NES Dragon Ball: Mystery of Shenron (English Patched) NES ROM

[CSmith327]

Game Description:​

Dragon Ball: Mystery of Shenron (Dragon Ball - Shen Long no Nazoドラゴンボール 神龍の謎) is an Action-Adventure video game published by Bandai Co Ltd. and developed by TOSE released on 1986 for the NES.

Translation Credits:​

Released by: BlackPaladin
Language: English
Status: Fully Translated
Patch Version: v1.0
Date: 28 May 2026

Source and details: https://romhackplaza.org/translations/dragon-ball-shenron-no-nazo-english-translation-nes/

The game stars Goku and initially roughly follows the first two volumes of the Dragon Ball manga where he encounters many enemies and allies while collecting the Dragon Balls, culminating in the first wish from Shenron in the Emperor Pilaf Saga (levels 1 to 6). The game then moves on to an entirely original story line: Goku enters a Kung-Fu Tournament for levels 7 to 10 and faces off against various strong opponents. A year later (levels 11 to 14) Goku borrows the Dragon Radar from Bulma and heads out in search of his Grandpa Gohan's keepsake, the Four-Star Dragon Ball.

The game was stripped of its Dragon Ball licensing and released in the US in 1988 as "Dragon Power" with a poor translation and altered graphics and sprites for the characters during cutscenes. A more faithful localization that retained the Dragon Ball license was released in France in 1990.

It's often mistakenly thought of as the first ever Dragon Ball themed video game, but actually that distinction belongs to Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyou (Dragon Ball: The Great Unexplored Dragon Region) which was released a few months earlier for the Epoch Super Cassette Vision console. Although this game is the first Dragon Ball game produced by Bandai.

Download Links​

• Dragon Ball: Mystery of Shenron (English Patched) NES ROM

 

[Slayzer Hiryu]

I had this game as a kid, here in Spain it was released the same version as France, for a hyper fan like me at the time the game was amazing and i enjoyed it a lot, but nowadays it's just right, it shows that is a 86' game.
Btw the game can be pretty hard if food doesn't appear, i discovered a cheat back in the day that can be helpful: on the second controller if you press down you fill your energy, and if you press B you skip a level.

 

[CSmith327]

@BlackPaladin I didn't realize you had an account on here or else I would have asked if it was alright to post this. I hope I done you justice with how I prepared it. Is there anything you think I should change or append?

 

[Infasis]

I think I watched Arino play this a long time ago. I remember it looking pretty fun

 

[CSmith327]

Done, I only played the first boss though but uploaded a few screenshots, feel free to pick what you'd like.

Done!

 

[Juiceala]

If you could take 4 good ones of different levels and a boss or two then that'd be great

Done, I only played the first boss though but uploaded a few screenshots, feel free to pick what you'd like.

 

[CSmith327]

I can take a few screenshots quickly for you on my ipad.

If you could take 4 good ones of different levels and a boss or two then that'd be great

 

[Juiceala]

I just took the screenshots from Mobygames of Dragon Power. Since I couldn't find any of the gameplay of the Japanese one. 6 sreenshots are of the patch but 4 are of the other one. I will probably replace them later. I didn't have access to my laptop and posted this using my tablet. It is indeed the patched rom by BlackPaladin

I can take a few screenshots quickly for you on my ipad.

 

[CSmith327]

I was thinking the same, I tested this (English patched) and can confirm he looks normal in game (at least the early parts) I never played this version I only heard of it infamously so idk if that odd design happens at some point in the game or if CSmith327 accidentally shared the US localization version instead.

I just took the screenshots from Mobygames of Dragon Power. Since I couldn't find any of the gameplay of the Japanese one. 6 sreenshots are of the patch but 4 are of the other one. I will probably replace them later. I didn't have access to my laptop and posted this using my tablet. It is indeed the patched rom by BlackPaladin

 

[Juiceala]

Goku's in-game sprite looks horrible. Where's his hair?

I was thinking the same, I tested this (English patched) and can confirm he looks normal in game (at least the early parts) I never played this version I only heard of it infamously so idk if that odd design happens at some point in the game or if CSmith327 accidentally shared the US localization version instead.

 

[CSmith327]

If anybody can find a boxart scan without the gold Tose sticker besides the scan from archive.org then I'll fix it up for this post provided it looks good enough. The one from archive.org has damage from the removal of the sticker. Like glue residue with dirt stuck to it and some of the paper from the box ripped off from it. It's a shame since it was a great scan with good resolution and color

 

[Boscobilly]

Goku's in-game sprite looks horrible. Where's his hair?

 

[gxm]

this and akira marked the end of "japanimation" and the birth of anime

 

[Juiceala]

Ah yes, this is the game where Master Roshi is really craving "sandwiches" from Bulma.