Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure
From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia, the ''Dragon Ball'' wiki
Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure, released in Japan as Dragon Ball アドバンス アドベンチャー (ドラゴン ボール アドバンス アドベンチャー, Doragon Bōru: Adobansu Adobenchā), is an action-adventure game for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.
Contents
Story
It spans from the Emperor Pilaf Saga to the King Piccolo Saga.
Gameplay
Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure has 30 playable characters (counting all modes in the game altogether), which is unusually high for a game of this caliber, and five game modes.
Game modes
Story mode
Story mode shows Goku as he goes on the adventure of his lifetime. Most of the Dragon Ball sagas are here. The only one noticeably missing is the Piccolo Jr. Saga from the end of the series. There are many items to collect, but most of them are hidden. Items include those that increase the player's health and/or ki, to the Dragon Balls, to objects such as Roshi's Glasses and Mercenary Tao's Cyborg Headgear. The player is only able to play as Goku at first. By clearing Goku's Story mode once, the player is able to play the Story mode with Kuririn. Using Kuririn, however, will not show any cutscenes or story. The Story mode cannot be played with any other character.
There are three main types of levels:
- Normal: Goku/Kuririn travel through a side-scrolling level and fight enemies.
- Flying: Goku/Kuririn use the Kinto Un in the air in a static level and fight enemies.
- Fighting: Goku/Kuririn are in a battle stage level and fight enemies.
One-on-One mode
One-on-One mode is a one-on-one fight between the player and the opponent, much like several of the boss battles in the game. This is a free battle where you can decide which area and how long the fight will be. Goku and Kuririn are the only characters first available. Whenever you defeat a one-on-one character in Story mode, you gain a personal item of theirs which unlocks them. You can also play as Jackie Chun, Tao Pai Pai, Grandpa Son Gohan, Tenshinhan, Piccolo Daimao, and Cyborg Tao once the player unlocks them.
Apart from single battles, a Survival mode can be unlocked by completing Kuririn's Story mode. In this mode, you are placed in a tournament and can select any of the characters that have been unlocked.
Versus mode
Versus mode is multiplayer and two players can compete against each other with most of the options available from One-on-One mode.
Extra mode
After Goku's Story mode has been completed, Extra mode is unlocked. In Extra mode, you can revisit all of the levels in Story mode (without the cut scenes) and replay them. The player will have all of the levels available to them at the start instead of having to go through them in order. There are two primary objectives to complete:
- Number one – All of the red doors throughout the levels can now be opened and a greater amount of items are founds. Minigames can be unlocked by finding all 54 items.
- Number two – The Extra mode "Character List" shows 28 characters that the player can use in Extra mode, aside from Kuririn and Goku. Each of them has a corresponding portrait hidden in one of the levels that must be found to unlock the character for use. Both the third minigame and fourth minigame must also be accessed before every single character can be unlocked. After that, it is highly recommended that you play through Extra mode as each character and learn all of their moves.
Characters
Playable
- Bear Thief – A huge Bear who likes to eat Turtles.
- Boar Bandit – A Boar that likes to steal various items. There are two varieties: one with a sword and one with a gun.
- Chaozu – Tenshinhan's best friend who can use Telekinesis and Telepathy.
- Cyborg Tao – Human-turned-cyborg Tao Pai Pai
- Devil Man – A Devil who works for Uranai Baba.
- Dog-Wolf – A Dog/Wolf who belongs to Pilaf.
- Drum – A spawn of Piccolo Daimao who Goku and Tenshinhan confront.
- Flying Camera – A robotic camera who shoots laser pellets at the enemies.
- General Blue – A psychic general of the Red Ribbon Army.
- Giran – A Dinosaur martial artist who participates in the 21st Tenkaichi Tournament.
- Grandpa Son Gohan – Goku's dead grandfather.
- Jackie Chun – Turtle Hermit's disguise while competing in tournaments.
- Kuririn – Goku's best friend and rival for a time. Has his own Story mode (where he replaces Goku) and is also playable in Extra mode.
- Master Sergeant Murasaki – A ninja who works for the Red Ribbon Army.
- Namu – An Indian martial artist who participates in the 21st Tenkaichi Tournament.
- Oolong – A shapeshifting Pig who is part of the Dragon Ball Gang.
- Pilaf – A greedy emperor trying to take over the world. Appears in a small Pilaf Machine with extendable arms.
- Pirate Robot – A robot who was programmed by pirates to guard their treasure.
- Red Ribbon Army Soldier – A Human soldier who is part of the the Red Ribbon Army.
- Red Ribbon Army Dog Soldier – A Dog soldier who is part of the the Red Ribbon Army.
- Sergeant Metallic – A huge Terminator-esque robot who is the 3rd Floor boss of Muscle Tower.
- Shuu – Pilaf's right hand man, although a little clumsy. Appears in a tall Pilaf Machine capable of heavy firepower.
- Son Goku – The hero of Dragon Ball and part of the Dragon Ball Gang.
- Staff Officer Black – A Human who is second-in-command of the Red Ribbon Army. Appears in his Red Ribbon Battle Jacket.
- Tambourine – A spawn of Piccolo Daimao who Goku confronts.
- Tenshinhan – A young warrior that used to be evil, but turned good.
- Tao Pai Pai – A deadly assassin hired by the Red Ribbon Army.
- Ukulele – A spawn of Piccolo Daimao who resembles a Duck/Gargoyle.
- Yajirobe – A samurai who met Goku. Only appears in cutscenes.
- Yamucha – A desert bandit who later joins the Dragon Ball Gang.
Non-playable
- Bulma Brief
- Kame
- Gyumao
- Tenkaichi Tournament Announcer
- Suno
- General White
- Upa
- Karin
- Uranai Baba
- Yajirobe
- Shen Long
Enemy
Boss
- Battle Jacket (Staff Officer Black)
- Bear Thief
- Buyon
- Combined Pilaf Machine
- Devil Man
- Drum
- Illusion Kuririn
- Illusion Yamucha (with Illusion Pu-erh)
- Kuririn (when playing as Goku)
- General Blue
- Grandpa Son Gohan
- Master Sergeant Murasaki
- Master Sergeant Murasaki and Murasaki's Brothers
- Oolong
- Piccolo Daimao
- Pilaf Machine x 2 (Pilaf and Shuu)
- Pirate Robot
- Sergeant Metallic
- Son Goku (when playing as Kuririn)
- Tambourine
- Tao Pai Pai
- Yamucha (with Pu-erh)
Levels
- Above City
- Baba's Palace
- City Street
- Chow Castle
- Fire Mountain (not playable)
- Goku's House
- Island of Training
- Kame House (not playable)
- Land of Korin
- Muscle Tower
- Oolong's Village
- Pilaf's Castle
- Red Ribbon Army Base (Above Red Ribbon Army Base, Inside Red Ribbon Army Base)
- Underwater Cave
- Wilderness
- World Tournament Arena (21st World Tournament, 22nd World Tournament)
- Yajirobe's Prairie
Trivia
Instead of 'Capsule 82' written on the submarine that they take to get to the Pirate Cave, it has 'Capsule 28' written on it.
Reception
The game received mixed reviews, some positive some negative. Critics say that all the modes made it a much better game than if there was just 1 or 2 modes. The One-On-One mode was criticized for being too straightforward, but was also praised for the whole concept in the first place. The minigames were described as cute, but all in all, it was the number of locations from the show, number of playable characters, and number of items from the show that really surprised people. The Story mode was a little bit criticized for telling the actual story, but the gameplay (and the new Extra mode) was praised a lot in its place.