The Dragon Ball saga (whether it’s just Dragon Ball, whether it’s Z or GT) is certainly one of the most loved sagas ever by all anime and manga fans (no ok, the GT series maybe not …) and over the years years videogame producers have repeatedly tried to take advantage of the boundless love of fans for the heroic representatives of the prestigious Saiyan race to offer the public every possible kind of videogame title, with mixed success.
What we want to show you today, taking advantage of the recent release on the market of the latest videogame effort dedicated to Goku and his friends (the real effort is being able to digest it without insults!) Is a top ten of the titles that, over the years, have been released on the market and have proved to be more popular and successful than others.
Obviously the latest title released associated with the DBZ saga, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, is widely out of this ranking (if you wonder why, run to read our Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z review), we recommend you to evaluate the games contained in the ranking not exclusively in terms of graphics.
10 – DRAGON BALL Z ATTACK OF THE SAIYANS
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, a title developed by Monolith Soft and distributed by Namco Bandai, landed in Europe on November 6, 2009 for the Nintendo DS portable console.
Identifiable as one of the many RPG games based on the history of the DB saga, this title covers the time span that goes from the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai tournament to the end of the Saiyan Saga. Although the time span in which the game is set may appear incredibly short if we refer to the evolution of the events of the saga, it must be said that the title is not short at all, so much so that to finish it 100%, the beauty of at least 30 hours, also calculating how difficult the game is and the bosses difficult to defeat.
The fighting style is similar to that seen in “Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2”, you will have to move your characters on the “battlefield” and then attack; although the gameplay may appear simple, the battles and fights in this title are something extremely complex when compared to other games of this genre and it is this difficulty that raises it one level compared to the others and allows it to enter our ranking.
If you still have a DS, give us a thought, the title is good for both lovers of the saga and also for those who are just a lover of the RPG genre.
9 – DRAGON BALL Z SUPERSONIC WARRIORS 2
Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 is a title developed by Cavia & Arc System Works, released by Atari Bandai in Europe on February 3, 2006 for the Nintendo DS. It is a fighting game in which many characters from the DBZ saga appear and is the direct “sequel” of Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, which has broadly the same game modes.
The first DBZSW was just a fighting game and in the vast gaming landscape it didn’t represent anything particularly relevant after all. The thing that differentiates SW2 from its predecessor is the addition of an elaborate story mode for each character and new and specific moves that will have to be discovered with a lot of training and a lot of practice in order to be able to fight at the best. The game is a lot of fun, even if in the long run it risks becoming extremely repetitive.
8 – DRAGON BALL ADVANCED ADVENTURE
DB Advance Adventure is a title developed by Dimps and published by Banpresto Atari for the Game Boy Advance, which first appeared on the European market on June 17, 2005.
The title contains 30 playable characters and five different game modes, which is generally unusual for such a title in those years. The story of the game begins when little Goku meets Bulma for the first time and covers all the events of the saga up to the fight against the “Great Little Wizard” (Al Satan in the Italian adaptation).
The game is a pure beat-em-up in which you will have to “spam” (repeatedly press) the attack button while you advance by jumping here and there in the level until you reach the boss that you will have to defeat, to advance in level, over and over….
However, despite its simplicity, this title has a feature that games rarely seem to master best: the fun factor.
In fact, you can make fun of your opponents, defeat them as you like, you will not have problems in the progress of the story and you will not be frustrated by the difficulties encountered in the racing of your gaming experience for a title that makes the fun component a cornerstone of its gameplay and that will convey the desire to finish it in even a single session. Despite everything it is an excellent game, perhaps the best of its kind associated with the DB saga.
7 – DRAGON BALL RAGING BLAST
Despite the hatred that lovers of the “Tenkaichi” saga often pour out on this title, DB Raging Blast is rightfully placed in our ranking.
Match fighting game developed by Spike and published for PS3 and Xbox360 by Namco Bandai on November 12, 2009 in Italy, Raging Blast maintains the same gameplay of the previous Budokai Tenkaichi and features more than 50 characters with their transformations and two exclusive characters, unpublished and unusual, Broly Super Saiyan 3 and also Vegeta Super Saiyan 3.
The most beautiful component of Raging Blast immediately appears its wide “story mode”, which, in Budokai Tenkaichi 3 had turned up its nose with a “Saiyan Saga” that ended in just 3 battles. In Raging Blast everything is very explained and in-depth and we will find ourselves fighting practically every single battle that can be witnessed by watching the DBZ anime. The roster is not the largest but covers the entire duration of the Z saga, from the coming of the Saiyans to the defeat of Majin Buu and also seeing Vegeta SSJ3 is already a great satisfaction in itself.
6 – DRAGON BALL Z BUDOKAI TENKAICHI 3
DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (in Japanese territory “DBZ Sparking! Meteor) is a title developed by Spaike and published by Namco Bandai, which landed on PS2 and Wii in Europe respectively on November 8, 2007 and February 15, 2008.
