A RANK -
10) Dragon Ball Z Battle of Z – 2014 – Xbox 360/PS3/PS Vita
9) Dragon Ball Z Attack of the Saiyans – 2009 - DS
Dragon Ball Z Legacy of Goku II – 2003 – GBA
7) Dragon Ball Z Budokai - PS2/GC - 2002
6) Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 – PS2 – 2004
5) Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure – 2006 - GBA
Dragon Ball Battle of Z was a new interesting take on the franchise. The combat, areas and co-op campaigns were different than really any game before. The gameplay had its shortcomings and some people found the game to be repetitive, but I loved played through all the missions with a friend, and played this game for many hours. It also looked good on the HD consoles, as well as gave me something different than the many 1 on 1 fighters.
Dragon Ball Z Attack of the Saiyans was really THE only true RPG based on the franchise. I did not play this game till years later as I was mostly playing console games. And I also go through stages of my life where the last thing I want is a level up, grind it out, turn based RPG. But when you are in the mood, this one is great! It starts off slow as most jrpg’s do, but the game pays off and is quite underrated. Most people forget about this game when talking about really good DBZ games. It doesn’t set the genre on fire, but does the core jrpg well and simple enough for many to enjoy.
Legacy of Goku 2 was undoubtedly the peak of this series. It kept a lot of the core game, but the mix of exploration, puzzles and combat was improved in this follow up. When I think back on this series, this is always the game I think of fondly. Unfortunately, I think this series has aged poorly, and a game like this does not get made in 2022. But the cute art style, and sense of adventure truly peaked on the GBA here.
Dragon Ball Z Budokai is peak nostalgia for me. My memory of this game defeats any notion of how good this game is. It’s hard to remember a time, but DBZ games in North America were unheard of. And, they were bad. This was the first american made game that followed the story, looked good, and played well. It definitely has it’s warts now, but this game was A+ back in 2002 if you had a gamecube (better load times and visuals). It did not play through the Buu saga which was unfortunate, and become a trend of many games to stop at certain sagas. But the combat, transformations, and the UI/hud became the foundation of many games that built off of or evolved from this game. Considered moving it to S rank, but that was my nostalgia talking.
Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 is the best representation of DBZ at this time. It gave us more characters, a full roster, more levels, more transformations, more more more. And my favorite part was exploring the map in full 3D. Far from open world, but this was the best we had gotten yet in terms of exploration on a console DBZ game. This was years in the making, and a huge step in the right direction after Budokai 2. The art style was hit or miss for people, as the PS2 was already starting to hit it’s limits, but the game overcame that with tight combat, combos and plenty of content. I was torn if I would put Budokai 1 or 3 ahead but it was only fair to give 3 the #6 spot by a hair.
Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure was a great beat em up for the GBA. Loved the overworld map. Loved that the beat em up combat was only side to side traversal and not north and south. Made hit detection and gameplay better. It took us from early Dragon Ball all the way through King Piccolo storyline and felt fast and responsive. Also the art style was fantastic. This game is a great replay in 2022.
SUPER SAIYAN RANK -
4) Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 – 2016 – PS4/Xbox One/ PC/ Switch
3) Dragon Ball Revenge of King Piccolo – 2009 – Wii
2) Dragon Ball FighterZ – 2018 – PS4/Xbox One/PC/Switch
1) Dragon Ball Z Kakarot – 2020 – PC/Switch/PS4/Xbox One
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 took everything they learned from the first game and improved upon it. The graphics were sharp (except for the Nintendo Switch which is just okay). The gameplay is smooth and takes combat elements from past DBZ games. The original game can be played in XV2 so it’s basically two games in one! The hud world was fun, as well as finding and unlocking the mentors. I put 100+ hours into this game on the Xbox, PC and Switch creating vastly different characters. By the end of this game I fully bought into the crazy time rift stuff. I’m not sure I want/need a XV3. I think I’m ready for something different next, but they have been supporting content for this game for years. And I mean massive content updates!
Dragon Ball Revenge of King Piccolo is everything I want in my favorite license/franchise. When you simplify it, it’s really just a beat em up. There is more verticality than Advanced Adventure, but you mostly move side to side through the levels. You play through a good portion of the Dragon Ball storyline as Goku, power pole in hand, ready to beat up some animals or red ribbon army baddies, with the occasional boss battle. This game was underrated and underappreciated when it was released, and now has a dedicated fan base that remembers this game. I love the art style and think the game still looks good today. It’s not a masterpiece by any means, and definitely has it’s repetitive nature and lacks replay value. But I often revisit this game every year or so.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is the tight tactical beautiful fighting game we were all waiting for. The art style is unmatched. The detail and colors easily make it the best looking Dragon Ball Z video game. But that alone is not what makes this game great. This is a fighting game developer making a great fighting game. The combos, the supers/ultimates are also easy enough to pull off, and hard to truly master in battle. The story is not excellent, nor is the way in which the story/battles play out through that tactical/grid map thing. But the hud/menu where you walk around has plenty of other options to play the game. This feels like MvC 2 but in DBZ form. There is no greater compliment. The roster is now pretty solid after plenty of content added. I wonder if we get a sequel to this extremely well made video game.
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot is a love letter to hardcore Dragon Ball Z fans. It gets so much unnecessary criticism on the internet. “The open world is empty but has pointless orbs” “The scaled open world battles are pointless” “Game auto levels me” And these are all semi-valid complaints. More honestly, this game is incredible. If you are a true to the core DBZ fan, and sick of the 35 other games that focus just on fighting, this gives you a true to scale world with 12+ different lands to travel, with many playable characters, teamups, transformations, and an AWESOME battle/combat system. I honestly think it is one of the best DBZ battle systems. I love fighterZ, but it does not have the fast air combat with teleporting and blocking and combos back and forth that the show really is. Kakarot makes me feel like these characters. Blocking large blasts. Countering moves. Teleporting around nonstop. And stringing together air combos. I have great control over my character (Superman game devs should play this). And it lets me play through 95% of the important parts of the show. (A few omissions such as USSJ vs Cell, Training with King Kai, traveling Snake Way, and training on ship on route to planet namek should have been included). But this game has so much content. I played through this game almost 3x complete. A high end PC made this game absolutely shine. But surprisingly enough, the Switch version is smooth and fully enjoyable (although not the ideal way to play). I love this video game and will play it again again for years to come (except made 1-2 side missions like those mech races). Bring on more content (and maybe a prequel/sequel too!) DBZ meets GTA, the dream video game!