I must be nuts, but if you download my latest version of SU (6.04), you can disable battles if you'd like. Just press the right arrow key while you select your difficulty at the beginning of the game.
My hope is that if you played this game a long time ago (hell, even 2-4 months ago) and you'd like to play through again to see what's new (as always, there is quite a bit) you should be able to without having to deal with the hassle of the DBS. (which will be eventually phased out and replaced with a nice alternative in the future).
Or maybe you're just lazy and you hate the DBS. Either way, give it a try if you feel like playing. There's enough elsewhere, I feel, to keep yourself engaged in the game.
Thanks for reading.
--dhm