Home /
NES

Dragon Ball 3: Gokuu Den

NES

NES

The game is based on the famous Dragon Ball manga series, starring Son Goku, and spans a long time period of the hero's life. It begins with Son Goku being a mere child and meeting the mysterious Bulma who asks him to add her on her quest to find seven Dragon Balls, which can grant any wish. The ...

Download

0/5 Votes: 0

Report

Developer
TOSE

Released on
1989

Size
1 Player

Version
NES

Requirements
Nintendo Entertainment System

Downloads
Role-Playing

Publisher
Bandai

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

Report this app

Images

Description

The game is based on the famous Dragon Ball manga series, starring Son Goku, and spans a long time period of the hero’s life. It begins with Son Goku being a mere child and meeting the mysterious Bulma who asks him to add her on her quest to find seven Dragon Balls, which can grant any wish. The game follows Son Goku becoming stronger and defeating many foes.

You control Son Goku and his friends Krillin and Yamcha in this game. The gameplay is mostly based on training your characters and then taking them to fight enemies, advancing the plot. All the activities in the game (including walking around on the world map) are performed through choosing one of the available cards. Depending on the value of the card, you can move a certain amount of squares on the map, have an advantage in a battle, etc.

Dragon Ball 3: Gokuu Den

Overview & History

Released in 1989 by Bandai exclusively for the Japanese Famicom, Dragon Ball 3: Gokuu Den (Dragon Ball 3: Goku's Biography) serves as the grand culmination of the Famicom's early card-battler trilogy. Unlike its predecessors, this installment sweeps across the entirety of Goku's youth, chronicling his earliest encounters with Bulma, his rigorous training under Master Roshi, and his explosive, planet-shaking showdowns with King Piccolo and the Red Ribbon Army. Rather than relying on standard action-platforming, the game blends top-down exploration with a deeply strategic, card-based combat system where players draw numbered battle cards featuring secondary astrological and zodiac symbols to determine movement ranges, initiative, attack power, and defensive capabilities.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Progression in Gokuu Den splits neatly between traversing overworld maps and engaging in cinematic 1-on-1 martial arts duels. As Goku levels up by gaining experience points from random encounters, his maximum health pool and stat values increase, granting access to more devastating techniques. During battles, players must strategically select cards that maximize attack output while managing ki reserves. Goku's iconic moves—such as the rapid-fire *Jan Ken* combos, the airborne *Kamehameha* wave, and the destructive *Cho Kamehameha*—are executed by matching specific card sequences. Additionally, the game features dynamic quick-time-event mini-games during training sequences with Karin and Kami, demanding precise timing on the directional pad to successfully learn advanced maneuvers.

Keyboard Controls

Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move Goku on the overworld map and navigate menu selections
Action Keys: Attack / Jump / Confirm card selections during battles
Enter: Start / Pause / Access the character status and item inventory screen