Dragon Ball has been around for quite some time, so it stands to reason that there will be some pretty weird video games to go along with such a long history, and that's not even including the fan-made ones. One such game was a Japanese exclusive mobile racing game aptly titled Dragon Ball Racing, which was essentially a Mario Kart-style kart racer released in 2009 that allowed you to choose from a number of different characters, including Goku, Bulma, Vegeta and more.
Unfortunately, this racing game never made it to the West and eventually faded into obscurity, lost media and in danger of never seeing the light of day again. Thankfully, video game preservationists have once again gotten in touch, as not only has a BlueSky user named RockmanCosmo managed to archive the game, but it's currently playable as well.
Dragon Ball fans have saved and archived a Mario Kart style racing game
Dragon Ball Racing (trial version) and Naruto Keitai Ninjutsu Taisen were preserved by 2Souls! Both were released exclusively for i-mode keitai. Our copy of #DragonBall Racing is a trial version, so it only has Goku and a map. See my answer for gameplay of #Naruto i-mode fighting game. — RockmanCosmo (@rockmancosmo.bsky.social) 2025-06-17T22:58:30.568Z
If you want to play the game and experience a very strange part of Dragon Ball history for yourself, you can actually find a playable version of the title on the Keitai Archive (thanks GamesRadar), which is a site dedicated to preserving titles released on pre-Android phones in Japan. Dragon Ball Racing is one such title, and if you can get past all the Japanese and get into a race, it's actually a pretty fun way to kill ten or fifteen minutes.
Unfortunately, there is a downside to it all. This version of Dragon Ball Racing that has been archived is just the trial version of the game, which is extremely limited compared to the full version. For example, you can only play as Goku, and you can only race around one track, which is based on Kame House from the manga and anime.
Still, the world is definitely a better place now that we have Goku in a race kart, and if Bandai Namco knows what's good for it, I expect this mysterious Dragon Ball game announcement next January to be a full-scale remake.
