copies — 264,564 in total. The opening animation was commissioned from Toei Animation, Kenji Yamamoto wrote the music and Hironobu Kageyama sang four new songs. A budget edition followed on July 23, 1998, after which Dragon Ball was absent from PlayStation until Budokai on PS2 in 2002.
