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In 1986, Epoch published Dragon Ball: Dragon DaihikyÅ for the Super Cassette Vision, marking the iconic series’ first foray into gaming. Similar to most of Dragon Ball’s earliest titles, the shoot’em up – yes, shoot’em up – never made it out of Japan. While the West needed around another decade to truly catch Goku fever, nowadays, a year can barely pass without a Saiyan-themed fighting game or RPG hitting shelves.
With so many projects associated with the series, what exactly are the best Dragon Ball games?
21 Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Z
Released in 2014, Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Z didn’t exactly receive a standing ovation. In fact, it is one of the franchise’s lowest-rated modern games, with criticism being leveled at its by-the-numbers storyline and overly simplistic combat.
While not up to much on consoles, Battle Of Z fares much better on Sony’s PS Vita. Along with the game looking great and running quite smoothly, Battle of Z differentiates itself from other Dragon Ball games by emphasizing team-building and co-op play. Even in the lengthy single-player mode, the focus is more on crafting a balanced team rather than the combat. There are better Dragon Ball games on the PS3 and Xbox 360, but the same cannot be said for the PS Vita.
20 Dragon Ball Z: Attack Of The Saiyans
Nintendo’s handheld systems seem to inspire Dragon Ball to try something slightly different, at least for the franchise. Dragon Ball Z: Attack Of The Saiyans is a turn-based RPG with a limited roster of characters and some exploration. As the campaign does not simply jump from one fight to the next, it only covers a fraction of Dragon Ball Z’s storyline, concluding with the Saiyan Saga.
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Attack Of The Saiyans does very little to separate itself from other turn-based RPGs, but it is a serviceable one that should please fans of the franchise and the genre. While derivative in the grand scheme of things, this Nintendo DS title is relatively unique in the Dragon Ball world.
19 Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle
Like with any popular anime property, Dragon Ball has spawned more than a few mobile games. The main two are Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle and Dragon Ball Legends, both of which have been around for a few years and feature original storylines. Trepidation towards mobile titles is to be expected, particularly free-to-play ones, but these two titles are better than average.
Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle has quite a unique twist on gameplay. The anime game incorporates puzzle elements, forcing players to think their way through battles. Dokkan Battle cannot compare to the franchise’s best Dragon Ball Z games on consoles, however, in the world of mobile gaming, it is a respectable entry.
18 Dragon Ball: Origins
Another Nintendo DS game, Dragon Ball: Origins shines a light on the often overlooked original series. Unlike Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball focuses more on adventure and comedy, particularly during its earliest chapters. Consequently, Origins is less driven by combat, although there are still plenty of enemies to defeat and attacks to learn.
Split into episodes and featuring solid 3D visuals for the DS, Origins plays quite well and comes packed with plenty of endearing nods to Akira Toriyama’s property. The sequel is also decent, making the Origins series a worthwhile pick for anyone looking for Dragon Ball adventure games.
17 Super Dragon Ball Z
Long before Arc System Works got its hands on Akira Toriyama’s series, Super Dragon Ball Z took a stab at adapting this iconic license into a legitimate fighting game rather than an arena brawler. With a curated roster of 18 characters and a combat system revolving around close-quarters combos, Super Dragon Ball Z is a traditional fighter that prioritizes skill over style.
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In terms of combat, Super Dragon Ball Z is deeper than most of the franchise’s other offerings, but it does fall short when it comes to single-player content and unlockables.
16 Dragon Ball Legends
Compared to Dokkan Battle, Dragon Ball Legends provides a mobile experience closer to the franchise’s console releases, although the app is still tailor-made for Android and iOS devices. Boasting impressive visuals for its platforms, Legends’ combat blends fighting mechanics with a card battle system, striking a middle-ground that succeeds in being accessible, fast-paced, and surprisingly strategic.
Bandai Namco’s project has amassed an impressive amount of content over the last few years, and its story is likely to hit home with fans of the manga and anime. The plot follows Shallot, a new Saiyan who suffers from memory loss. As combat revolves around 3v3 battles, Dragon Ball Legends has an impressive roster of playable characters that are unlocked via a gacha system.
