Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension
The final Dragon Ball fighting game for the Super Nintendo.
Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension, a 1996 fighting game for the Super Nintendo, was developed by Tose and published by Bandai. It is the final Dragon Ball fighting game for the SNES, covering the Frieza saga through the Majin Buu saga. Its one-on-one combat uses a six-button layout with special moves, similar to the Butōden series.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Tose
- Publisher
- Bandai
- Producer
- Takeo Isogai; Toshihiro Suzuki
- Designer
- Ichi Fuji
- Laru Itagawa
- Ni Taka
- Programmer
- CLQ
- Happy Hasei
- Maruko
- Artist
- Ganchi; Sarusaru
- Composer
- Mitsuhiko Takano
- Series
- Dragon Ball
Facts from the source article.
Development and release
Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension was the final major fighting game in the Dragon Ball series for the Super Nintendo. Its development took 15 months, with most of the team from the three earlier Super Butōden titles returning. Producer Toshihiro Suzuki led the project, assisted by Takeo Isogai. The soundtrack was created by Chatrita, Mitsuhiko Takano, Nakajima, and Tonkupon.
Toei Animation and V Jump magazine also contributed to the game’s creation. Before release, early previews showed both forms of Majin Buu, referred to by the working names Buu and Original Buu. Bandai originally scheduled the Japanese launch for March 22, 1996, but it was delayed to March 29 of the same year. The European release followed in February 1997, on a 20-megabit cartridge that used the SA1 enhancement chip.
The game was shown at Shoshinkai 1995, and Club Nintendo magazine announced a planned release in Mexico. On April 20, 1996, a compilation album featuring music from Hyper Dimension, along with tracks from Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butōden and Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden – Kakusei-Hen, was released exclusively in Japan by Columbia. This album included arranged songs by Kenji Yamamoto. The title has never received an official release outside Japan and Europe, though fan translations are available.
Reception
Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension was generally well-received by both critics and players. A reader poll from Family Computer Magazine gave it a score of 23.6 out of 30, pointing to a strong fan base. Its sales in Japan, however, were lower than those of the three earlier Super Butōden titles, falling between roughly 162,729 and 220,000 copies. Tim Weaver of Super Play liked the game’s audiovisual style, the eight-player tournament mode, and the fact that the split-screen feature was gone.
Still, he felt it was too similar to the previous Super Butōden games and didn’t measure up to Street Fighter II. Christophe Delpierre from Player One and Nintendo Player praised the detailed graphics and technical gameplay, but he criticized the sprite animations, music, lack of a story mode, and lack of new ideas, though he still called it a quality game. Grégoire Hellot of Joypad complimented the graphics and controls, but pointed out the shortage of extra stages.
Richard Homsy of Consoles + gave positive marks for the visuals and sound, but he found fault with the character animations and input lag, concluding that the game was far behind Street Fighter Alpha 2 as a fighting title. Sonia Herranz of Hobby Consolas said the game’s roster was weaker than those in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and she criticized the slow characters and sound design, though she praised its playability and fun factor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What platforms is Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension available on?
Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension was released for Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Who designed Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension?
Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension was designed by Ichi Fuji, Laru Itagawa and Ni Taka.
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