The Dragon Ball franchise has had a long history with video games. Just about every Nintendo console has seen a Dragon Ball title grace its hardware. From card based JRPGs to traditional fighting games, there’s no shortage of Dragon Ball in the medium. While the average licensed game stumbles more often than not, Dragon Ball actually translates consistently well to video games.
There have been great Dragon Ball games as early as the NES, and they haven’t slowed down any since. The series thrives in an interactive format, not only because of the high octane action that courses through its veins, but the character driven storytelling that lends itself well to video games.
10 NES/Famicom: Gekishin Freeza
The Famicom was home to several Dragon Ball JRPGs. In fact, the RPG genre is where Dragon Ball first truly stretched its video games legs. While none were ever localized internationally, Dragon Ball’s Famicom RPGs adapted the anime from the very start of the series up to Imperfect Cell’s first appearance.
The best game of the bunch is Gekishin Freeza, an adaptation of the Namek arc that cuts off right before Goku turns Super Saiyan. In spite of this bizarre ending point, Gekishin Freeza features the best maps across the series, surprisingly great sprite work, and a clever take on the Namek arc that keeps the Earthlings alive for the intergalactic adventure.
9 SNES/Super Famicom: Hyper Dimension
Hyper Dimension on the SNES did actually see an international release, albeit only in Europe. Loosely covering the end of the Frieza arc up through the rest of Dragon Ball Z, Hyper Dimension is an incredibly unique fighting game that features Health & Ki as a singular mechanic while allowing players to dynamically knock one another into other stages during combat. Gameplay in Hyper Dimension is as frantic as it is strategic, and the fact characters gain access to desperation moves while at critical health means that the course of battle can be changed even at dire straits.
8 Game Boy: Goku Gekitoden
Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hishoden and Goku Gekitoden never released outside of Japan, but are two of the most creative games on the Game Boy. Covering the events of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai up to the Namek arc as a duology, the two titles blend action game sensibilities with RPG combat.
Goku Hishoden is the more accessible title of the bunch, but Gekitoden generally improves upon its predecessor in every sense by upping the presentation quality and refining combat. It’s a shame neither game released internationally or saw a sequel covering the Cell arc – they’re both fascinating takes on a Dragon Ball game.
7 Game Boy Color: Legendary Super Warriors
Most Dragon Ball RPGs come with a card slant to them, but Legendary Super Warriors is the first to implement in-depth deck building and strategic gameplay elements. LSW is quite difficult compared to other Dragon Ball games, but that just makes its combat more rewarding. The story also covers the entirety of Dragon Ball Z – making it the first entry in the series to do so.
As a result, Legendary Super Warriors is primarily told from Gohan’s perspective while allowing players to slightly alter the course of the plot at key moments and unlock new stages down the line. Legendary Super Warriors notably released around the same time as The Legacy of Goku in the US, blowing the latter GBA game out of the water in every respect.
6 Game Boy Advance: Advanced Adventure
There aren’t very many classic Dragon Ball games, but the ones that do exist tend to be better than their Dragon Ball Z competitors by virtue of playing up the series’ early penchant for adventure. Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure is a platformer/beat ‘em up that adapts the original anime from the start of the series up to Demon King Piccolo’s defeat. Advanced Adventure has great level design, excellent bosses, and a post-game that allows plates to unlock every single enemy in the game as a playable character.
5 GameCube: Budokai
The GameCube unfortunately only got the first two Budokai games, missing out on the cream of the crop, but the original Budokai is still a great fighter and an even better Dragon Ball game. Styling itself like the anime (complete with episode title cards in the story mode,) Budokai has a level of love & care for the series comparable to Fighterz (more on that later.)
Budokai’s roster is small and combat relatively limited compared to later entries in the franchise, but Capsule Customization does wonders in giving gameplay depth and the sheer amount of content to unlock & see makes the game worth investing hours into. The GameCube release also looks better than the PS2 original as an added bonus.
4 DS: Ultimate Butoden
Ultimate Butoden is yet another Dragon Ball game that didn’t leave Japanese, which is especially a pity considering the DS fighter released at a time where the series was fairly popular internationally (and Dragon Ball Kai was already airing.) A return to the Super Butoden sub-series of yore, Ultimate Butoden has a massive roster, adapts all of Dragon Ball Z, and features cosmetic customization for each character through an accessory system. It’s frankly criminal Ultimate Butoden never to the west.
3 Wii: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
The Wii suffered the inverse fate of the GameCube in regards to Budokai Tenkaichi: the sub-series missed its first installment, but 2 and 3 did release on the system. That said, the best Budokai Tenkaichi game has always been the second. BT2 may not have as large a roster as BT3, but its story mode is second to none and character customization is much improved over the original.
While both Budokai Tenkaichi games feature light motion controls on the Wii, it is possible to play with the GameCube or Classic controllers. Back in the day, BT3 was arguably the better of the two games since it had online, but with the dissolution of the Wii’s servers, there’s little reason to play the third over the second.
2 3DS: Fusions
Dragon Ball Fusions is one of the most creative games in the franchise, taking a Pokemon-esque approach to the RPG genre that had defined the series’ time in the medium. Players recruit different characters from Dragon Ball, add them to their team, and fuse them together into new martial artists. The creativity in Fusions is through the roof, and the combat itself has an addictive quality that’ll keep you invested once the story gets going.
1 Switch: Fighterz
Juggling some of the tightest combat in the genre, a roster that pays tribute to how the characters actually fought in the anime & manga, and a staggering amount of care put into recreating Dragon Ball as authentically as possible, Dragon Ball Fighterz might well be the best game in the franchise. With Fighterz still getting support in the form of DLC characters, the fighter has enjoyed a healthy life cycle that doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.