Since the inception of Dragon Ball in 1989, there have been countless Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z games giving players an inside look at the rich and storied history of the franchise. Characters such as Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, and Piccolo have been captivating audiences with their machismo, nail-biting stand offs, and feat of strength. In this list, we’ll count down the 10 best Dragon Ball Z games to play in 2023.
Fighting Games
When you boil Dragon Ball Z down to its core, some would say it’s all about the epic battles. It’s no surprise then that there are plenty of Dragon Ball Z fighting games! Let’s take a look at some of the best Dragon Ball Z fighting games that are out right now.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
The latest fighting game to bear the Dragon Ball Z name is Dragon Ball FighterZ. This title released back in 2018, but service is still ongoing due to its wildly successful and polished fighting system. Developed by Arc System Works, Dragon Ball FighterZ is beginner friendly, but has a very complex and intuitive combat system. I’d say it follows the mantra of easy to learn, but hard to master.
Dragon Ball FighterZ still has a thriving online community and active tournament scene. In fact, Bandai Namco Entertainment recently wrapped up the DBFZ World Tour this past April. The game is still receiving patches and new characters in the form of DLCs. There is a full story mode here as well, but the heart of this fighting game is located in the comprehensive online community.
Dragon Ball FighterZ looks just like the anime with smooth animations and great effects.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Releasing just a few years after Xenoverse, Xenoverse 2 offers a compounded experience with even more characters, missions, modes, and abilities. This time, the game takes you through the Dragon Ball timeline… Well, sort of. It’s more an alternate history with your own unique character participating in the famous Dragon Ball Z battles everyone loves. Is it a bit fan servicey? Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun!
Xenoverse 2 is still played by many people to this day. One thing that I really love about Xenoverse 2 is the sheer amount of battles and characters you can participate in. There’s so much here, and you can play online in both cooperative and competitive modes. Your custom character can be outfitted with signature moves like Goku’s Kamehameha, Vegeta’s Big Bang attack, or even Krillin’s Destructo Disc. This game is a blast and a definite must-play for any Dragon Ball fan.
Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 lets you create and customize your own original character.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Released on the PS2 and Wii, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 has a staggering amount of content for a game from 2007. There are over 160 characters to pick between, and features everything from Dragon Ball to GT personalities. If you ever wanted to watch Captain Ginyu face off against Broly, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the game for you. There’s a lot of really interesting game modes here. Besides the story that takes you from the Saiyan Saga through the Majin Buu saga, there are also stages based off of the movies, GT, and the What If saga.
Rather than being on a 2D plane like many of the other Dragon Ball Z fighting games of this era, fights take place in a large 3D arena in a third person perspective. Each character has a number of unique, special moves as well as abilities like flying, dodging, blocking, and energy blasts. On the Wii version, the special moves are triggered by motion controls, but there is a PS2 version if you don’t want to deal with waggling your arms. Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is well regarded by many Dragon Ball Z fans and therefore has become a hot commodity. If you want to play this on original hardware, expect to pay well over $100 for a PS2 copy, or about $50 for a Wii copy.
RPGs
While it’s no surprise there have been plenty of fighting games set in the Dragon Ball universe, Dragon Ball has experimented with RPGs as well. These games may have fighting systems in place, but they also have interesting mechanics such as side quests, stat distribution, and other elements typically found in role-playing games.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot surprised fans in 2020 with a fantastic open world adventure that explores the events of Dragon Ball Z. Covering everything from the Saiyan Saga through the Buu Saga, Kakarot expands on the lore more than either the manga or the anime. This is the perfect title for fans who can’t get enough Dragon Ball, or gamers who want to dip their toes into a open world anime game.
In terms of gameplay, players explore a fully open-world environment complete with story missions, side quests, activities, and secrets. It covers more than just Goku’s perspective. Players are able to play as Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, Trunks, and there are many DLC packages that add unique perspectives to events in the Dragon Ball universe. For example, the Bardock – Alone Against Fate DLC lets you play as Goku’s father, Bardock, and expands on his motivations and backstory. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available on pretty much every modern console, and goes on sale frequently. Keep an eye out for this one!
