Dragon Ball Z is a series with so many story arcs and characters, that it’s only natural it end up with dozens upon dozens of video games adapting the plot in some shape or form. While many of the early titles took the form of RPGs, a martial arts series like Dragon Ball naturally lends itself more to a fighting game format. Most of the series action is, after all, action. Characters are constantly fighting, and often growing through their fighting. It’s a core principle of the Dragon Ball mythos. A Dragon Ball video game without fighting simply isn’t a Dragon Ball video game.
With so many different Dragon Ball Z games to choose from, you’re bound to run into some stinkers. For as good as the franchise can be, it’s also had some serious low points throughout the years. There’s never been one key period where the games were all bad or all good. Rather, video games in the Dragon Ball series have always been fairly inconsistent in quality. You can get one of the best games in the series one year only to get one of the worst the next. With thirty different games to choose from, where do they all land?
30 BEST: Burst Limit
In many ways, Burst Limit is almost a reboot of the original Budokai. Along with presenting its story mode as a pseudo adaptation of the Dragon Ball Z anime starting with Raditz and ending with Cell, the battle system is surprisingly similar to Budokai’s. The only key difference is that, instead of using capsules to augment fighters, characters can equip Drama Pieces that trigger cutscenes within the battle.
While these Drama Pieces admittedly do little to actually improve the combat coming off Budokai’s trail, Burst Limit’s approach to customization does make for a far more cohesive story mode than the one found in Budokai. It feels quite in depth thanks to these Drama Pieces, and it makes for an incredibly satisfying single player experience which, considering the age of the game, is all you’re going to be getting from it nowadays.
29 BAD: Super Butoden
Don’t let FighterZ’s Nintendo Switch pre-order bonus push you into buying the game if you were still on the fence. Super Butoden is not worth the money, let alone the cost of a full price game. Originally released on the Super Famicom, Super Butoden is, in many ways, one of Dragon Ball’s grandfathers as far as the fighting games are concerned. Like any good grandfather, Super Butoden is also basically senile.
Combos are virtually impossible to pull off, the roster is incredibly samey, and the story mode has a frustrating learning curve with little to no payoff. Super Butoden’s only merit is the historical role it plays in the Dragon Ball fighting game cosmos. Other than that, you’re better off forgetting it exists.
28 BEST: Budokai
While Burst Limit does boast a better story mode, it has little it can lord over the original Budokai. Although by no means a perfect game, one that’s fairly difficult to go back to after playing later games in the franchise, Budokai still holds up fairly well. Its story mode is serviceable, and a nice dose of nostalgia, and it has a respectable amount of content to wade through.
A worthy start to an important series.
There are What-If scenarios for every major arc; a single player mode where you play as Mr. Satan taking on the Cell Games by himself; a World Tournament mode where you can earn Zeni; and a shop where you can spend said Zeni on capsules to further improve your characters. Budokai is a game worth playing for any fan.
27 BAD: Budokai 2
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Budokai 2. While Budokai 2 undoubtedly looks and feels better than Budokai, it drops the ball when it comes to content. Rather than picking up where the original Budokai left off and continuing the adaptation aspect of the single player, Budokai 2 ditches that in favor of a Mario Party esque story mode that completely butchers the series’ narrative in an attempt to keep Goku active from start to finish.
To make matters worse, this single player campaign, which should conceptually have a bunch of replay value, is bogged down to near unplayable levels thanks to an endless amount of tedium and a difficulty curve that benefits nobody. There is little fun to be had in Budokai 2’s story mode and the lack of additional single player content ala Mr. Satan’s mode from B1 does the game no favors.
26 BEST: Ultimate Butoden
A Dragon Ball Kai games of all things, Ultimate Butoden is the greatest Dragon Ball fighting game you’ve never played. Even if you’re a hardcore fan of the series, chances are you never got around to this game as it only released in Japan and on the Nintendo DS shortly before the 3DS’ launch.
A life without Ultimate Butoden is no life at all.
A follow up to the Butoden series, Ultimate Butoden covers all of Dragon Ball Z with a truly enormous roster for a handheld title and customization that allows you to alter the appearance of your characters, equipping them with different accessories. It’s a fun, charming fighter that perfectly captures the essence of DBZ.
25 BAD: Raging Blast
A successor of sorts to the Budokai Tenkaichi games, Raging Blast fails to live up to its predecessor in any and every respect. With a small roster and a pitiful story mode, Raging Blast brings nothing to the table outside of prettier graphics. Even then, the Budokai Tenkaichi games weren’t bad looking. This is a game with little content that fails to live up to the Dragon Ball Z Simulator niche Budokai Tenkaichi ended up carving out. It’s not good enough to be a fighting game, and it’s not good enough to be a Dragon Ball game. Just dust off your PS2 if you want a good game.
