Best Dragon Ball Games

With there being well over 9000 video games based on Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga and subsequent anime, narrowing down the list to the best titles of all time is far from an easy feat. Admittedly, this is less about being spoiled for choice and more a case of there just being a ton of mediocre Dragon Ball games that barely try to stick out from the crowd.

In 1986, Epoch published Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyō for the Super Cassette Vision, marking the iconic series’ first foray into gaming. Similar to most of Dragon Ball‘s earliest titles, the shoot’em up – yes, shoot’em up – never made it out of Japan. While the West needed around another decade to truly catch Goku fever, nowadays, a year can barely pass without a Saiyan-themed fighting game or RPG hitting the shelves.

With so many projects associated with the series, picking out the best Dragon Ball games can be quite difficult. This discussion tends to be dominated by a few names that came out during the PS2 and PS4 eras, but the franchise’s gaming legacy goes back decades and has achieved relative greatness fairly frequently. Let’s highlight DBZ‘s crowning achievements, covering the usual suspects and a couple of underrated gems.

Updated June 4, 2025 by Mark Sammut: At the moment, a new Dragon Ball game has not been announced, and it might be a while before Goku and company return to consoles or PC. Sparking! Zero is still fairly young and, for the most part, has retained a positive reputation, even if some of its flaws are nowadays recognized. That said, the game’s April 2025 patch was well received. Exciting as newcomers tend to be, it is also important to cherish the franchise’s history and origins (in gaming). Consequently, a lesser-known SNES DBZ game has been added as a recommendation.

30

Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu

An Early Attempt At A Dragon Ball RPG (And The Best Entry In A Forgotten Series)

Dragon Ball might be primarily associated with fighting games, but the franchise’s earliest efforts predate that genre’s birth and explosion in popularity. Consequently, Goku’s first gaming adventures leaned into platforming or RPG territory, avenues that the series would rarely revisit after the success of titles like Hyper Dimension and Budokai​​​​​​.

Although not having much of a presence in Western nations, the Gokuden series was arguably Dragon Ball‘s first gaming success story. TOSE Software and Bandai released seven entries within this series, with most of them landing on the Famicom. Honestly, the NES Dragon Ball games are hard to recommend nowadays as they show their ages way too much, but they can take die-hard fans on fascinating trips through gaming history. That said, if somebody wants to try out this series, they should go with Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu, a SNES remake of two earlier entries. The RPG covers the Saiyan and Namek Sagas, featuring a pretty decent card-based combat system that would be revisited in later games like Legendary Super Warriors.

While primarily a historical piece at this point, Super Saiya Densetsu is relatively fun to play nowadays, and it still feels surprisingly fresh due to the lack of Dragon Ball RPGs.

29

Dragon Ball GT: Transformation

Even GT Deserves Some Love

Dragon Ball GT is generally seen as a low point in the franchise’s history, especially since the series was meant to follow up DBZ. Unfortunately, the anime struggled to find its footing as it attempted to balance Dragon Ball‘s sense of adventure with DBZ‘s action. The result was a story that did not shine as either an adventure or action anime, instead existing in a middle-ground that was not that satisfying. That said, the show still has its positives and is worth a watch for die-hard fans.

Now, Dragon Ball GT has not been ignored by the gaming industry, with its transformations, villains, and arcs being included in quite a few projects. However, the series has only been asked to carry two standalone games: Final Bout and Transformation. The former is a prime contender for the worst Dragon Ball game of all time, and it has very few redeeming factors. Comparatively speaking, Transformation is a masterpiece next to Final Bout; removed from that context, the GBA exclusive is just an average beat ’em up.

The campaign runs through the first two arcs, ending with the Baby saga. Players get to visit a few different planets that echo the source material, and Transformation focuses on a team of three. The story mode mostly consists of Goku, Pan, and Trunks, but the game has a few more playable characters. While nothing special, Transformation looks fine and has perfectly decent combat.

28

Dragon Ball Z: Attack Of The Saiyans

Decent Entry-Level Turn-Based RPG

Nintendo’s handheld systems seem to inspire Dragon Ball to try something slightly different, at least for the franchise. Dragon Ball Z: Attack Of The Saiyans is a turn-based RPG with a limited roster of characters and some exploration. As the campaign does not simply jump from one fight to the next, it only covers a fraction of Dragon Ball Z‘s storyline, concluding with the Saiyan Saga.

Attack Of The Saiyans does very little to separate itself from other turn-based RPGs, but it is a serviceable one that should please fans of the franchise and the genre. While derivative in the grand scheme of things, this Nintendo DS title is relatively unique in the Dragon Ball world.

27

Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo

Reliving Goku’s Formative Years

Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo seems to have been wiped from existence, barely existing as a footnote in the franchise’s gaming history. Along with being a Wii exclusive, it is not quite as good as the Origins games on the Nintendo DS, despite delivering a similar overall experience. Still, Revenge of King Piccolo deserves recognition for being a home console release that moves away from DBZ, instead focusing on Akira Toriyama’s first few manga arcs and their anime adaptation. This simple creative decision instantly sets the game apart from nearly every other post-2000s Dragon Ball release, justifying a recommendation in the process.

