Anyone looking to get into the world of video games will not take long before glancing upon something with Akira Toriyama’s legacy stamped all over it. You might even recognise the style before the name because it was that distinctive.
So now, with the legendary artist having sadly died at the age of 68, we look upon the work of an artist who gave so much to the video gaming industry. His work made him a true hero to video games, and one the world will sorely miss.
His style was so very distinctive, when you look at a game like Chrono Trigger you realise only one man could pull it off. Every drawing, every flick of a pencil you know that only one person could have designed it. He brought to life so many different worlds, every Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest game was made unique because of his approach to creating characters and worlds.
What every long-running creative work needs…
Every great series needs a style to punctuate every blade of grass, character, and monster across such lengthy stories. Yet to do that well you need cohesiveness and consistency to ensure nothing breaks your immersion, nothing looks out of place for your brain to whisk you away from being in that world.
Toriyama did that effortlessly and the success that came with every video game he touched speaks volumes. Dragon Quest is considered one of the greatest RPG series of all time, one of the founding fathers of a genre that still stands proudly to this day where others have fallen.
Dragon Ball is a successful manga and anime, yes, but it has seen a lot of success with video game adaptations. Personally, the Legacy Of Goku titles on the Game Boy Advance were a real highlight of my childhood.
Yet away from continuing a firmly established series, he proved he could make his style work in shorter series away from the protection of loyal fans.
Chrono Trigger is routinely considered one of the greatest JRPGs of all time. Every Reddit thread and every YouTube video about the greatest JRPGs has that game in the discussion for the highest places. Of course, Toriyama’s style was all over it and helped lead it to being of the, if not the, finest game of its era. While less successful than the rest, he continued his work in video games like Blue Dragon and Jump Force.
A unique approach that drove industry titans
Of course, hypotheticals are an impossible ask for concrete data, but would those titles have achieved the same success when designed by anyone else? I doubt it.
Why? Because his work allowed for stories to move so freely between the life and death serious, to being very whimsical and utterly charming at the drop of a hat. Dragon Quest especially saw such difficult fights, but against enemies that would switch to such a quirky expression that would make you burst out laughing.
The charm really can’t be understated. Every animal, every monster had something so inherently uplifting to the design. Simply going for a walk in any game that had his style wrapped around it was a joy.
To do this while being able to handle such moments of breathtaking drama, routinely displayed across Dragon Ball, was seriously impressive. The dramatic ending to the aforementioned Legacy Of Goku 2, and the epic fights across the Budokai games, isn’t an easy balance to get right.
It all came with such an effortless feeling as well, the art looked like it was being designed by someone just having fun doing his work. With anything creative, sensing that feeling behind a piece of work adds so much to the experience.
Thank you, Akira
Yet the real wonder with video games as a medium is that you have a less guided tour of a particular world. No, you can go out and explore and check every nook to see what is there.
To so many people around the world, that is what Akira Toriyama meant to them. Their best moments of relaxing while exploring these giant worlds, that had so much adventure and child-like wonder to them, were from his pencil and his mind.
Millions of people can be grateful that he put his mind to paper and didn’t stop. So for that, many are in his debt. Thanks for all the wonder and various worlds Akira, let the next step of your journey be as wondrous as the ones you provided for so many others.