The game is the direct sequel to DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and offers the beauty of 161 characters and over 30 game environments also divided by periods of the day (morning, evening, night) which, at night thanks to the full moon, will allow the warriors Saiyan to turn into huge apes. This title includes numerous new characters such as King Cold, King Vegeta, Arale (no comment), the wizard Babidy, Chibi Goku (from DB GT) and others.
The game would be right on the podium if it weren’t for the fact that in the story mode you go too quickly, skipping numerous points of the same. Also there are some truly unthinkable battles where our PC will have something like 2 health bars while our opponent will have 12, and our most powerful attack will barely scratch him, while his will take away at least half of our health. Speaking then of the vast roster it must be said that most of the minor characters seem to have been created without a minimum of imagination, copies of each other in the fighting styles and different only in the physical aspect, considering that some of the characters who they appear in the game during the main saga or you don’t see them fighting or at most you see them throwing an energy blow; eliminating this series of characters the roster is significantly reduced. If you also calculate the huge amount of Goku and Vegeta present in their various transformations, the title can get boring quickly, but it is absolutely to add to your collection as the fun it can give when played in the company of friends is unparalleled.
5 – DRAGON BALL Z BUDOKAI
Dragon Ball Z Budokai is a fighting game developed by Dimps and distributed in Europe by Infogrames starting November 29, 2002 on PlayStation 2 and October 28, 2003 on GameCube.
The title, the first of a lineage that would have been widely successful, covers the first 3 sagas in the history of Dragon Ball Z, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth due to the total absence of the events associated with the Majin Buu saga.
The title has a roster of “only” 23 characters and despite this it ranks above DBZBT3, why? Because EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER has a unique fighting style, with specific special techniques and there are no copies just to make up the numbers, making it fun to learn techniques and fighting styles of each of the characters in the game.
Each fight has a technical component that will require much more than the “random keystroke” seen elsewhere. It is practically the only game that explains exactly the story in detail, which includes numerous interlude scenes and even a “minigame” in which we will have to hold Raditz so that little one can hit him with his “Makankōsappō”; without forgetting that, in this and only in this title, the special technique of Captain Ginyu which to us Italians is known as “Splitting” is REALLY useful.
4 – DRAGON BALL Z THE LEGACY OF GOKU II
Didn’t you expect it huh?
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II is the direct sequel to DBZ: Legacy of Goku, which in no uncertain terms we feel we strongly advise against, because really bad … but really! For being the successor to a hideous game, this title really cuts a great figure, ranking as a must-play / have title for any enthusiast.
The story covers the time span that goes from the conclusion of the Freeza saga to the death of Cell at the end of the Cell Game. The game, which gives you the opportunity to flit around the world attacking every dangerous animal just to train, is so well done that you will want to pay attention to the dialogues with the minor characters as well. The game is full of quests and puzzles to complete as is customary for any successful action RPG.
Playing and completing this title is almost a must for every fan of the saga.
3 – DRAGON BALL Z BUDOKAI 3
DBZ Budokai 3 (Dragon Ball Z 3 in Japanese territory) is the last of the “Budokai” chapters; developed by Dimps and released by Atari in Europe for PS2 on December 3, 2004. The game traces the events of the Dragon Ball saga starting from the beginning of the Z series and ending at the end of the GT series.
This title is really well done, the characters appear graphically splendid and also the backgrounds are fantastic and dynamic, unlike what happened in the previous chapters of the series in which they appeared purely static.
The longevity of the game is very high given the vastness of things to do, including unlocking hidden characters (such as Bardak, Uub, Li Shenron, Kaioshin just to name a few), finding the Dragon Balls, unlocking all objects and finding all the easter eggs are only part of the elements of the game that will keep you from getting bored (without forgetting the possibility of unlocking the dragon arena in which you can face the CPU at a high level of difficulty, which will require commitment and skill given the difficulty in beat all characters, which will increase the longevity of the title even more).
As happened temporally after with the Raging Blast series, even the roster of Budokai 3 is not as vast as that of Budokai Tenkaichi 3, but it is still widely appreciated for the REAL diversity of the characters, their moves and fighting styles.
1 – DRAGON BALL Z BUU’S FURY
I told you that graphics aren’t everything. A title must first of all entertain.
Buu’s Fury is the lucky successor of the equally lucky The Legacy of Goky II (in turn the successor of the havoc that was “Legacy of Goku”).
The title covers the time span that goes from the beginning of the Majin Buu saga to the defeat of the cute pink monster, and don’t be fooled that it is short as it also covers the history of the OAVs.
The success of Buu’s Fury is certainly to be attributed to the already beautiful starting point represented by “Legacy of Goku II”, from which, with the addition of not bad components such as the funny dialogues between the characters, the easter eggs, the secondary quests , the Super Saiyan III and the various mergers, the title has popped up at the top of our Top Ten.
Unfortunately, the title is perhaps a little too simple, but this will not prevent you from enjoying a very high level of entertainment and fun.