24 BEST: Xenoverse 2
Xenoverse 2 is the game Dragon Ball fans have been wanting for years. An RPG-fighting game hybrid, Xenoverse 2 allows you to make your own character and place him into the series’ narrative starting with the Saiyan arc. From there, timelines branch off, your protagonist levels up, and you get to interact with new characters in order to learn new techniques.
Bring your self insert to life.
Xenoverse 2 is basically Dragon Ball fan fiction given life, and it’s all the better for it. Sometimes you just have to embrace those creative tendencies and let fans go wild. There’s so much content brimming underneath Xenoverse 2’s surface, it’s no wonder it’s still immensely popular to this day. That said, its predecessor doesn’t fare nearly as well.
23 BAD: Xenoverse
In a world where Xenoverse 2 exists, the original Xenoverse is redundant. Everything it does, Xenoverse 2 does better. Everything it offers, Xenoverse 2 has in a much cleaner, compact package. As is, there is absolutely no reason to ever play the original Xenoverse as Xenoverse 2 carries over every piece of meaningful content while also expanding upon Xenoverse’s original shortcomings, most notably the battle system and how the story played out. When it comes down to it, Xenoverse 2 is just a tighter package and what Xenoverse should have been in the first place.
22 BEST: Shin Budokai: Another Road
Who doesn’t love Future Trunks? Easily one of the most popular character in the franchise, Future Trunks was only around for one arc in Dragon Ball Z before disappearing for nearly twenty years. Before Super brought him back into the picture, however, he did get another chance to shine in one of the video games. Shin Budokai: Another Road effectively acts as a sequel to Future Trunks’ arc.
Before there was the Goku Black arc, there was Another Road.
A game that centers itself around Future Trunks’ conflict against Majin Buu, he goes back in time to request help from Goku and his father. From there, the story mode expands into an elaborate tale where heroes and villains from the past all come back in a fan service fueled romp dedicated to saving Trunks’ future. It’s all the fun of Budokai in an all new story.
21 BAD: Shin Budokai
In the same way Shin Budokai: Another Road created an all new story, so did its predecessor, Shin Budokai. Rather than taking an all new premise like Future Trunks dealing with Majin Buu, however, Shin Budokai simply took Fusion Reborn’s story and dragged it out into an entire game. Needless to say, it doesn’t really work in its favor.
When it comes down to it, Fusion Reborn simply isn’t as interesting as an original story focusing around Future Trunks. As a film, it’s already derivative of the Majin Buu arc so an entire game based around the movie already feels like tired ground. Its only saving grace is its Budokai play style, but the story is the draw, and it’s rather repetitive and bland in the long run.
20 BEST: The Legend
The original Dragon Ball Z simulator, The Legend followed the entirety of the second anime from the start of the Saiyan saga all the way to the end of the Majin Buu arc. It’s a truly hectic game, one that sees multiple characters fighting all at once, but it’s also one of the only games in the series to truly capture the moment to moment minutia of Dragon Ball.
Few games are as creative as The Legend.
In battles, it’s possible to cut to dialogue scenes of characters commenting on the action. Depending if what’s on screen matches what actually happened in the manga, characters will respond appropriately, making it feel as if The Legend is more of an adaptation than a video game. If you ever get a chance to get your hands on it, make sure you revel in what’s a beautiful piece of DBZ history.
19 BAD: Gekito Tenkaichi Budokai
Originally released in 1992 on the Famicom, Gekito Tenkaichi Budokai was the first fighting game to ever grace Dragon Ball fans. Perhaps grace isn’t the right word. Although an incredibly fascinating piece of Dragon Ball history, Gekito Tenkaichi Budokai is far from a good game. Requiring you to swipe in cards to unlock characters and items into the game via a console attachment, basically starting a trend of micro transactions for the series. In a way, Gekito Tenkaichi Budokai is a prototype for Heroes.
18 BEST: Supersonic Warriors
Have you ever wanted a Dragon Ball Z game consisting entirely of What-If scenarios? If your answer was “yes,” look no further than the GameBoy Advance’s Supersonic Warriors. While there are options to play through the main series’ story from start to finish (for the most part,) Supersonic Warriors’ main strength comes from how creative it gets with the franchise.
Piccolo’s personal story has him reviving Demon King Piccolo to fuse with so he can defeat Majin Buu; Krillin’s has him surviving through every encounter and saving the world; and Vegeta’s has him surpassing Goku as Earth’s hero. It’s a phenomenal game with some fast paced gameplay that has a lot of fun with the Dragon Ball IP. What’s not to love?
