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Gather ‘round, Dragon Ball devotees and gluttons for punishment! This week on Play Comics, we’re subjecting ourselves to the digital equivalent of getting hit by Frieza’s Death Beam repeatedly-Dragon Ball Z Taiketsu for the Game Boy Advance. Imagine taking the most explosive anime franchise in history and cramming it into a game with all the fiery intensity of a damp firecracker. Spoiler alert: This isn’t a battle for glory-it’s a battle for survival against one of the most bafflingly awful licensed games ever conceived.
Joining me in this masochistic quest is Andrew Young from Behold!, who’s agreed to lend his expertise (and his remaining sanity) to dissect this pixelated travesty. Together, we’ll answer the burning question: How did a game about planet-destroying superhumans end up feeling as thrilling as watching paint dry on Master Roshi’s houseboat? Hint: It involves more clipping issues than Yamcha’s career and combat mechanics flatter than Krillin’s scalp.
From animations that resemble a PowerPoint presentation gone rogue to a soundtrack that sounds like a kazoo orchestra trapped in a washing machine, Taiketsu doesn’t just drop the ball-it spikes it into the core of the Earth, unleashes a Spirit Bomb of disappointment, and then forgets to animate the explosion. Whether you’re here for the schadenfreude or just morbid curiosity, grab your Dragon Radar and a stiff drink. This episode’s gonna hurt. A lot.
Learn such things as:
What happens when the developers are put not only behind the 8 ball, but also in front of a really high cliff on a windy day and that cliff is made of ice?
So I guess games really do need a story don’t they? Even if it’s just a hand wave at one.
Is this the new worst representation of the comic source material?
And so much more!
<img alt="" src="https://playcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Dragon-Ball-Taiketsu-Experience-400x225.jpg" />You can find Andrew by looking at the Behold! account on Twitter or of course the Behold! website. You should especially check out the episode looking at X-Men 97 because I love that series and need something good in my life, and the episode looking at Fan4stick because it has me in it.
If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.
If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.
Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.
You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicscaston Twitter and in the Play Comics Podcast Fan Groupon Facebook.
A big thanks to the Kickstarter campaign for I Brought A Gorilla to a Gunfight and the Kickstarter campaign for Starlite for the promos today.
Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who forgot that this game exists and is now on a mission to destroy me because I brought this fact back to light.
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