Dragon Ball’s Lost ‘Mario Kart’ Game Resurfaces After 16 Years in the Void

Dragon Ball is one of Japan’s biggest franchises, so it’s surprising that any piece of media from it could go missing. Despite the rabid fan base eager for more, however, Akira Toriyama’s legendary series is no stranger to lost media. After 16 years, however, a game thought lost forever has finally resurfaced.

According to Bluesky user RockmanCosmothe trial version of a lost Dragon Ball racing game released in 2009 has finally been found. Only the trial version has been archived at the moment, but it still offers a tantalizing glimpse at a piece of Dragon Ball history few were probably aware of.

Dragon Ball Racing Is The DBZ Mario Kart You Didn’t Know You Needed

While video game enthusiasts and Dragon Ball fans might wonder how a title with such a great premise flew under everyone’s radar, it actually makes sense that this is the first time many are hearing about the game.

Dragon Ball Racing was a mobile phone game released for Japanese phones back in 2009. Far from the iPhone-level smartphone games many are used to in the modern era, Dragon Ball Racing is a relatively simple game running on low-powered hardware.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of games like this were released for mobile phones in Japan during the late 2000s and early 2010s. Due to running on proprietary hardware, many of these games have been lost in the years since their publication.

Luckily for fans, a dedicated group of game preservationists has risen up to buy used Japanese phones in the hopes of finding old downloaded games that could be archived. This is likely how Dragon Ball Racing was found.

A Dragon Ball Racing Game Actually Sounds Like a Perfect Fit For The Franchise

Although fans might associate Dragon Ball more with fighting or adventure games, a racing game actually makes a lot of sense. Akira Toriyama famously loved drawing vehicles, and racing even featured prominently in the plot of Dragon Ball’s best filler episode.

A version of Mario Kart even appears in a brief chapter of Dragon Ball Superproving the racing connection is still relevant.

Given this, a Dragon Ball game in the style of Mario Kart hrs Crash Team Racing has tremendous potential and would be perfectly in line with Dragon Ball’s often goofy tones.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that a higher-budget version of Dragon Ball Racing will be made anytime soon. Still, it’s a relief that this lost piece of Dragon Ball media has finally been found.