17 BAD: Supersonic Warriors 2
Sadly, Supersonic Warriors’ sequel isn’t nearly as good as its predecessor. While Supersonic Warriors 2 keeps the What-If scenarios intact, they aren’t as memorable nor are they as creative. Supersonic Warriors 2 strips away all the charm from the original in favor of what feels like a watered down follow up who’s main gimmick is its branching paths that do little to play around with the series’ narrative. It’s a disappointing sequel that fails to understand what made Supersonic Warriors so great in the first place.
16 BEST: Extreme Butoden
Extreme Butoden is an incredible game yet chances are you’ve never gotten around to playing it. Released exclusively on the 3DS in a time where Dragon Ball games were more or less making consistent home console releases. For a Dragon Ball game to release on a handheld, and a 2D one at that, naturally led to it being relatively forgotten.
Who knew Dragon Ball could be so extreme?
Which is a shame because, again, Extreme Butoden is incredible. It has a serviceable story mode that covers most of DBZ, but it really thrives in how it handles its roster. Already a mechanically solid game, Extreme Butoden is made all the better by a huge chunk of series’ cast appearing in the form of assists. They may not be playable, but it’s a great way of getting other characters into the action, and it leads to some genuinely engaging team building.
15 BAD: Buyu Retsuden
I’m just going to be blunt: fighting games on the Sega Mega Drive simply do not work. The Mega Drive’s controller is a tried and true monstrosity with a button layout that seems to exist simply to antagonize any and all players. The idea of playing a fighting game on the Mega Drive, let alone a Dragon Ball one, let alone a Super Butoden one, is a recipe for disaster. Buyu Retsuden is a genuine pain to play, both physically and mentally. Ignore it, forget it, and just play Super Butoden 2 instead.
14 BEST: Super Butoden 2
Super Butoden 2 is a Super Famicom masterpiece. Taking place in that sweet spot of Dragon Ball Z history where Gohan was the main character, but the Majin Buu saga hadn’t started yet, Super Butoden 2’s story starts with the Cell Games before branching off into Bojack Unbound and a brand new version of Broly’s first film. I meant “branching off” literally, too.
If the series won’t acknowledge Gohan as the main character, as least Super Butoden 2 will.
Of the four playable characters- Gohan, Future Trunks, Vegeta, and Piccolo- everyone has branching paths that vary up their story modes. It’s a genius way of implementing replayability in a game that’s already inherently replayable. From a mechanical perspective, Super Butoden 2 is also just far better than its predecessor, ironing out all the flaws to create a memorable, lovable Dragon Ball game.
13 BAD: Super Butoden 3
Now if only Super Butoden 3 were as memorable and lovable as Super Butoden 2. Despite carrying over Super Butoden 2’s new mechanics, it drops every single major feature it introduced to the series. Gone are the in-depth, branching single player and unique roster. Super Butoden 3, for how good it feels to play, just feels incomplete. It forces itself into an awkward place of Dragon Ball history- smack dab in the middle of the Buu saga- and it suffers there. When it comes down to it, Dragon Ball games absolutely need strong story modes to thrive.
12 BEST: Hyper Dimension
While many fans consider Super Butoden 2 to be the best Dragon Ball Z fighting game on the Super Famicom, it doesn’t hold a candle to Hyper Dimension. Easily one of the best looking games on the console, Hyper Dimension is a traditional fighter that looks straight out of the manga. Covering the series from the end of the fight with Frieza all the way to Kid Buu, Hyper Dimension is one of the most creative games in the franchise.
Every fan owes it to themselves to play Hyper Dimension at least once.
For starters, the story mode jumps around quite a bit, but makes up for it by extending into a Gohan centric epilogue where he faces off against Gotenks, Goku, and Vegetto all to show off the benefits of his Ultimate form. If that weren’t enough, HD’s core mechanic is the fact that health and Ki are shared, meaning you have to damage yourself to attack. Naturally, this leads to some very strategic play.
11 BAD: Ultimate Battle 22
Ultimate Battle 22 is what happens when a fan’s dream game goes wrong. Despite looking exactly like the anime, Ultimate Battle 22 feels more like a bad filler episode than it does one of the series’ better showings. This is a game so slow, with such long play times, that playing with a friend is bound to end in heartbreak and disaster and you both desperately wait for a match to start only for it to drag out for all eternity. Don’t let Ultimate Battle 22’s visuals fool you, it’s anything but the anime.
