The Balldragon Review – a Short, Lowbrow Parody of Dragon Ball Z!

Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Z is among the most popular anime ever, so it is no surprise that there are many pieces of fan art and manga available for it, along with homemade video games. The most recent being The Balldragon parody title that is available now on Steam for free!

Although, before getting excited, just know that it is an extremely short visual novel game that can be beaten in about five minutes. In fact, it is clear that the creator just wants to have fun making a parody of Dragon Ball Z. The game has a lot of references to tropes from the show in the game’s dialog.

Some of it is admittedly pretty funny. But even though some of the screen shots on the sales page appear to show a turn-based battle system, it doesn’t really have that. The only choices in the game are the attacks used in battle for comedic affect.

However, to be clear, this game is just one lowbrow joke after another. The comedy isn’t intelligent. Nor is there a lot of depth to it. I did laugh out loud a few times at it, and if that is what the developer wanted from players, then the game is a success in that regard.

Another decent area is some of the artwork. I did like Goque’s regular illustration and Ratitz’s absurd look. It was easy to tell which of these characters they were supposed to be in Dragon Ball Z. I was sad to see Bullbam seem so ugly though.

For the music and sound effects, I’m just glad they are there. If the game was completely silent it would have been weird. There is one place where the sound effects add to the game. It’s when Krulling uses his special attack. For some reason it makes the attack funnier.

The last thing I want to share about the game is that it just seems awkward. After initially loading the game, the first option is a choice of resolutions, both of which are not typical values. And to make matters worse, I couldn’t even find a way to play the game in full screen. Moreover, my controller didn’t work for the game either. None of these are that big of a deal, but they were irritating.

Reflecting back on The Balldragon, yes, it is a bit funny! Just don’t expect much of it and you’ll probably have a fun time. I thought it was all right in a dumb sort of way. If you don’t play it, you’re not missing much. I can’t recommend it, but I can see why people enjoy it.

Title: The Balldragon
Genre: Visual Novel
Year Released: 2025
Developer: Bazookafriend
Played On: Steam.
Price Paid: Free.

Remember, we can have different opinions about the games we play. If you like something more (or less) than I do, both of our perspectives are valid.