Dragon Ball has had a solid few years in video games, from the tournament-feeding energy of Dragon Ball FighterZ, to the sales record-shattering Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. Even the action-adventure-RPG Kakarot was decent! But while the late Akira Toriyama’s flagship manga series was often just being milked for middling games year after year, every now and then something neat would pop up and quickly get lost in the shuffle. Here are some Dragon Ball games that I’d argue are in “hidden gem” territory, not given nearly enough credit and overshadowed by the bigger fighting games.
Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure
This beat ‘em up for the GBA is one of the best Dragon Ball games ever. You may scoff due to its scope and cute look, but this whole game just gets it. The vibe, the animations, the surprisingly complex gameplay, the boss fights, everything screams Dragon Ball.
Super Dragon Ball Z
Super DBZ is the total opposite of Advanced Adventure. Instead of perfectly capturing the series’ essence, this game crams Dragon Ball into a Street Fighter-shaped box. And somehow it rules? They gave Android 16 “Rekka” SPDs, and if you know what that phrase means then you know why you need to play this game.
Dragon Ball Z: Chou Saiya Densetsu
It might be easy to forget that Dragon Ball’s been around since the 1980s. Before fighting games, the series had card-based RPGs on the Famicom that had no chance in hell of being localized. This Super Famicom title is a remake of the first two, and didn’t have a complete, enjoyable fan translation until 2016! Something about its surprisingly thought-out card combat, goofy, beady-eyed sprites, and simple structure make this game a lot of fun.
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans
Before turning into a Xenoblade factory, Monolith Soft made a whole bunch of weird RPGs, especially on the Nintendo DS. This covers the transition between the end of Dragon Ball and the first story arc of Dragon Ball Z, and it has some really great sprite art and well-presented turn-based combat.
Dragon Ball Fusions
Hey, it’s another weird RPG starring the Dragon Ball crew. Turns out this might be the best genre for taking the IP a little out of the box. Remember those fusion gags from Budokai? What if there was a RPG based entirely on those gags, with a combat system that has you knocking characters into each other like ping pong balls? Fusions is truly strange, but a hoot to see how weird it gets.
There we have it; basically a list of my favorite Dragon Ball games (that aren’t the obvious ones). Do you have a favorite Dragon Ball game that isn’t a Sparking! sequel or the obligatory Arc System Works fighter? Let me know which one it is and why. I particularly want to hear from Super Butoden sickos, because those games feel incomprehensible to me.
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replyLucas White posted a new article, 5 great Dragon Ball games that don't get enough credit
