In light of the oncoming of Sensei Toriyama to the far reaches of the multiverse, it is the belief of this planet that it is far past time for us to take a look at one of the most iconic series in multimedia, Dragon Ball. This series has been around since just before the 90's and its impact on media has been Earth shattering! The Kamehameha is one of the most recognizable fighting moves and Son Goku was once Japan's Ambassador to the Olympics! Akira Toriyama had no idea how influencial his series became, spawning TV Shows, movies, comic books outside of DBZ, Lunchboxes, backpacks, pencil boxes, frisbees, dolls, toys, cups, diapers, yeah Dragon Ball Z had about as much impact as Disney when it was in its hayday.
So, here we are with some games! DBZ has spawned anything from fighting games to roleplaying games and they have been quite awesome and quite dreadful, as one could imagine. So, where do we start? It's simple! We get into the greatest of the greats and we go from there! If you want a good bunch of games, being on the lookout for those stars on those balls, then you have come to the right place. Remember to give your energy to the Spirit Bomb as we show you the best of the best.
Dragon Ball Z Bodokai 3
Among the 3D Fighters, this is the king! Budokai 3 takes everything that was great about 1, makes it better, and then fixes everything that was wrong with Budokai 2. Yes, the second one was a bit of a dud, though not a total loss. Then 3 came along and made them both irrelevent. It makes all of the moves look right, it gives the characters better voice actors and it has quite the engrossing story mode. This is the game you want to pick up and play with your friends who also have tried to concentrate energy into their hands.
Not only does the story mode stand out, but the roster features characters and many great versions of characters throughout all of Dragon Ball, Z and even GT, which was the latest iteration at the time. Anywhere from Super Saiyan 4 to Cyber Freeza, all of it is here. The problem is that you need to unlock all of it and you need to be on your game, so to speak. This game isn't exactly hard, but there are some rather frustrating elements to the AI opponents. Either way, if you are wanting a 3D fighter with all of the Z packed in, this is your baby.
Dragon Ball Z Super Saiya Densetsu
Perhaps one of the greatest games never released in the US, as far as DBZ is concerned. This is a chance for you to determine who is the most powerful on your team and how the story goes. The thing about this game is that it is amazing, but it also has a few kinks here and there. This is a roleplaying game where you start from the Raditz Saga and go on. You obviously need to play it like the series, but you don't need to play every element like that. You could keep playing Tenshinhan and make him out to be a beast of a character, super charge him and have him survive the Saiyan Battle to go to Namek afterward.
The game is very simple, employing multicolored Saibamen and Freeza Soldiers to attack you in various sagas of Dragon Ball Z. The overall game is very, very grindy, though. If you want to stand a chance against Nappa and Vegeta, you will need to travel around and fight Saibamen of various shades. The most powerful ones will be the 6 green ones you fight in when Nappa arrives. It is up to you to make sure all of your guys get their training, but you can also grind one of them more and more. This will shave hours off the clock and if grinding is not your thing, then you should probably skip this entirely. It alleviates some of this grind with Goku, though, when he trains on King Kai's planet and in the gravity machine on the way to Namek. You have to gain power and raise the dynamics of training, but if you try too much too fast, you will die. This does balance the time scale on level progression and allows him to take on Vegeta and Freeza in their respective sagas.
This is the Super Famicom at its finest in graphics and just overall fun mechanics. You get to do special energy moves from everyone and it is a lot of fun to see who kills the villains with what special moves, as they all are quite tense and awesome. These villains are no joke either. You need to grind to an extent to defeat them or you will be spanked royally. The level progression is rather slow, the encounters can get frustrating in frequency and the music is charming and lovely but it can also begin to grate on the ears after the 6th or 7th hour. This game is not without its flaws but it comes with high recommendations!
Dragon Ball Xenoverse
Finally, the fans are given an official way to create their own Dragon Ball characters. It only took a few decades. Xenoverse is a great way to bash out your frustrations on whatever character you hate the most, as there are many in the rosters. While microtransactions are frowned upon, they are available and you can get some of the GT and Super characters from spending a bit more. The story is simple, you're time traveling to different and popular points in the series in order to stop people from tampering with them. Someone is trying to change time so that the villains win. You need to fight along side them and correct this.
Very good premise in the ways of giving the fans what they want. They want their character to be in the fight and they want to contribute to the win. This is pulled off with a good amount of style and allows your character to customize their moves along with who teaches them. You can take on many teachers and keep building your character's power and fashion sense as you buy them items and clothes.
Xenoverse is just one of those games you don't need the internet for, but it's there if you want it. There are plenty of exercises and "simulation fights" for your character to grind and win. Not all of the fights are very good, and some of them are just downright impossible since one of the Cell Jrs is a glitch in one of the maps, thus rendering it incompleteable. Whether this glitch was ever fixed, I don't know. Either way, this game is fantastic, and so is its sequel. Xenoverse 1 and 2 differ a good bit in mechanics but either one are just a personalized good time.
Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi 3
While this may be confused with the Budokai series, it is a bit different. The roster on this monster is massive! You can see ridiculous amounts of characters and fighters and that is half of the entertainment value. They did a great job making it fun to unlock all of these wondrous features in this game. The fighting mechanics are quite different from your normal affair. It does the split screen a lot in order to make it easier to do ki blast moves and special techniques.
One small problem with this title is the number of mechanics. The Rush Ki Wave and Burst Dash and everything around tend to interrupt the fighting a tiny bit more than should be needed. The stages are also quite enormous and numerous. You have so much space to fight in and that can lead to some awesome power struggles. As you keep up your ki, you fight with your fists and then back to the blasting! The mechanics are satisfying and the characters are so numerous that the replayability is built right in.
Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension
More of a relic from a different era, but still an all around fun title to play. With a roster featuring Buu, Vegetto, Cell and Majin Vegeta, you'll find at least one of your favorites. The graphics are a little outlandish, but very charming and unique. Once you look at the graphics, you immediately know which game you're looking at, even if you don't know the name. The fighting is simple and the controls are tight enough to keep the punches coming.
This is one of those nostalgic games that has just existed seemingly since the very beginning. Even if it is a late entry in the Super Nintendo, it is one of those games that OG Dragon Ball fans relish in. It also supplied many Gifs for websites back in the day when they were edited into transparent images for layouts. It is quite the novelty and is one off many 2D DBZ fighters.
Dragon Ball Fighter Z
Among the best, in terms of modern DBZ Fighters. While the story may be a bit confused with the androids, the graphics, controls and mechanics are very, very tight! Fighting through the story mode or just flat out fighting your friends, this is the one you want to compete with. While the roster is nothing special, and it is, once again, marred by microtransations, there is a good number of characters along with their Super Saiyan Blue counterpart.
There is a lot to love with this version, as it's very easy to find your chosen characters along with their techniques. There are a good number of favorites on display along with some beautiful special techniques. The internet interface is also a nice touch as you can choose so many characters for your icon. Mine has always been Jeice from the Ginyu Force in red armor. It can be that specific and it is a very charming mechanic. Fighter Z is one of those fighters that just blew so many others out of the water and it will be difficult to top!
Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z were amazing. None of the other series will ever top them and their legacy that has influenced so many other animes and media. Keeping to the core of Dragon Ball has always been the way to go but it is good to invite everything you love about the series. If you have any suggestions for games, leave them in the comments below. Then strap yourselves in and get ready to be sent to the NEXT DIMENSION! Virtua Crusher Blast!!!
