With Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot just around the corner, we’ve decided to take a trip down memory lane and remember our favorite Dragon Ball games. The list of games that under the Dragon Ball franchise is quite a long one which is why we decided to keep it at five of our favorite games.
This is in no way a list of the best games for the franchise, but rather just a fun stroll down memory lane as we recall the games in the franchise which we enjoyed the most!
Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2
Photo: dragonball.fandom.com
We start the list with Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2. The fighting game was released in 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and was the second title in the Butoden series. This was later on released on the Nintendo 3DS.
The story mode of Super Butoden 2 was quite unique with wins and losses in the battles affecting the story. This made it quite interesting at the time.
It did not have a massive character list with a total of ten playable characters, with two them requiring a code to unlock. The cheat to do that was to press Up, X, Down, B, L, Y, R, A on the intro screen when you see the character flying. If you did this correctly you’d hear the “Kakarot” audio prompt and which unlocked Super Saiyan Goku and Legendary Super Saiyan Broly!
Hearing the “Kakarot” prompt was just exciting to hear especially when you did it for the first time. This is one of the many reasons why we have Super Butoden 2 on the list apart from it being a huge part of our weekend routine with friends!
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
Next on the list is Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 a fighting game that was released internationally in 2004 for the PlayStation 2. Both Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and Budokai 3 were released in an HD collection in 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Budokai 3 featured cel-shaded graphics and more or less 40 playable characters. It was the first game in the Budokai games to feature characters from outside the main story like Broly, Gogeta, Omega Shenron, Kid Goku, and Cooler. These, of course, came from the Dragon Ball Z films, Dragon Ball GT, and the original Dragon Ball.
Cel-shading was the appeal that the Budokai series brought with it and the third game took it to the next level with the improvements in technology. It was as good as they come.
At the time, 40 plus characters was a big deal and this was before the time of DLCs. This meant that we poured in a lot of time trying to unlock all the available characters.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi is next and it was released in 2007 for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii. It does carry the Budokai name and is a fighting game but uses a behind-the-back camera angle. Yes, it isn’t part of the Budokai series despite it being in the title.
Budokai Tenkaichi is the third in the series but brought with it 98 characters in 161 forms which is just a massive roster even in modern-day standards. It also had day and night stages which affected the battle like transforming into Great Ape.
As far as reviews went, it was mostly average. This was mostly due to the underwhelming story mode but it was a fun game to play with friends for many, many hours. The large roster of characters was enough to make up for it.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse
Dragon Ball Xenoverse is the only role-playing game on this list. It was released in 2015 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows.
Even if it was an RPG title, the battles were played in a fighting game-style combat with 3D flying action. Xenoverse featured a new story and allowed you to create your own character. Yes, you’re able to experience what it’s like to be a Super Saiyan as your own character. It had a single-player and multiplayer in its core experience.
It wasn’t a perfect game but the ability to make your own character and fight alongside characters from the series was just an awesome experience.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
The last, but definitely not the least, is the latest of the Dragon Ball games, Dragon Ball FighterZ. The latest of the fighting games was released in 2018 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows.
Dragon Ball FighterZ was highly anticipated after its first appearance at the presentation of Microsoft at E3 2017. It lived up to the hype upon release, giving fans of fighting games and Dragon Ball a well-polished game. It was initially released with 21 playable players with three unlockable characters. Since launch, FighterZ has seen 14 more characters through paid DLC across two seasons.
It is played on a 2.5-dimensional plane which makes it less manic than the Budokai titles but it still has the aesthetics and feel of Dragon Ball. FighterZ was able to capitalize on the failures of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, with both games sharing the 3v3 style. We’ve already poured in many hours in with Dragon Ball FighterZ. With possibly more DLC to come, we expect to put in even more hours!
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
