Highlights
- Xbox honors Akira Toriyama with a dynamic Blue Dragon background, a tribute to his legendary contributions to gaming and anime.
- Toriyama’s impact on gaming goes beyond Dragon Ball, with character designs for titles like Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest.
- The dynamic background release may reignite interest in the classic Blue Dragon series and lead to new opportunities for fans to honor the artist.
A new dynamic Xbox background pays tribute to the late Akira Toriyama and his work on the classic Xbox 360 title Blue Dragon. Microsoft is known to regularly release themes for players to download on Xbox. Most of the time, the thematic releases take inspiration from holidays and other notable events. Such is the case for March 2024, with the legendary Akira Toriyama’s passing.
While most fans are more familiar with Toriyama’s work in anime, the famed artist had also done work for various games. While gamers are familiar with the likes of Dragon Ball Z, and its video game counterparts, Toriyama also worked on character designs for titles such as Chrono Trigger, Tobal, and Dragon Quest. However, one of his biggest contributions to the modern world of gaming has to be from the classic 360 game Blue Dragon.
Beyond Dragon Ball: The Other Works of Akira Toriyama
While Akira Toriyama is famous for Dragon Ball, his catalog of work stretches far beyond the iconic series.
As such, Xbox has decided to pay tribute to Akira Toriyama by releasing a dynamic background depicting a scene in Blue Dragon. The background shows Shu and his blue dragon on top of a rocky cliff with a dark cloudy backdrop with the moon behind them. The epic dynamic photo was shared by Xbox on its Twitter account, much to the praise of many fans. Many players have expressed how much they’ve missed the classic series. However, the developer had stated before that it was uninterested in remaking games from the MistStudio library.
List of Games Worked On By Akira Toriyama
- Dragon Quest
- Dragon Ball: Shenlong no Nazo
- Famicom Jump II: Saikyō no Shichinin
- Chrono Trigger
- Tobal No. 1
- Tobal 2
- Blue Dragon
- Blue Dragon Plus
- Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow
- Chosoku Henkei Gyrozetter
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Dragon Ball Legends
- Jump Force
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
- Fantasian
With Toriyama’s passing, and the release of this latest tribute from Microsoft and Xbox, perhaps the surge of fan interest might convince the developers to revisit the Blue Dragon franchise. With three games in that series, it would be a great way to honor the legend, as well as give modern gamers a chance to experience everything. The dynamic Blue Dragon series tried to reinvent itself after every release, but with each title, the influence of Akira Toriyama was hugely present.
Still, even without a re-release, the dynamic Xbox background should give a renewed interest in the classic series. The fitting tribute should give Toriyama and his contributions to gaming a big highlight. Toriyama’s passing may open up the gates for more opportunities for fans and gamers to honor the legendary artist, and may be a way for the community to discover his other works, not only in video games, but also in anime. Hopefully, the new generation of gaming could look into revisiting his works for the modern age of gaming.
