I’m sure I’ll seem like a Philistine to my cohorts over at Japanator, but I have to admit that Dragon Ball is really the only manga I’m familiar with. I spent a year living with my Dad in France when I was kid, about the time the series was taking Europe by storm. It was the cool thing to do.
Which leads us to 2010 — eleven years later, I still kind of dig on the plucky Goku, and finding this new trailer for Dragon Ball DS 2: Assault! Red Ribbon Army — part of Game Republic’s Origins series — was quite the trip down memory lane. While most Dragon Ball games tend to be fighters (the Budokai series, for example) Assault! Red Ribbon is an action-adventure game.
It’s important to realize that the Red Ribbon saga takes place very early in the series (to steal a joke from Tiny Cartridge, the “under-9000 era”). Dragon Ball — without the Z or GT — was more focused on exploration and adventure than three-volume battles between Goku and Frieza.
So! Assault! Red Ribbon plays kind of like the DS iterations of Zelda: navigation and combat are both controlled by the stylus, with a few button presses for good measure. Other highlights include: playing as Krillin, Yamcha, Arale, and Eighter; smashing dinosaurs in the face; pulling Bulma’s top off.
There’s another trailer after the jump. Dragon Ball DS 2: Assault! Red Ribbon Army hits Japanese shelves next month, and will probably never make it over here. Shame.
Dragon Ball DS 2: Assault! Red Ribbon Army… [Tiny Cartridge]
