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Dragon Ball Heroes (Japanese: ドラゴンボール ヒーローズ, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Hirozu) was a Japanese trading card arcade game based on the Dragon Ball franchise. It debuted on November 11, 2010 in Japan. In 2016, an update launched that improved the user experience in the form of enhanced graphics and easier accessibility of characters. This update was named Super Dragon Ball Heroes (スーパー ドラゴンボールヒーローズ).[1] Several other games based on the series have been released for Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows. Numerous manga adaptations have been published by Shueisha and a promotional anime adaptation by Toei Animation began being shown at public events in July 2018 before being uploaded online.
| Dragon Ball Heroes | |
|---|---|
 Cover art for the Nintendo 3DS version of the game | |
| Developer(s) | Dimps |
| Publisher(s) | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Series | Dragon Ball |
| Engine | Budokai series |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Digital collectible card game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Dragon Ball Heroes ceased operations after 13 years of development and announced a sequel to the series, titled Dragon Ball Super Divers, which was announced on May 9, 2024. The game's producer, Akai announced during an interview with V-Jump Editor, Victory Uchida that though Heroes arcades will no longer be in operation, Super Divers will contain a "Super Dragon Ball Heroes mode" allowing players to play its missions and use their existing cards while adjusting with the new system.[2]
Gameplay
editPlayers were able to choose a "hero avatar" from 8 different races.
Adaptations
editManga
editDragon Ball Heroes was adapted into several manga series. Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission (ドラゴンボール ヒーローズ ビクトリーミッション), written and illustrated by Toyotarou, was serialized in Shueisha's V Jump magazine since November 2012. With 28 chapters, it is on hiatus as Toyotarou is drawing Dragon Ball Super. A chapter 29 was included in the Bandai Official 5th Anniversary Fanbook: Dragon Ball Heroes 5th Anniversary Mission book published on November 19, 2015 and all previous chapters were uploaded to the game's website for free.[3]
Dragon Ball Heroes: Charisma Mission! (ドラゴンボールヒーローズ 超（スーパー）カリスマミッション!), written and illustrated by Yoshitaka Nagayama, was serialized in Saikyō Jump from December 2013. It was put on hiatus, when Nagayama began his other series in the same magazine, until March 2017, when it was relaunched as Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Charisma Mission!! (スーパードラゴンボールヒーローズ 極（アルティメット）カリスマミッション!!).
Nagayama also drew Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ankoku Makai Mission! (スーパードラゴンボールヒーローズ 暗黒魔界ミッション！, Sūpā Doragon Bōru Hīrōzu Ankoku Makai Misshon!). Serialized in Saikyō Jump since August 5, 2016,[4] its first collected volume was published on May 2, 2017 and its second on May 2, 2018.[5][6] The series was relaunched as Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission!! (スーパードラゴンボールヒーローズ ユニバースミッション!!) on April 6, 2018 and is serialized alongside Ultimate Charisma Mission!!.[7]
Arcade
editIn Japanese stores there are arcade machines that run Super Dragon Ball Heroes. It is the source material for all Super Dragon Ball Heroes media (Manga, Games, and the Anime). It contains an entire story arc and multiple subplots that the anime and manga skipped. If you pay a small amount of yen the arcade will deposit a few cards. There are multiple rarities such as: R, SR, UR, CAMPAIN, SEC. You can then use said cards and scan them on the machine to play the multiplayer mode.
Anime
editIn May 2018, V Jump announced a promotional anime for Super Dragon Ball Heroes that will adapt the game's Prison Planet arc. A teaser trailer for the first episode was released on June 21, 2018 and shows the new characters Fu (フュー, Fyū) and Kanbā (カンバー), an evil Saiyan.[8] The first episode was shown at Aeon Lake Town, a shopping mall in Koshigaya, Saitama, on July 1, 2018 and was uploaded to the game's official website that same day.[9][10] Likewise, the second episode was shown at Jump Victory Carnival Tokyo Kaijō on July 16 before being uploaded to the website.[10]
Production
editDragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama supervised the game's designs and setting.[11] He also designed the three Freeza clan characters.[11]
Reception
edit| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | NS: 69/100[12] PC: 72/100[13] |
Dragon Ball Heroes is the number one digital card game.[1] By May 2016, the game had sold 400 million cards and grossed over ¥40 billion[14] ($365 million).[1] By October 2016, the game sold 500 million cards and grossed ¥50 billion[15] ($460 million).
References
edit- ^ a b c "What is 'Dragon Ball Heroes'?". ComicBook.com. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
- ^ "「ドラゴンボールスーパーダイバーズ」稼働決定！！". Super Dragon Ball Heroes Official Site (in Japanese). Bandai Namco Entertainment. May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ^ Vジャンプ特別編集増刊・バンダイ公式5周年記念ファンブック 『ドラゴンボールヒーローズ 5th ANNIVERSARY MISSION』本日発売！. V Jump (in Japanese). November 19, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
- ^ "Saikyo JUMP September 2016 Issue". CDJapan. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
- ^ "スーパードラゴンボールヒーローズ 暗黒魔界ミッション！ 1" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ "スーパードラゴンボールヒーローズ 暗黒魔界ミッション！ 2" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- ^ "『ドラゴンボール』のマンガやゲーム情報が盛りだくさん！4月6日(金)『最強ジャンプ5月号』が発売！". Dragon Ball Official Site (in Japanese). Shueisha. April 6, 2018.
- ^ ""Dragon Ball Heroes" New Anime Series Debuts First Trailer". hotnewhiphop.com. June 21, 2018.
- ^ Peters, Megan (May 17, 2018). "'Dragon Ball' Reveals New Anime Project". ComicBook.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ a b "Super Dragon Ball Heroes Promotional Anime's Trailer, July 1 Online Premiere Revealed". Anime News Network. June 28, 2018. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "[鳥山明ほぼ全仕事] 平日更新24時間限定公開！ 2019/08/23". Dragon Ball Official Site (in Japanese). Shueisha. August 23, 2019. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ "Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
- ^ "Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
- ^ "「ドラゴンボールヒーローズ」秋より新筐体に アニメ新章「"未来"トランクス編」の敵はブラック悟空". アニメ！アニメ！ (in Japanese). June 9, 2016.
- ^ "「スーパードラゴンボールヒーローズ」の稼働日が11月17日に決定。6周年＆出荷5億枚達成の記念イベントも". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). October 10, 2016.