So, what does Revenge of King Piccolo play like? Well, it is essentially a straightforward beat ’em up with some lite platforming. For the most part, players will rush through linear levels while frequently stopping to bash out encounters with enemies. Although simple, the combat is more than flashy and fast-paced enough to keep things interesting throughout the relatively short campaign. Ultimately, Revenge of King Piccolo is just a middle package that has nothing to offer non-fans but could hit the mark with diehards.

26

Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle

Something A Bit Different

Like with any popular anime property, Dragon Ball has spawned more than a few mobile games. The main two are Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle and Dragon Ball Legends, both of which have been around for a few years and feature original storylines. Trepidation towards mobile titles is to be expected, particularly free-to-play ones, but these two titles are better than average.

Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle has quite a unique twist on gameplay. The anime game incorporates puzzle elements, forcing players to think their way through battles. Dokkan Battle cannot compare to the franchise’s best Dragon Ball Z games on consoles, however, in the world of mobile gaming, it is a respectable entry.

25

Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden

Mega Drive Alternative To Super Butoden

While the SNES/Super Famicom received the Super Butoden trilogy (at least, in Japan and Europe), the Mega Drive/Genesis had to make do with Buyuu Retsuden, a fighting game that was cut from largely the same cloth. In terms of quality, this 1994 release was closer to the original Super Butoden than its sequels, albeit with vibrant visuals that helped the detailed character models pop off the screen.

Like so many early fighting games that are not the genre’s heavyweights, Buyuu Retsuden can be difficult to revisit in this day and age, especially since the European version is rarer than the Japanese one. Still, if someone is fond of the SNES trilogy, they should check out this alternative as it is like discovering a fourth entry. While stiff and repetitive, the combat is mostly fine, even if it is let down by battles that regularly overstay their welcome. The story mode gives each character a unique campaign, which mostly consists of battles introduced by text.

24

Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team

Tag Team Addition Cannot Save A Tired Formula. Still, Not Bad.

On the surface, Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team was just another 3D arena brawler that cycles through the same old arcs while using a tired combat system that was in desperate need of evolution, more so than the introduction of 2v2 battles could provide. Out of all the Tenkaichi and Budokai Tenkaichi games that were released over roughly a decade, Tenkaichi Tag Team was the most forgettable and, arguably, the worst (not counting Ultimate Tenkachi, which was something else entirely); yet, this 2010 release had one major thing in its favor: portability. Unlike every other entry, this title was designed specifically for the PSP, and it was the franchise’s last effort for that console.

While arguably not the best DBZ game on Sony’s handheld system, Tenkaichi Tag Team deserves praise for impressively translating the home console entries’ gameplay for the PSP. Despite having far fewer inputs to work with, Spike managed to mostly retain Budokai Tenkaichi‘s controls, resulting in a spin-off that should scratch a fan’s itch to take this particular subseries on the go. Tenkaichi Tag Team delivers high-octane and accessible action, along with very good visuals for the device.

That said, the game is quite by-the-numbers in most areas. The Dragon Walker story mode has a cute overworld presentation, but it is otherwise just another retread of the same arcs that the franchise has been revisiting for decades. The secondary modes are mainly time-wasters that can be fun distractions, which is fine for a portable game like this.

23

Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors

Enjoyable Story Mode

The Game Boy Advance has a surprisingly good selection of Dragon Ball games, and they cover a wide spectrum of genres. Supersonic Warriors exists to fill the console’s fighting game quota for the franchise, and while its mechanics are rough around the edges and do not hold up particularly well, there is still a lot to love about the overall package.

The story mode is the main reason to revisit this project since the developers really went for broke to make this as enjoyable of an experience as possible for fans. Along with chapters that follow DBZ‘s main sagas, each playable character has their own what-if scenario, most of which are a lot of fun to see unfold. Supersonic Warriors‘ gameplay is also not terrible and does not detract too much from the game’s strengths.

22

Dragon Ball Legends

Respectable Mobile Option

Compared to Dokkan Battle, Dragon Ball Legends provides a mobile experience closer to the franchise’s console releases, although the app is still tailor-made for Android and iOS devices. Boasting impressive visuals for its platforms, Legends‘ combat blends fighting mechanics with a card battle system, striking a middle-ground that succeeds in being accessible, fast-paced, and surprisingly strategic.

Bandai Namco’s project has amassed an impressive amount of content over the last few years, and its story is likely to hit home with fans of the manga and anime. The plot follows Shallot, a new Saiyan who suffers from memory loss. As combat revolves around 3v3 battles, Dragon Ball Legends has an impressive roster of playable characters that are unlocked via a gacha system.

21

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2

Fine Evolution Of Budokai Formula

While the Raging Blast series always felt like lesser versions of the beloved Budokai Tenkaichi, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they were bad games. In fact, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 is one of the more underrated fighters in the franchise. It even plays like a much more simplified version of Budokai Tenkaichi 3, which is not a bad thing.

Unlike many fighters with massive rosters, this game introduces at least one unique technique per character, which makes them stand out much more. Instead of retelling the story of the anime, the game has “Galactic Missions”, which are isolated fights that focus on a path for characters from Goku to Tarble. It may be a lesser version of a few better Dragon Ball games, but it’s still a fun time.