15 Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is the forgotten game in a long line of DBZ games. Although it was the first DBZ title for the Xbox 360 generation and received a ton of hype at the time, Burst Limit isn’t looked back upon too fondly nowadays.
While there is a reason for that with its minuscule roster and the story mode ending on Cell, that doesn’t mean Burst Limit is without merit. The game still looks beautiful, with its in-engine cutscenes being especially impressive for 2008. While the fighting is stripped down mechanically speaking from the Budokai series, it still plays well and is faster than its predecessors.
14 Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
While the Raging Blast series always felt like lesser versions of the beloved Budokai Tenkaichi, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they were bad games. In fact, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 is one of the more underrated fighters in the franchise. It even plays like a much more simplified version of Budokai Tenkaichi 3 which for some is welcome as BT3 is quite complicated for newcomers.
Unlike many fighters with massive rosters, this game actually introduces at least one unique technique per character which makes them stand out much more. Instead of retelling the story of the anime, the game has “Galactic Missions” which are isolated fights that focus on a path for characters from Goku to Tarble. It may be a lesser version of later games on the list, but it’s still a solid time.
13 Dragon Ball: Shin Budokai - Another Road
Most people assume that the Budokai line of Dragon Ball games ended with Budokai 3, but that’s not actually correct. There were sequels on the PSP, one of which is the underrated Dragon Ball: Shin Budokai - Another Road.
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Despite being on the weaker PSP, the gameplay is perfectly comparable to the PS2 classic and even makes some improvements to the formula. Another Road removes the Dragon Rush system from Budokai 3 is removed and also executes Ultimates much father, so the fighting isn’t hampered by the need to appear cinematic. While the story isn’t the best in a Dragon Ball game, Another Road gets credit for having different paths depending on if fights are won or lost and for having an original story of Future Trunks dealing with Majin Buu in his timeline.
12 Dragon Ball Fusions
The concept of Fusion in Dragon Ball is extremely popular for something that was introduced in such a divisive saga as the Buu arc. But no other game focused on this idea more than the 3DS game known simply as Dragon Ball Fusions.
The premise of the game is so simple that it’s astonishing that it wasn’t done before; what if anybody could fuse with anyone else in the Dragon Ball world? This game answers that question with amazing results as there is fan service in here from top to bottom. A huge open world to explore, satisfying RPG combat, and a bonkers story? You can want nothing else from a handheld DBZ game.
11 Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Released in January 2020, one would think that DBZ games have told the main story enough times at this point that players would be fed up with it. But DBZ: Kakarot proves there is still juice left in the fruit.
Kakarot is a single-player, story-driven RPG with combat similar to the Xenoverse series, albeit slightly simpler. The presentation is where Kakarot shines however as it’s the best representation of the main DBZ story ever in a video game. The side quests also have clever easter eggs for hardcore fans. It’s not without its faults, but Kakarot is a meaty game worth its weight for any fan of the franchise.
10 Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission
In Japan, Dragon Ball Heroes is a hugely popular arcade trading game that debuted in 2010. Putting aside the occasional insane clip of a Super Saiyan 4 Gohan or Broly hitting YouTube, Western players had to wait until 2019 to get a proper taste of the spin-off series.
World Mission takes place in a universe where Dragon Ball exists as an anime that spawned a popular card game. Once the virtual and real worlds begin to collide, the protagonist must collect cards of their favorite Z-fighters to battle a wild plethora of villains. The story is cheesy, the turn-based gameplay has depth but is also incredibly repetitive, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of cards to collect. The last part earns World Mission a spot on this list.
9 Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2
While not especially fun to revisit in this day and age since the trilogy has been outdone by many subsequent games, Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden is important for the franchise’s gaming history. This title arguably marked the first time that a DBZ felt authentic to the anime, at least in terms of presentation and action.
All three titles are solid 2D fighters akin to the early Street Fighter games, although nowhere near as good as the best ’90s entries in Capcom’s license. Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 is the pick of the bunch, although they are all quite similar.
8 Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Following the Budokai Tenkaichi series, Dragon Ball’s console games hit a bit of a rough spell. Burst Limit has solid combat but suffers from a limited roster, Ultimate Tenkaichi may as well have “out of ideas” stamped on the box cover, and Battle of Z is a decent team-based action RPG pretending to be a fighting game.
