November 25, 2008

Exploring the Origins of Dragon Ball With US Producer Donny Clay
By Louis Bedigian

“We also had to consider the fact that Bulma would be following you around for most of the game and you have to be able to keep an eye on her to protect her from her own curiosity and still keep a focus on the task in front of you. Such as beating the snot out of an enemy or solving a puzzle blocking your path.”

Tucked away in the corner of Atari's meeting room at this year's E3 was Dragon Ball: Origins, a Nintendo DS-exclusive that wasn't officially announced until the show was over. At the time, Atari wasn't 100% sure what the final title would be, nor could they allow us to talk about the game until its existence was made public.

"[Origins] leans heavily toward action and active real-time combat as opposed to a turn-based RPG," said US Producer Donny Clay. "We do have some RPG elements as well though such as building Goku’s skills or health or Bulma’s weapons."

The initial secrecy was strange given the venue, but the end product proved to be a worthwhile Dragon Ball game. For GameZone's final verdict, peruse our full review. But don't exit before hearing what else Mr. Clay had to say about Dragon Ball: Origins.

Dragon Ball: Origins uses sort of a top-down/isometric view that mirrors Phantom Hourglass and a couple other DS titles. Its touch-based controls are also similar to Zelda. What made this the right setup for Origins?

Donny Clay: Well, for one thing and most importantly – it’s fun! But we also had to consider the fact that Bulma would be following you around for most of the game and you have to be able to keep an eye on her to protect her from her own curiosity and still keep a focus on the task in front of you. Such as beating the snot out of an enemy or solving a puzzle blocking your path.

Tell us more about the controls, the touch elements, and things relating to them.

DC: You control Goku’s movement by pointing with the stylus where you would like him to go. In combat you can simply tap on your enemies to attack them once you are in range. We also have the power pole controls where if you are holding it, you can tap on Goku then drag the stylus out and away from you to stretch it out. Once you have it ready you simply swipe the stylus in an arc towards the enemies and Goku will swing for the fences. There is also a whirling attack he can do where you draw circles over his head to activate it that is pretty neat.

Origins takes place during the Dragon Ball years, before DBZ, is that correct? If so, does that mean the story will revolve around Goku?

DC: Yes, this is Dragon Ball which happens before DBZ. The story definitely revolves around Goku and also Bulma.

What kinds of powers and/or special attacks will Goku possess?

DC: Goku has a power rush move he can do while in hand-to-hand mode. When he has the power pole out he can do a big swipe to hit multiple targets as well as a whirlwind attack. Goku also can use his patented Kamehameha attack later on in the game and it is AWESOME.

Will there be any puzzles or is this a straight-up action title?

DC: Definitely plenty of puzzles. For instance, there is a fire blocking your path and you must use the whirlwind attack to put it out. Another example would be and area where you need to break a rock in order to let some water into a channel you can’t otherwise get across. Stuff like that.

How is Bulma being utilized? I know she'll be able to build machines and weapons out of spare parts. Do you scavenge for those parts in the game? Tell us how this works.

DC: Bulma tags along with you and you have to maneuver her through the terrain and puzzles safely along with Goku. She has her own weapons you can upgrade throughout the game and will fight on her own for a while but it is easy for her to be overwhelmed so you need to help her fairly quickly when she gets into trouble.

Are there any specific villains or monsters slated to appear in the game, either to battle or just for the sake of the story?

DC: There are plenty of monsters to fight in the game along with wild animals and other enemies. We have also added in some new creatures into the game that were not in the original story as well. One of my favorite is a Giant Emperor Pilaf robot you have to defeat!

What is Goku's overall goal within the game?

DC: Goku’s overall goal is to help Bulma collect the dragon balls so that she can make a wish (I won’t spoil what that wish is, you’ll have to play to check it out) and basically have a great adventure and test out his fighting skills.

Thank you for your time.

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