10 Best Dragon Ball Fighting Games, Ranked
Dragon Ball Z has always flourished when it comes to fighting games. Some of the most reputable and beloved games in the franchise have been sequels as well. Many fans are excited to finally receive a sequel to one of the most favored games of all time, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
Throughout time, Dragon Ball fighting games have evolved dramatically. Dragon Ball FighterZis a recent gem that has managed to maintain a massive following with large events competing in PVP. While there’s no news on whether the game will receive any more DLC or a sequel it’s possible that Budokai Tenkaichi 4 could replace it as the popular competitive Dragon Ball fighting game.
10 Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast was in many ways the perfect successor to the Budokai Tenkaichi games. While the first game wasn’t nearly as fleshed out as the second one, the first Raging Blast was a necessary step in making Raging Blast 2 what it is today.
Raging Blast made many fans’ dreams come true by providing Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta and Super Saiyan 3 Broly as playable characters which was an absolutely surreal experience. The combat in this game was fantastic, even if the camera did feel wonky at times. The visuals themselves were clean and slick and fit well into the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era.
9 Dragon Ball Xenoverse
Dragon Ball Xenoverse was an incredible and pivotal game for the Dragon Ball franchise. The game was largely story-driven and followed the events of the Time Patroller created by the player as they fixed distorted timelines. This was a brilliant concept that allowed players to go through the Story Mode of Dragon Ball Z while changing it up to feel far more varied and different.
This new gameplay mode didn’t quite fall into the popular “What-if” category, but it was close to that. Dragon Ball Xenoverse also had a vast amount of bonus content like the addicting Parallel Quests. There were many issues with the combat, but all of this was resolved in its sequel.
8 Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors
Supersonic Warriors was an excellent 2D fighting game on the GameBoy Advance. Unfortunately, its sequel wasn’t quite as good as the original, but Supersonic Warriors remains the best handheld Dragon Ball game ever.
The combat is relatively simple but is engaging and even has a multiplayer mode by linking two GameBoy Advances. Like many other popular Dragon Ball games, Supersonic Warriors had “What-if” stories in addition to the main Story Mode. In this regard, Supersonic Warriors 2 was slightly better, but when it came to the overall combat the first game was the best.
7 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
Budokai 2 is the weakest in the Budokai trilogy, but it’s still a fantastic entry in the franchise. This is the first game in the series that covers the entirety of the story in Dragon Ball Z. One of the best aspects of the game that fans remember were the “What-if” fusions.
These included Tiencha (the Metamoran fusion of Tien and Yamcha), Gokule (the Potara fusion of Goku and Hercule), and Super Buu with the absorptions of Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, Yamcha, and Tien. This was an unreal addition to the game that made Budokai 2 stand out for years.
6 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Budokai Tenkaichi 2 was a massive step up from Budokai Tenkaichi and many fans still regard Budokai Tenkaichi 2 as the best Dragon Ball fighting game ever. It is truly fantastic and has some of the best side content in the series. One of the best stories in the game was the “What-if” Saga.
A fan-favorite has always been the Fateful Brothers story which had Raditz losing his memories shortly after encountering Piccolo. Because of this innocence, he quickly became Goku’s ally and they fight against Piccolo. In the end, Raditz still dies, but he takes Vegeta and Nappa down with him. Some fans want a Raditz redemption arc.
5 Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
Raging Blast 2 is an absolutely incredible experience with graphics that have aged remarkably well. This was the game to play for fans of the Budokai Tenkaichi games fitting perfectly as one of the best 2010s Dragon Ball games. However, this game still retains many qualities that make it stand out as its own unique game.
Much like Raging Blast, the sequel receives some special characters that players wouldn’t see in other games. In addition to Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta and Super Saiyan 3 Broly, players get access to Tarble and Hatchiyack, and several movie characters who’ve never appeared before. The Galaxy Mode in the game was incredible too, and every character had their own journey.
4 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection
The release of the Budokai HD Collection was one of the best moments to be a Dragon Ball fan. This collection remastered both Budokai and Budokai 3, the best games in the trilogy. Budokai and Budokai 3 are both phenomenally gorgeous games with some of the cleanest combat in a Dragon Ball fighting game.
Even though Budokai only adapted the first three Sagas of Dragon Ball Z it had a charm to it and was the first best fighting game for the franchise on consoles. Budokai 3 surpassed both of its predecessors and had far more complex and engaging gameplay. The Story Mode was also incredible and gave every individual character their own unique storyline.
3 Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 was everything that the fans of the first game wanted. It improved every issue with the combat in the original game and offered a bounteous amount of content. The gameplay was perfect and there were so many characters to choose from.
The overall story was also able to feel different from the first game and didn’t feel repetitive at all. The game has arguably too much DLC, and it’s still receiving new content but at this point, most fans simply want a Xenoverse 3. Regardless, Xenoverse 2 stands overall as one of the best Dragon Ball games ever.
2 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is one of the best Dragon Ball games from the 2000s and has long been hailed as the greatest Dragon Ball game by many fans. So much so, that the game finally received an announcement for a future sequel. The best aspect of Budokai Tenkaichi 3 was how many playable characters there were.
This offered a wide variety of teams that the player could explore and master. The Story Mode was more basic than many other games, but it did still have a lot of fun content like the various Martial Arts Tournaments and the Ultimate Battle Mode. Players could even access missions from Budokai Tenkaichi 2‘s Ultimate Battle Mode if they owned the disc.
1 Dragon Ball FighterZ
There’s little doubt that so far that Dragon Ball FighterZ is the best Dragon Ball fighting game and one of the best Dragon Ball games on the PlayStation. While it doesn’t have a massive cast of playable characters or many side modes, the gameplay is absolutely unrivaled. The game has accumulated a massive fanbase for competitive play.
Even though no DLC content has been added to the game for a few years the game hasn’t lost its popularity. The gameplay itself is exquisite and gorgeous. More than any other Dragon Ball game, players genuinely feel like they’re truly playing as the characters they’ve chosen. Each character is perfectly crafted to match their unique fighting style seen in the series.