Embark through the entire DBZ story and more in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
Dragon Ball Fusions
Releasing on the 3DS in 2016, Dragon Ball Fusions was released towards the end of the systems life cycle. Perhaps that’s why this title is often forgotten, but there are a lot of really interesting mechanics and story elements here. Dragon Ball Fusions, as you may expect, is all about fusions! In fact, pretty much every character can be fused. At one point, you’ll fight the fusion of Radditz and Nappa – I don’t know who comes up with these combinations, but that is just unholy.
Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 2
Legacy of Goku 2 is a top-down action RPG for the Game Boy Advance. In this title, you’ll play as many of the famed characters from Dragon Ball Z such as Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, and more. This sequel builds upon the foundations of the first Legacy of Goku game by giving players more – more freedom, story, and quests! It wasn’t perfect, but it was a huge improvement over the first game much to the delight of Dragon Ball Z fans everywhere.
I was never really into the fighting game scene, but I have fond memories of the Legacy of Goku series because it was more of an action-RPG take on the series. In fact, it was one of the first mainstream DBZ releases that wasn’t a fighting game! The developer, Webfoot Technologies, would continue to make a few more games in the Dragon Ball universe such as Dragon Ball Z: Buu’s Fury.
Legacy of Goku 2 starts with the arrival of the deadly androids and Dr. Gero.
Dragon Ball Z: Buu’s Fury
Legacy of Goku 2 was successful enough to warrant a sequel, but strangely enough the Legacy of Goku moniker is gone. Starting with the Great Saiyaman saga, Buu’s Fury tells the remainder of the Dragon Ball Z cannon, and even touches on a few of the movies. While critics weren’t exactly nice to Buu’s Fury, it is extremely playable and provides many improvement over the previous Legacy of Goku games.
On the GBA, there weren’t too many options for Dragon Ball Z fans. Besides the Legacy of Goku games, there were a handful of mediocre fighting games. Legacy of Goku 2 and Buu’s Fury were a breath of fresh air that allowed players to experience their favorite moments from the show in an engaging and fun way.
Vegito and Buu duking it out in Buu’s Fury.
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans
Did you know that Dragon Ball Z has a fully localized turn-based RPG? Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans released on the Nintendo DS in 2009, and it tells the Saiyan saga yet again, but this time in a turn-based format. This one seems to be relatively unknown to many people, but it’s a blast. Being a sucker for JRPGs, I really enjoy this one. Attack of the Saiyans has lots of exploration, a really neat combat system, and has many different playable characters. There’s not really another Dragon Ball Z game like it.
Others
Let’s look at some of the more unique games that use the Dragon Ball name. These games are a little different than the typical fighting or RPG games we talked about above.
Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure
Dragon Ball is tonally different than Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure capitalizes on this! Advanced Adventure is an action platformer where you play as young Goku and his fight against the Red Ribbon Army. This was before Goku was a super powered galaxy defender, so it works really well as a platformer.
Advanced Adventure has way more in it than you may expect. The story mode goes through nearly the entire Dragon Ball series, and there are dozens of hidden treasures scattered throughout the 16 levels. There’s an “Extra” mode that lets you play with one of 29 different characters in remixed levels, and there is even a one-on-one fighting mode.
Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure tells Kid Goku’s story from a platformer perspective.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission
If you’re a fan of card-based games and battles, you’ll want to take a look at Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission. This is a tactical card-based strategy game with a wholly unique story, and based off of the popular arcade game. There’s plenty to do here with character creation, over a thousand cards, custom modes, online battling, and more. It currently has a Very Positive (84%) rating on Steam, and is also available on the Nintendo Switch.
Yes, there’s even a Dragon Ball Z TCG game.
Conclusion
One of the great things about Dragon Ball Z is that there’s a game for everyone. Whether you’re interested in fighting games, open world adventures, or RPGs, you’ll have multiple options and decades of games to look back on. There are undoubtedly many more great Dragon Ball Z games, so let us know what we missed.
