Dragon Ball Z has produced a plethora of video game adaptations, some of which are timeless classics, while others are best forgotten.
Dragon Ball Z is the most well-known manga and anime franchise of all time. It also lends itself especially well to video game adaptation, thanks to its cast of fascinating characters and nonstop action. As a result, since the debut game, Dragon Ball Z: Assault!, there have been well over a hundred titles. In Japan, Saiyans was launched in 1990 for the Super Famicom.
Dragon Ball Z has been recreated as RPGs, digital collectible card games, and a rail shooter. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is reverting to the franchise’s tried-and-true formula, whereas Dragon Ball: The Breakers is a more odd release.
S-Tier
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3: It could be said that Tenkaichi 3 took on more than it could handle, but just for trying so hard, the game deserves a lot of respect. It had a huge cast of Dragon Ball Z characters, including some that didn’t get much attention. It also had free-roaming mechanics that made battles feel more like an episode of Dragon Ball Z than anything before or since.
- Dragon Ball FighterZ: Dragon Ball has always worked best as a 2D fighting game, and Dragon Ball FighterZ blends the finest of its spiritual forebears. FighterZ is a top-tier game even without its attractive aesthetics due of its smooth gameplay.
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- Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension: This is the best Dragon Ball Z game for the SNES ever made. A strategic fighting game with very detailed sprite animations that made it stand out from other games at the time and is still remembered as one of the best in the series.
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3: You can’t put Tenkaichi 3 in S-tier without also putting Budokai 3 there. Budokai 3 was a better fighting game than Tenkaichi 3, even though it didn’t have the free-roaming feature that made that game so popular. It has the same gorgeous cel shading and a good cast of its own.
- Dragon Ball Z: Buu’s Fury: After a rocky start, the Legacy of Goku series slowly improved. The series concluded with Buu’s Fury, which built on an already good game in The Legacy of Goku 2 by adding new features and significantly tightening up the gameplay.
A-Tier
- Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku 2: The Legacy of Goku 2 responded to fans’ criticism of the first game by adding fresh dimension to the franchise. It is at the very top of the A-tier, separated by a razor-thin margin between Buu’s Fury and the S-tier.
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2: There isn’t much separating Tenkaichi 2 and Tenkaichi 3, but the sequel improved enough to take the top spot. Tenkaichi 2 is a masterpiece. Tenkaichi 2’s cover image with Trunks holding his sword and Goku and other characters in its mirror is the greatest of the franchise.
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot: Kakarot is the definitive Dragon Ball Z game. From Raditz through Kid Buu and beyond with DLCs. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot features an amazing cast of playable Dragon Ball characters, but it’s a tired experience. As a debut Dragon Ball Z game, it’s hard to top, but lifelong fans may be disappointed.
- Dragon Ball Z: Xenoverse 1 and 2: Xenoverse allows fans to choose from Dragon Ball Z’s playable races and create their own plot. With additional fleshed-out races beyond Saiyans and tweaked aesthetics, a third Xenoverse game may be S-tier.
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B-Tier
- Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast 1 and 2: Raging Blast games are too easy, but else they’re fine. It’s a retread of the almost-perfect Budokai Tenkaichi series.
- Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors: Legendary Super Warriors, an underappreciated Dragon Ball Z game, was a turn-based strategy game that can deliver a pang of nostalgia just as well as any other title. Its main flaw was that once players figured out the enemies’ patterns, the game alternated between being extremely difficult and ridiculously easy.
- Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors: While Supersonic Warriors receives a lot of praise from fans for its engaging gameplay, the title is best known for its story, which deviated from the canon plot and attempted to solve a slew of what-if issues.
- Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans: A forgotten Nintendo DS game that was surprisingly good, it brought in sidekicks like Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien and let them shine. Looking back on Attack of the Saiyans’ successes, it’s a shame that the blueprint wasn’t expanded upon further in a sequel.
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2: Budokai 2 will always be overshadowed by its successor, but it’s good. Budokai 2’s story, like Supersonic Warriors’, explored speculative tales, but the sequel improved on gameplay.
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai: It deserves every ounce of respect it gets for kicking off an amazing series, but its successors continued to make improvements that put them far above the original.
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden: Super Butoden was an awesome SNES fighting game that introduced many fans to Dragon Ball Z. Its split-screen was shocking, but it set the way for numerous games.
C-Tier
- Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World: It was released a year after Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and used the same engine, but was inferior. Unlike Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Infinite World is a redundant, repetitive title. It’s not a bad title, but it’s unimaginative.
- Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit: Another title that had to compete with the Tenkaichi series, it has a small roster and a short storyline that ends the Cell Saga.
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi: The lack of in-fight transformations, janky mechanics, and lack of depth make the original Tenkaichi uncomparable to the sequels.
D-Tier
- Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout: Final Bout’s gameplay was cumbersome, but it introduced fans to new characters. As a game, it was almost unplayable despite offering a glimpse into Dragon Ball GT’s world.
- Dragon Ball Z: Sagas: A best-forgotten PlayStation 2 beat-em-up, Dragon Ball Z: Sagas touted an intriguing concept and new direction from most Dragon Ball Z titles. Unfortunately, the execution left a lot to be desired.
- Dragon Ball Z: For Kinect: The success of the Xbox 360’s Kinect is extremely limited, and Dragon Ball Z: For Kinect is not one of them. It’s yet another promising concept that fell short of expectations.
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