Sand Land from developer ILCA marks one of the last projects with input from legendary mangaka Akira Toriyama.

An action RPG based around Toriyama's popular one-shot manga that preceded globe and generation-spanning hits like Dragon Ball, Sand Land takes interesting vehicle-focused gameplay and customization and molds it with RPG trappings that fittingly match the iconic art style.

Before the added emotional weight for many with Toriyama's passing in March, Sand Land had the look of one of a stacked release calendar's most interesting offerings. An unmistakable art style, expressive characters, and the promise of unique mechanics and deep replayability were impossible to ignore.

Now, Sand Land arrives seeking to hit those marks and fulfill expectations.

Graphics and Gameplay

Even non-manga and non-anime viewers have been exposed to Toriyama's familiar style over the years, especially in his circular, steampunkish vehicle designs that have permeated series such as Sand Land, Dr. Slump and—of course—Dragon Ball.

That style makes for an incredible backdrop here, with a game based around a desert setting surprisingly vibrant and multicolored, with fun lighting and shadow effects, to boot. Characters are super-expressive in the expected anime style, and the complimentary sound design means funny dialogue (if not a bit stilted in the voice-acting department) and some booming explosions to keynote the combat. And enemies encountered can be downright huge in scale, making for memorable encounters.

In short, it's absolutely wild to see a manga jump off the page and into a video game like this, stylistically. Previous Dragon Ball Z games and otherwise have sometimes shifted styles even slightly in the transition, but it doesn't feel that way here.

The design choices to bring a manga page to life really allow the little details to shine. Things like animated puffs of smoke are a huge positive and so is the stunning lighting, especially when maneuvering around spotlights in the shadows. Given this choice, it means a lack of messy textures, bad pop-in at a distance and other graphical hiccups that plague big titles that strive for realism.

As players navigate the world (and it's not just desert, for what it's worth) in a third-person perspective, it quickly becomes apparent just how big things feel. Again, seemingly thanks to the art style that doesn't hit performance badly, there are some downright staggering draw distances off on the horizon that add depth to the immersion.

Controls can be a little wonky, though there are multiple different setting types available that players will want to try. Making a tank move in the direction it's pointed, rather than where the camera points seems to make the most sense.

On-foot combat centers around melee attacks, with a heavy emphasis on dodges. It's not the centerpiece of the gameplay by any means, but it's solid enough that it avoids standing out in a bad way. There's a stealth mechanic too that isn't going to rewrite that genre, but it's functional and the stealth "takedowns" can be hilarious.

Vehicle-based combat sees certain rides slotted into traditional RPG-styled roles. Motorcyles, for example, are very quick, but can't dole out a ton of damage. Tanks are just what they sound like and excel in medium ranges and have slow movement times.

It's a fun mixture that keeps things fresh as players tweak rides and encounter all sorts of enemy types that keep things fresh.

Thanks to the iconic capsule-based devices in Toriyama's work, players can take more than one vehicle at a time and swap between them on the fly in a way that makes sense from a story point of view.

That's a good thing, considering a stable of vehicles of differnet types aid in exploration. A vehicle that specializes in jumps can reach high places, while a hover car can bypass tricky terrain.

Like combat itself, there's a fun little bit of strategy that goes into figuring out the right vehicle for the job and exploration is often rewarding enough beyond seeing more of the gorgeous art style.

Story and More

Those familiar with Sand Land will feel right at home here.

Players control Beelzebub and his motley crew as they traverse a desert-dominated world in which water is the most important currency. They seek the Legendary Spring and along the way, meet droves of interesting characters—friend and foe alike—while overall hitting the upbeat tempos of a manga.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Sand Land is the extreme control players have over the modular vehicles, character skill trees, how the world opens up, and even upgrading what starts as a small town to a city.

That last part is a highlight, as players can recruit NPCs to move to the budding community, then later help them to upgrade the city. As this happens, the settlement will passively help players gain further resources, making a nice feedback loop and a great reason to engage in non-main-story content.

There's even a very sizeable, fun element of the town-based gameplay when customizing the player's own living space with furniture and more.

Players have some element of control over how the world opens up, too. Though it has become a meme of sorts in open-world games, Sand Land indeed has radio towers peppered throughout, which once completed, add more detail to the map.

Other important items out in the open world include water supply stops, which enable fast travel. The map is massive and feels lived-in enough to keep things entertaining, but utilizing the DBZ-styled instant transmission, or so to speak, becomes something worth doing. Exploring landmarks like ruins and caves, as well as taking part in races or saving NPCs round out a gamut of fun, expected and time-consuming side content.

Then there's the character customization. Leveling the party creates different styles of play, so players can really lean into specific skills and styles for variety and, over time, replayability.

Thief's skills, for example, focus on item acquisition. Beelzebub gradually unlocks skills such as big area-of-effect attacks while on foot. Other character skills are more centered around combat, support and more, so there's an RPG-lite player agency to party construction.

Adding on the vehicle customization only strengthens a player's control of the experience. Collecting parts and cobbling together different combinations to create vehicles can produce some funny results and experimentation in character, party and vehicle combinations is a joy.

There's much more proverbial meat on the bone here than one might expect, too. Beyond a staggering list of weapons and other parts to attach to vehicles, details one might only find in racing simulators—such as engine and suspensions—also impact performance.

Besides a strong suite of options, there is a solid tutorial within the menus that seems capable of handling most questions on a whim. And as hinted, performance is a net positive, too.

Conclusion

Some might wonder why a brief manga from the Shonen Jump days multiple decades ago gets the full-blown video game treatment here.

But Sand Land answers this within minutes—it's a perfect fit for the medium.

Not only is the modular capsule mechanic an engrossing gameplay element and the art style iconic, the game has plenty of breathing room to expand and explore the world and narrative, whereas something like Dragon Ball Z has been done ad nauseam.

Arguably the most underrated manga from the legend himself becoming a sweeping, heartfelt RPG, Sand Land is a fitting ode to Toriyama and one of the year's top surprises.