Akira Toriyama created many lovable video game characters. In this article, we would like to take a look back at what he brought to the video game industry.

In March, the news of the passing of Akira Toriyama, a manga artist known for works such as the Dragon Ball series, shocked the world. Did you know he made a tremendous impact on the video game industry too?

In this article, we would like to take a look back at his contributions to the video game industry by looking at some of the most popular and nostalgic video games for Japanese people.

The first one is the Dragon Quest series, which has been enjoying immense popularity since 1986. It is known as one of Japan’s most famous role-playing games (or RPGs) in which the protagonist sets out on a grand adventure to defeat the demon lord that is threatening the world, and you, the player, live the story through the eyes of the protagonist.

Akira Toriyama was the character designer for this genre-defining video game series. Slime, the most recognizable mascot of the game, was initially going to be a “slimy and sludgy monster,” but it ended up with a cute, onion-shaped appearance with eyes and a mouth for facial expressions based on Toriyama’s idea. These adorable monsters, including Slime, created by Toriyama added a sense of warmth to the epic world of the game.

Over 80 titles have been released from the Dragon Quest series, and a total of over 88 million copies have been sold, both physically and digitally.

If you are looking to find a special experience in Japan, we also recommend visiting Luida’s Bar in Akihabara. It is a café which is run as a collaboration between Dragon Quest and Karaoke Pasela.

The next one is Chrono Trigger, a classic masterpiece RPG released on Super Nintendo in 1995. Still having a tremendous fandom, its story unfolds as the characters travel across different times—present day, medieval times, future, primitive times, and ancient times. It became huge news at the time because its development was headed by the “dream team” consisting of Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, Yuji Horii, the creator of the Dragon Quest series, and Akira Toriyama. Toriyama designed the characters such as protagonist Crono, Marle, Lucca, and Frog.

A Spotify playlist that lets you immerse yourself in the world of Chrono Trigger.

Last but not least, we would also like to touch on a PlayStation fighting game called Tobal No. 1 which was released in 1996. It became a huge hit for its unique fighting system, which allows full freedom of movement in the three-dimensional ring, as well as for a variety of moves such as jumping, striking, grappling, and throwing. Set on a planet called Tobal, the participants, including earthlings, aliens, and robots, compete to be number one in a fighting tournament held once every 200 days. Akira Toriyama designed the characters, including the main character, Chuji Wu. This game also features a secret character modeled after Toriyama’s self-portrait. That kind of playfulness is one of the things that make the game awesome.

The legacy that Toriyama left behind is just incalculable. Although he has passed away, his works will live on and continue to captivate everyone whether they are manga or video games.

(Information as of April 2024)