Depending on your age (and how much pocket money you blew at GameStop), you might remember The Legacy of Goku trilogy of Dragon Ball Z games that launched on the Game Boy Advance in the early 2000s. They were made by a company called Webfoot Technologies, which is best known for… well, these games and not much else. The trilogy consisted of The Legacy of Goku, The Legacy of Goku II, and Buu’s Fury, each of which attempted to cram entire anime sagas into tiny pixelated RPGs.
Now, let’s be clear: the first game sucked harder than Yamcha in a 1v1. The combat was clunky, the story was weirdly abridged, and entire enemy rosters had to be invented out of thin air just to pad out the runtime.
But then, Webfoot pulled a Vegeta-style redemption arc and dropped Legacy of Goku II, which was basically the Majin Vegeta of handheld RPGs: brutal, badass, and finally worthy of respect.
Legacy II expanded everything—better combat, multiple playable characters, actual missions that didn’t feel like busywork, and an art style that leaned hard into pixelated charm. It kicked things off with Trunks’ post-apocalyptic emo fanfic and marched all the way through the Cell Saga. Critics actually liked it, fans loved it, and suddenly Webfoot went from “who the hell are these guys” to “these dudes just saved the handheld Dragon Ball scene.”
Then came Buu’s Fury, which said, “Screw it, let’s throw in Broly AND Janemba while we’re at it.” The game not only tackled the Buu Saga but also stuffed in every possible villain, henchman, and pink blob it could fit into a cartridge the size of a saltine. At this point, the series had finally figured itself out. The combat worked, the world felt alive, and you could actually enjoy it without forcing yourself to say, “Well, it’s good for a licensed game.”
Here’s the kicker: Buu’s Fury was the last time we saw the series (despite a few other games that don’t nearly have as much of a following- looking at you, Taiketsu). Webfoot dropped a couple bangers then dropped the mic. They vanished without a whisper and left us clutching our GBA cartridges like they were sacred relics. And yet, the demand hasn’t gone away. In fact, it’s only grown louder thanks to emulation, YouTube nostalgia binges, and the fact that Dragon Ball Super and Daima have both given us enough material to fill three more games. Heck, we would even take GT at this point (don’t remind us of Transformations).
The game also featured a handful of unique encounters from the OVAs, including one with Cooler. If you happened to play as Future Trunks when challenging him, a unique set of dialog would appear where Trunks revealed it was he and not Goku who actually killed Frieza.Which is why it’s criminal that Nintendo Switch hasn’t gotten a Legacy of Goku Collection at the very least. Think about it: Breath of the Wild and Skyrim both fit on a Switch cartridge, so why not a pixel-art RPG that retells all of Dragon Ball Super? The art style doesn’t need to change—we’re not asking for a soulless 3D remake here. Keep it sprite-based, keep it weirdly charming, just make it bigger.
Games like Terraria and Stardew Valley prove that pixel games can still print money in 2025, so there’s no excuse. We don’t need ray-traced hair physics for Goku’s transformations. We just need that sweet, sweet Legacy II/BF formula with a fresh coat of Super Saiyan Blue. As well as every other new transformation introduced in the manga that no one can keep track of properly.
Until then, the trilogy survives in the wild through emulators and Let’s Plays, a digital shrine to a time when Goku’s adventures fit in your pocket. But damn it, we deserve more. The Switch is begging for a pixelated Legacy of Goku IV, and until it happens, we’ll just be over here, replaying Buu’s Fury and pretending that Janemba showing up in the middle of the Buu Saga made sense.
The sad truth, though, is that Webfoot Technologies might not even exist anymore. Their social media presence is as dead as Raditz, and their dev portfolio dried up years ago. So the odds of getting a new installment are about as likely as Krillin winning the World Martial Arts Tournament.
If you are interested in revisiting the magic that was The Legacy of Goku trilogy, you can take a look at my playthroughs on YouTube below.
