The game follows events from the original manga and anime series, which sees Goku's journey with Bulma to find the seven mythical Dragon Balls, and later, his training under the martial arts teacher Master Roshi to compete in the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.

The game, for the most part, is presented in a 3/4 overhead perspective with elements similar to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

[4] Players take full advantage of the stylus and touchscreen capabilities by journeying through each level battling enemies, solving puzzles and collecting power-ups, health items, and various Zeni Bags.

[9] The game was first announced in the May 2008 issue of V Jump magazine, which listed a release date sometime later that year.

Some of the screenshots demonstrated the stylus' capabilities in combat and the convenience of the dual screen gap such as censoring Bulma's genitals when she flashes Master Roshi for a Dragon Ball.

[10] The June issue of V Jump added more screenshots demonstrating the stylus' use in performing various melee combat techniques with hand-to-hand or with the use of the Power pole.

[11] The July issue of V Jump featured screenshots of the game's various menus, maps, and the Dragon Radar.

[17] A few days later, Atari issued a statement announcing that their work on Origins was complete and would be released throughout North America on November 4.