YMMV / Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!

• Awesome Art: For a one-shot OVA with almost no stakes in its plot, the animation is surprisingly fluid and good looking. And since the OVA is a throwback to Dragon Ball Z, Tadayoshi Yamamuro tones down the highlights and colors for his designs to better resemble the old style.
• Fridge Brilliance: Tarble being one of the few notable Saiyans not able to go Super Saiyan makes sense - as a pacifist, he wouldn't be put in situations similar to the ones that caused Goku, Vegeta, and any of the half-Saiyans to unlock the form, and although he could easily unlock the form using the way the Universe 6 Saiyans did so, he has no need for said form, since he doesn't get into fights in the first place.
• Heartwarming Moments: Vegeta’s reaction when he learns that Gure is his sister-in-law. He’s initially shocked, but he respectfully bows to her and tells her that he’s honored to meet her.
• So Okay, It's Average: While the special is a fun romp, much of its original appeal in 2008 was the fact that, holy crap, it was the first lengthy Dragon Ball production in over a decade, with the original cast!! However in the wake of Dragon Ball Super, much of this has been lost as there's now over 100 new episodes and several movies that do that, and the special doesn't have anything else going for it outside of the remade version of the Head Cha-La OP. It also doesn't help that Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods has a very similar premise of a big battle at a large party event with goofy hijinks, making the Jump Special feel rather redundant.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Hey, Akira Toriyama remembered Launch! Y'know, from the first third of the story? She sadly doesn't do anything in the special, not even bringing her savage self.
  • Outside of one joke, Tarble is not really fleshed out as a character, remaining rather flat and only working as the one who starts the plot. He doesn't even appear in the last scene with everybody eating together. His relationship with Vegeta could have been expanded, or heck, with the introduction of the Galactic Patrol he could have found more of a purpose franchise-wise, but he remains as an afterthought. Toriyama probably noticed this, and tried again by creating a Suspiciously Similar Substitute in Cabba from Dragon Ball Super.