It’s almost impossible to be an anime fan and not have some level of familiarity with Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball. For more than 35 years, Dragon Ball has been a leading title when it comes to exciting and superpowered combat. These thrilling battle spectacles are so much fun to watch play out in Dragon Ball’s anime and manga, but they’re also a natural fit for video game adaptations.
Dragon Ball video games have been around for nearly as long as the anime, but they’ve evolved in groundbreaking ways across the various gaming generations. Dragon Ball titles are available on most video game consoles, but there’s an especially impressive crop that have graced PlayStation hardware over the years.
10 Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout Introduced Many PlayStation Users To The Franchise
The PlayStation’s Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout is a notable video game because it’s the first Dragon Ball game to get localized in North America even though its source material, Dragon Ball GT, didn’t even have an English dub yet. Accordingly, there are some awkward translation differences with names and attacks. The one-on-one fighter boasts decent 3D graphics for the time and while Dragon Ball games have come so much farther since Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout, there’s still an odd charm to it and its early glimpse of these beloved characters.
9 Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Z Brings Battle Of Gods Material Into The Mix
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z covers the entirety of Dragon Ball Z, but a huge selling point with the title is that it touches on Battle of Gods content and it’s the first video game to include Super Saiyan God, Beerus, and Whis, which was a very big deal. Battle of Z includes a massive roster of more than 70 characters, which includes many movie villains. Battle of Z excels with its eight-player team battle combat and entertaining co-op play. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z came out for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but it’s curiously the PlayStation Vita version that has the best reputation.
8 Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Effortlessly Translates Fighting Mechanics To The PSP
Sony’s PSP handheld console never got the proper respect that it deserved. The quality of titles like Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai are a testament to the PSP’s power and proof that its games can easily contend with PS2 titles. Shin Budokai pulls from the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai formula and doesn’t lose anything in translation.
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai focuses on the movie Fusion Reborn and boasts 18 playable characters. Admittedly, Shin Budokai’s sequel, Another Road, gets a lot of acclaim for its original storylines and creative deviations from the franchise, but overall, it’s a little emptier than the original Shin Budokai.
7 Super Dragon Ball Z Passionately Tributes The Look & Feel Of The Series’ Manga
Super Dragon Ball Z is a PlayStation 2 fighting game that creatively embraces the aesthetics of Dragon Ball’s manga, rather than the anime, which is a surprisingly worthwhile change of pace. The cel-shaded fighter isn’t wildly dissimilar from the Budokai series and other traditional fighting games, but it’s still a polished experience. Super Dragon Ball Z contains 15 characters that cover the majority of Dragon Ball Z and there’s a fun system to summon Shenron that allows players to unlock new characters, attacks, and more. Super Dragon Ball Z is just a fighting game, but it’s a fulfilling one.
6 Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit Brings Fast-Paced Fighting Action To A New Level
Dimps’ Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit hit the PlayStation 3 in 2008 and while the DNA of the Budokai and Tenkaichi Budokai games is present, Burst Limit distinctly tries to be its own thing and not just another Dragon Ball fighter that coasts on the success of its predecessors. Burst Limit prided itself in its detailed cel-shaded animation and character expressions, which convey a fluid anime-look that works for the title. The 3D combat features some creative gameplay mechanics for power boosts and the game’s story mode covers iconic events up to the Cell Games, but also tells original stories with Bardock and Broly.
5 Dragon Ball: Ultimate Battle 22 Is The Original PlayStation’s Top Dragon Ball Fighter
There’s a strong history to Dragon Ball games from the 16-bit era and they helped popularize home console Dragon Ball fighters in crucial ways. The PlayStation’s Dragon Ball: Ultimate Battle 22 builds upon the strong foundation from the SNES’s Butoden games, but with improved graphics, more complex gameplay, and an abundance of characters.
Dragon Ball: Ultimate Battle 22 still uses 2D sprites, but they’ve never looked better. The added ability to train characters and save their improved stats to a memory card was also a very exciting feature that’s gradually become the norm.
4 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 Refines The Series’ Basics To Great Success
Modern Dragon Ball video games would not be where they are today without the groundwork laid by the trilogy of Budokai fighters from the PlayStation 2 gaming era. Each Budokai title adds more to the equation, but Budokai 2 amounts to the most substantial experience. The game’s character roster is greatly expanded, plus the advent of fusion becomes incorporated into combat. Budokai 2 also isn’t afraid to stray from the franchise’s script with the addition of “What If?” storylines and original material that expands on lore in ways that make sense.
3 Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Is The Open World RPG Adventure Fans Have Craved
Dragon Ball fighting games tend to receive the most attention, so Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot stands out as a huge open-world RPG adventure. The level of detail and fan service that’s present in Kakarot has been long overdue as far as audiences are concerned. Impressively, Kakarot covers the full Dragon Ball Z narrative, dips into Super’s introductory storylines, forges its own original content, and so much more. The battles and gameplay are sublime, but it’s also just as much fun to get lost in the world’s map and to take advantage of this unprecedented freedom. In Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Dragon Ball can be experienced however the player sees fit.
2 Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Overloads The Fighting Game With Years Of Content
Dragon Ball Xenoverse is largely what audiences think about when it comes to the current slate of Dragon Ball video games. The Xenoverse series mixes the fighting genre with RPG mechanics to create something truly special. Xenoverse 2 sufficiently improves upon its predecessor and even though the game is still several years old, it continues to turn out new content through DLC releases and there’s still a deeply dedicated base of players. Xenoverse 2 lovingly digs into Dragon Ball Super’s narrative and beautifully translates powerful, new characters into a fighting game. There’s almost too much to explore in the game.
1 Dragon Ball FighterZ Is The New High Mark For Competitive Anime Fighters
There are a handful of current Dragon Ball games that still receive attention, but Dragon Ball FighterZ has emerged as the standout and the main title for tournament and competitive play. FighterZ narrows in on the fighting genre instead of overextending itself to multiple types of gameplay. The cel-shaded art style is truly gorgeous and the controls are intuitive and convey a true sense of power. The mechanics behind Dragon Ball FighterZ are nearly flawless, but it continues to add new and popular characters, both from Dragon Ball Super as well as GT, to provide the most universal Dragon Ball experience.
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