From the Archives: Akira Toriyama's Impact on Gaming
More than Just Dragon Ball
From the Archives: As I deal with an illness, I’ve decided to go back into the archives to bring back to life an article from the first years of 1UP Vault. As I play Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, it reminds me of Akira Toriyama and how it’s about two years since his passing. Back on March 12, 2024, I published an article on the impact Toriyama had on gaming, so I bring it back at a perfect time. I did not edit or make any changes, choosing to leave it as originally written, aside from some minor formatting updates.
We lost a legend in Akira Toriyama. His body of work on the anime landscape had a significant impact that the genre is still feeling to this day. His most famous creation was the Dragon Ball series, which you could argue helped anime become more mainstream in the United States. The show Dragon Ball Z in particular was a major part of my childhood. I still remember running to the TV after school to catch up on the latest episodes. Moments that will stay with me like Goku becoming Super Saiyan, the debut of Trunks, the character arc of Gohan culminating in his fight with Cell, and despite not being my favorite - the Buu saga and its ending. Toriyama’s impact on anime and animation as a whole is well-known and deserving of memorial. However, there is another side to his career that doesn’t get as much attention, his impact on video games. So I’m going to look at his work in the medium and how it impacted the gaming industry.
Dragon Quest
When Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series started to gain popularity in Japan, he was approached by Enix to make the art and character designs for their new game Dragon Quest. Roleplaying games had quickly become the most popular genre in video games in Japan and Enix was banking on Dragon Quest being a hit on the Famicom. He was chosen as they wanted Toriyama’s look that combines strength with the “chibi” style. Toriyama wasn’t versed in video games and he had to squeeze it into his growingly busy schedule. Despite this, he wanted to make sure he did a good job and appreciated Enix’s trust in him. The game would prove to be the launching pad for one of the most iconic JRPG franchises in video games and he would provide the art and character designs for Dragon Quest until his recent passing. He would also provide art for the fighting games Tobal No.1 and Tobal No. 2 for the PlayStation.
Chrono Trigger and Blue Dragon
In 1995 Squaresoft released a game that has gone on to become known as potentially the greatest RPG of all time - Chrono Trigger. This is a game that was created by a legit dream team. Hironobu Sakaguchi (the creator of Final Fantasy), Yoshinori Kitase (the director of Final Fantasy 7, 8, and 10), Nobuo Uematsu (the composer of various Final Fantasy games), Yasunori Mitsuda (one of the best gaming composers out there), and Yuji Horii (creator of Dragon Quest) all came together to make Chrono Trigger. With all that talent already on the project, Toriyama was picked out to do the art and character design. While you can see the Dragon Ball influence in the character designs of Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger shows it. The main protagonist Crono looks very much like a character that could come out of that universe.
Chrono Trigger is now considered one of the most consequential games in video game history. It has one of the best stories put on the gaming screen, gameplay mechanics that were ahead of its time, and its characters are among some of the most memorable of the 2D JRPG scene. The game has a cult following and the love of those characters is attributed to the designs of Toriyama. Toriyama’s impact will be most felt by Dragon Ball, but his character work on Chrono Trigger will leave a big impression on many as well.
Toriyama’s partnership with Hironobu Sakaguchi wouldn’t end there, as he did the art work and designs for the Blue Dragon games from Mistwalker. While not nearly as impactful as Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon has gone on to have a small legacy from the days when Xbox tried to woo Japan in the early 360 days. Still, the same Toriyama art style and charm can be seen in the characters and world.
Influence
Toriyama’s impact on video games doesn’t end with what he worked on, it also shows in other titles he didn’t. There’s no doubt that the design of Super Sonic is at least somewhat influenced by the popular art of Super Saiyans from Dragon Ball. The golden fur, the hair spiked up, the fists - we all know. But Sonic isn’t where it stops, look at the design of many characters in many JRPGs. From the mid-90s and on, it’s fairly obvious Toriyama’s spiky hair aesthetics start to show in multiple characters. Look at Final Fantasy VIII, you can’t tell me Cloud’s hair isn’t influenced by Toriyama’s character design.
Then of course there is the adaptation of Toriyama’s former works into video games. The Dragon Ball franchise has had many video game adaptions that have solid entries. I specifically remember as a kid Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout getting a lot of hype around my circle of friends. And the impact isn’t ending yet as Toriyama’s manga series Sand Land is getting a video game this year by Bandai Namco. So Toriyama’s impact is felt everywhere in the industry to this day.
Rest Easy Toriyama-san
Akira Torimaya’s impact will be felt by many, especially Millennials, for decades to come. His work on anime and video games will be felt and remembered. In gaming, his work on the iconic franchise Dragon Quest and the game Chrono Trigger, potentially the greatest JRPG ever released, will be part of his memory on Earth. When we think of the greatest creators and storytellers we think of Walt Disney, Stan Lee, Shigeru Miyamoto, Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ruth Handler, and more. Toriyama-san is on that list and we will never forget his contributions. Rest easy Toriyama-san. See you in Other World.
I've just started playing Sand Land and the art style and characters are by far the best thing about it. Saving this one for later!