Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball (Japanese: ドラゴンボール, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was initially inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. The series follows the adventures of the protagonist, Goku, from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls.

The 42 tankōbon have been adapted into two anime series produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. Additionally, the studio has developed nineteen animated feature films and three television specials, as well as a third anime titled Dragon Ball GT. Between 2009 and 2015, a revised, faster-paced version of Dragon Ball Z was broadcast under the title Dragon Ball Kai, in which most of the original version's footage not featured in the manga is removed. A fifth television series titled Dragon Ball Super began on July 5, 2015. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising based on the series leading to a large media franchise that includes films, both animated and live-action, collectible trading card games, numerous action figures, along with several collections of soundtracks and a large number of video games.

Dragon Ball Super

Dragon Ball Super (Japanese: ドラゴンボール超（スーパー）, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Sūpā) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation that began airing on July 5, 2015. It is the first Dragon Ball television series featuring a new storyline in 18 years. It is set after the defeat of Majin Boo when Earth has become peaceful once again. It is broadcast on Sundays at 9:00 am on Fuji TV.

Plot

With Majin Boo defeated, peace returns to Earth. Son Goku is a radish farmer. His family and friends live peaceful lives. However, a new threat appears in the form of Beerus who is the God of Destruction (破壊神ビルス, Hakaishin Birusu). Considered the most terrifying being in the entire universe, Beerus is eager to fight the legendary warrior seen in a prophecy known as the Super Saiyan God (超（スーパー）サイヤ人ゴッド, Sūpā Saiya-jin Goddo).

The series retells the events from the last two Dragon Ball Z films, Battle of Gods and Resurrection 'F', before proceeding to an original story about the exploration of alternate universes.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, known in Japan as Mario & Luigi RPG (マリオ＆ルイージRPG, Mario ando Ruīji Aru Pī Jī), is a role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. The first game in the Mario & Luigi RPG series, Superstar Saga was followed by four sequels: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story for the Nintendo DS, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team for the Nintendo 3DS and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam also for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was later re-released for the Wii U Virtual Console on the Nintendo eShop in 2014.

The setting of the game begins in the Mushroom Kingdom, but progresses to the Beanbean Kingdom for the majority of the game. In the game, Mario and Luigi combat Cackletta, the primary antagonist. The quest begins when Cackletta, with the aid of her assistant Fawful, steals Princess Peach's voice after adopting the guise of an ambassador from the Beanbean Kingdom.

A role-playing game, it centers on a battle system different from that of traditional games of the genre, with emphasis on timing and more elaborate attacks. The game is whimsical in tone, with various in-game jokes and comical references to the heritage of the Mario series. Superstar Saga was generally well received by critics, and IGN named it the twelfth best Game Boy Advance game of all time in their feature reflecting on the Game Boy Advance's lifespan.

List of Mario role-playing games

The Mario franchise has inspired a variety of Mario role-playing games (RPG) to be released on multiple Nintendo video game consoles. All the games feature Mario as the protagonist, who is often accompanied by one or more playable characters, including existing Mario characters and original characters introduced in each game.

The first game to introduce RPG elements into the Mario franchise was Super Mario RPG, developed by Square and released in 1996 for the Super Famicom and SNES. The game does not have a direct sequel. Considered to be its thematic and spiritual sequels, two successive RPG-themed Mario series, the Paper Mario series and the Mario & Luigi series, followed conventions established in the original. The Paper Mario games were developed by Intelligent Systems, a subsidiary of Nintendo, and are renowned for their distinctive visual style, which consists of two-dimensional paper cutout characters moving about in three-dimensional papercraft worlds. The Mario & Luigi games were developed by AlphaDream, another subsidiary of Nintendo, all of which appeared solely on handheld consoles. The most recent entries in each series are the Nintendo 3DS games: Sticker Star and Paper Jam. The game, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is a game in the Mario & Luigi series, featuring characters from the Paper Mario series.