Sand Land might not be the most famous of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's works, but a video game adaption has been announced for it at this year's Summer Game Fest. Toriyama has a long list of works with the more famous ones being Dr. Slump and the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise, the latter of which already has dozens of video games under its belt. Dragon Ball: The Breakers has recently revealed new characters for its third season, as an example.
Akira Toriyama is world-renowned for his iconic art style and characters. His first published work was Wonder Land, a one-shot featured in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1978 that received a sequel, Wonder Land 2, the very next year. The aforementioned Dr. Slump ran for four years between 1980 and 1984 over 236 chapters became wildly popular, selling over 35 million copies in Japan alone by 2008. After that, Toriyama went on to create Dragon Ball, which should need no introduction since it is one of the best-selling manga of all time; its TV adaption also helped popularize anime in the west.
A new game based on the Dragon Ball creator's Sand Land manga has been announced at the 2023 Summer Game Fest. The game is an action-adventure title that follows the story of the Fiend Prince Beelzebub and his companions as they search far and wide across a desert world for the Legendary Spring - the source of all water in the world that is controlled by a greedy king. Sand Land is also being adapted into a movie by Sunrise Studio that will hit theaters in August 2023.
Sand Land will feature a vast world, interesting characters, and "explosive" vehicular combat. The title is being developed by Shinjuku-based ILCA, a company credited with work on titles including Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age, and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. The Sand Land project was initially teased around the beginning of December 2022, coincidentally on the same day as The Game Awards.
For Akira Toriyama's fans, Sand Land will be instantly recognizable thanks to his trademark art style that seems to translate exceptionally well into video games. While he may not be as well known for it, Toriyama has been involved with a number of video games, including Dragon Quest, Blue Dragon, and Chrono Trigger, the latter of which is considered one of the greatest RPGs ever made. While no release date has been provided for the game, fans can look forward to watching the Sand Land movie later this year.
Sand Land is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
