Dragon Ball: Final Bout (1997) — 245,000 copies in Japan, “the worst PlayStation fighting game” abroad

August 21, 1997: Dragon Ball went fully 3D for the first time

Hello, this is Toki. Episode 34 of "Today Is Release Day". One and the same game sold more than 240,000 copies in Japan, and was called "inarguably the worst PlayStation fighting game ever made" by a magazine abroad. It is Dragon Ball: Final Bout, released on August 21, 1997. Today it turns exactly 29.From the thumbnail of "【HD】ドラゴンボール FINAL BOUT - オープニング / Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout - Opening" (YouTube)

Bandai published it and TOSE developed it. The price was 5,800 yen and the product number was SLPS-00949. Three separate sources point at the same day: Gamer's August 1997 release list, GameFAQs' release data, and the Japanese Game Catalog Wiki.Diagram made by this site (illustrative, AI-generated). Data: Gamer's August 1997 release list / GameFAQs / Game Catalog Wiki.

Four more PlayStation titles shared the date: Robo Pit 2, X2, Pastel Muses and Star Borders. A Dragon Ball game sitting on the shelf at the tail end of the summer holidays — that kind of day.From the thumbnail of "All Characters in Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout [PS1] Game" (YouTube)

Meteor Smash — knock them away, then hit the timing

Underneath, it is a 2D fighting game. But the characters and the backgrounds are 3D, and you can fly. It was the first game in the series to go fully 3D.From the thumbnail of "PSX Longplay [527] Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout" (YouTube)

The centrepiece is the Meteor Smash. You knock the opponent away, then enter a command on the right beat and the follow-up connects. Ki attacks can also clash: after two beams meet, the player pressing faster pushes the damage through. The feel was peculiar, though — the Game Catalog Wiki records a gap between pressing a button and the move coming out.Diagram made by this site (illustrative, AI-generated). Based on the descriptions in the English Wikipedia article and the Game Catalog Wiki.

Eighteen fighters are playable, across three modes: versus, tournament, and BUILD UP, which raises a character. But six of those eighteen are alternate forms of Goku. Faces with near-identical moves and lines stood side by side on the select screen.Diagram made by this site (illustrative, AI-generated). Roster data: Game Catalog Wiki / English Wikipedia.

Super Saiyan 4 Goku is hidden in there. Pan appears in a game for the first time here as well. Waiting at the end is Baby Vegeta in his Golden Great Ape form, and he is not playable.From the thumbnail of "Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout - All Super Moves PS1 Gameplay HD" (YouTube)

Japan bought 245,000 copies. Abroad, a reviewer said to buy the toys instead

The English-language verdict was plainly harsh. The aggregate at GameRankings sat at 50.00% — the low middle.Diagram made by this site (illustrative, AI-generated). Data: English Wikipedia (GameRankings 50.00%).

Not everyone wrote it off, though. The four-person crew at Electronic Gaming Monthly (December 1997, No. 101) split. Sushi-X praised it as "a 'guru game', a game that stretches our abilities with a game engine so complex to master, yet simple enough for a beginner," and Kelly Rickards called it "clearly superior to previous Dragon Ball games." Dan Hsu closed with this: "It's different, but frankly, most of you won't like it."From the thumbnail of "Dragon Ball: Final Bout (PS1/Playstation 1997) - Goku [Playthrough/LongPlay]" (YouTube)

GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann played the import and praised the visual spectacle of the beam clashes, but concluded that the characters and the move sets lacked variety. IGN was blunter: "If you're a Dragon Ball Z fan, then you may like this game... But... you might as well go out and buy all the toys — at least they're more controllable." GamePro called the Meteor moves "one of the cheapest, longest-lasting special moves in fighting history."From the thumbnail of "DRAGON BALL GT FINAL BOUT - LONGPLAY (UNLOCK ALL%)" (YouTube)

The hardest single line came from Next Generation (March 1998, No. 39): "inarguably the worst PlayStation fighting game ever made." Line up the sales, though, and the story turns around. Japan: 245,000 copies. North America: 19,564. The initial North American run was only around 10,000 copies, and that figure is the total up to 2002.Diagram made by this site (illustrative, AI-generated). Data: English Wikipedia (264,564 in total).

The opening came from Toei — and then a five-year gap

The video above is that opening. The animation was commissioned from Toei Animation, and it may be the part of the game that has survived best. Kenji Yamamoto wrote the music; four new songs were performed by Hironobu Kageyama with backing vocals by Kuko. The soundtrack album came out on September 16, 1997. Super Saiyan 4 Goku even got a theme of his own, "Hero of Heroes."From the thumbnail of "ドラゴンボール ファイナルバウト オープニング DRAGON BALL FINAL BOUT op" (YouTube)

In Japan a budget PlayStation the Best edition followed on July 23, 1998 (SLPS-91079); the Game Catalog Wiki records its price as 2,800 yen. And after that, Dragon Ball on PlayStation stops. The next major entry was Dragon Ball Z: Budokai on PlayStation 2, in 2002.Diagram made by this site (illustrative, AI-generated). Timeline: GameFAQs / Game Catalog Wiki / English Wikipedia.

There is a development note too. The game was shown at the 1997 Tokyo Toy Show while still half-finished, less than six months before release. The North American version reached shelves on November 5, 1997.From the thumbnail of "Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (PS1 longplay)" (YouTube)

Your release day

The same disc was read two different ways across an ocean. In Japan it was first of all “a new Dragon Ball game”, and readers of the manga bought 245,000 copies. In North America it was a fighting game with no context, and about 10,000 copies reached the stores. One piece of work, two very different shelves.From the thumbnail of "Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (1997) PlayStation - Battles & Tournaments" (YouTube)

August 21, 1997. Writing the year down is the only way an article of mine ever feels finished. Is there a game you kept playing while holding an opinion that did not match the reviews?Diagram made by this site (illustrative, AI-generated). Episode 34 of “Today Is Release Day”.