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Xenoverse 2is the best of a rather sad bunch, but 2017’s sequel shows just enough improvement over its predecessor to be worth recommending. Based on Dragon Ball Online, Xenoverse 2 shines through its deep customization system and quantity (if not quality) of content. The combat is fine but lacks the depth to support a campaign that can easily last 20 hours.
7 Dragon Ball Z: The Legend
Dating back to the mid-’90s, Dragon Ball Z: The Legend is the franchise’s only worthwhile PlayStation 1 release. Developed by BEC and Tose Software, The Legend runs through the entirety of Dragon Ball Z’s main arcs and features a respectful roster of over 30 fighters.
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The gameplay mainly takes the shape of team battles, as both sides try to swing the momentum in their favor. While still technically a fighter, The Legend injects an element of strategy into proceedings, as there is no point in winning your fight if the rest of the team is on the receiving end of a demolition. Graphically, 1996’s title boasts stunning 2D sprites and impressive 3D backgrounds.
6 Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors
Surprisingly, Toriyama’s license is more consistent on handheld systems than home consoles. The Game Boy Color may not possess the power of a PlayStation 2 or a GameCube, but the system’s limitations meant Banpresto had to think outside the box when creating Legendary Super Warriors.
The end result is a highly respectable fighting game that blends turn-based mechanics with a card system. Characters are leveled up by assigning attack, support, and defense cards; however, each fighter is limited to only a few upgrades per playthrough. Legendary Super Warriors boasts a robust campaign and a ton of replayability, even if the unique gameplay may not be for everyone. The Super Famicom’s Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu also deserves a special mention, as it explored some similar ideas to Legendary Super Warriors.
5 Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension
Hyper Dimension is the most influential and important Dragon Ball fighting game of all time. Super Butoden is the only one that comes close, but Hyper Dimension improves on so many aspects of the experience that 1996’s release completely overshadows everything that came before and most of what was published after.
Covering all of Dragon Ball Z’s main Sagas, Hyper Dimension has only ten playable fighters; that said, all the characters play distinctively enough to require each to be individually mastered. Along with an extensive array of special or situational moves, the combat is dynamic and highly responsive. Even after all these years, Hyper Dimension remains fantastic.
4 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
Released in 2004, Budokai 3 was the pinnacle of Dimps’ run of 2D fighting games on the PlayStation 2. With tight combat mechanics, gorgeous cel-shaded graphics, and an expansive “Story Mode” boasting campaigns for eleven different characters, Budokai 3 is everything a fan of the series could possibly desire.
Compared to other 2D fighters, Budokai 3 is just slightly above average. Stacked up against other Dragon Ball or even anime fighting games in general? Budokai 3 is nothing short of brilliant.
3 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Deciding whether to give the edge to Budokai Tenkaichi 3 or Budokai 3 was the most difficult part of compiling this list. In the end, the former receives the nod due to truly feeling like the ultimate love letter to the series, even if the 3D combat is less refined than Budokai 3’s mechanics.
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Budokai Tenkaichi 3 boasts one of the biggest rosters in a fighting game of all time, while the “Dragon History” mode covers the original Dragon Ball, Z, GT, the movies, and even includes some “What If” scenarios. While the combat is not particularly complex and the roster share most of the combo attacks, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 adapts the license’s trademark visual spectacle better than most other titles.
2 Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy Of Goku 2 & Buu’s Fury
Considering the Game Boy Advance’s The Legacy of Goku has a better chance of landing on a list commemorating the worst Dragon Ball games, the sequels securing such a high spot is honestly remarkable. Focusing on the Cell and Majin Buu Sagas respectively, The Legacy of Goku 2 and Buu’s Fury highlight the source material’s sense of adventure that is often left unrepresented by the majority of adaptations.
Action RPGs with multiple playable characters, side quests, unlockable attacks, and temporary transformations, The Legacy of Goku series should be considered a must-play for not only fans of the franchise, but also anyone searching for a fun handheld experience. Buu’s Fury introduces elements like assignable stat points and equipment but also requires more grinding than The Legacy of Goku 2.
