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Recommendations for Dragon Ball Games?

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Phoenixus

Member
So recently I've been trying to branch out into watching other animations outside of Attack on Titan and TMNT 2012, so I decided to see what all this 'Over 9000!' stuff was about. Just past the Frieza Saga in Dragon Ball Z now, safe to say I'm hooked!

Anyways, I'm not too clued up on the quality of Dragon Ball games in general so would appreciate some advice! I kinda skipped Dragon Ball and went straight to Z in the hopes that publishers wouldn't miss a trick in adapting the hell out of the origin story, so if there's a decent game that does that then that would be dandy. And how are those Budokai games? I have pretty much every format without a Microsoft logo on (so no Dragon Ball Kinect!), so recommend away.

First thread, go easy on the newbie. :)
 
Oh, you have a PS2?

PS2 - DBZ Budokai 2, Super DBZ, Infinite World
PS3 -DBZ Budokai HD, Burst Limit
DS - DB Origins
Wii- DB Revenge of King Piccolo
GBA - DBZ Legacy of Goku 1-2, Buu's Fury
 
Budokai 3 for PS2, or the Budokai HD Collection for PS3.

I also enjoyed Shin Budokai/Shin Budokai Another Road for PSP
 
Get DBZ Budokai HD Collection for PS3.
Get DBZ BT2 and 3 (Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3) for PS2.

Personally I think, since you are into story and loving the anime, you will enjoy BT2 and 3 more.
Budokai games have better fighting mechanics, but dont do the story well.

Also get Burst Limit and Raging Blast1 on PS3. Both have decent story modes, but are not as good as PS2 predecessors (BL is inspired by Budokai games and RB is inspired by BT games)
 
Lots of votes for the HD collection, I'll try and snag a copy. Ta!

Are there any with RPG or adventure elements? Fighting games are awesome and all (and a perfect fit for DB of course), just wondering how much variety there is.
 
Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and Shin Budokai (in that order) are the best DBZ games I've played. Shin Budokai is pretty much Budokai 3 without the worst part (i.e. Dragon Rush) and with an awesome speed dash move. But it's kind of a "standard" fighter with a DBZ skin.

Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the best DBZ simulator. A lot of characters and great gameplay that feels like the show.

The third one I'd recommend is Super DBZ. It's almost like a 3D arena DBZ adaptation that plays like a Street Fighter game (kinda). It's very different from the others, but still fun.
 
Don't buy Budokai HD if you still have a PS2 or a capable PC for emulation. The musical scores were replaced with completely forgettable stuff due to plagiarism. The PS3/360 ports don't add an online mode and IIRC are based off of the edited EU version of Budokai.

PS2: Budokai 3, Infinite World, Super Dragon Ball Z, Budokai Tenkaichi 3
GBA: Advanced Adventure, Legacy of Goku 2, Buu's Fury
NDS: Origins/Origins 2, Attack of the Saiyans, Ultimate Butouden
PSP: Shin Budokai: Another Road, Tenkaichi Tag Team
PS3: Burst Limit, Raging Blast 2
 
Phoenixus said:
Lots of votes for the HD collection, I'll try and snag a copy. Ta!

Are there any with RPG or adventure elements? Fighting games are awesome and all (and a perfect fit for DB of course), just wondering how much variety there is.
Click to expand...

Outside of Ultimate Butouden every DS and GBA game I named is either a RPG or a beat 'em up platformer. Revenge of King Piccolo fits Advanced Adventure's mold but just isn't any fun IMO.
 
Phoenixus said:
Lots of votes for the HD collection, I'll try and snag a copy. Ta!

Are there any with RPG or adventure elements? Fighting games are awesome and all (and a perfect fit for DB of course), just wondering how much variety there is.
Click to expand...

Dragon Ball Origins 1 and 2 for the DS are action adventure games. They're pretty good too if you play in short bursts. Otherwise they can get a bit repetitive.

They're almost completely stylus controlled though so if you don't like that they're probably not for you.
 
Dragon Ball Origins on the DS is a neat little action-adventure that handles similar to the DS Zelda games. Bonus points for being one of the only ones to use Dragon Ball and not Z. It also has what I'm convinced is the single greatest use of the space between DS screens ever.

Dragon_Ball_Origins_Bulma_Flash.PNG
 
Phoenixus said:
Are there any with RPG or adventure elements? Fighting games are awesome and all (and a perfect fit for DB of course), just wondering how much variety there is.
Click to expand...

If you have access to a GBC/GBA/Game Boy Player, Dragonball Z: Legendary Super Warriors for GBC is a turn/card based JRPG with a ton of content & replay value that can be addicting as hell. It came out pretty late in the GBC's life, so it's not as well known as say, the Budokai games, but it's legitimately great.

Takao said:
Don't buy Budokai HD if you still have a PS2 or a capable PC for emulation. The musical scores were replaced with completely forgettable stuff due to plagiarism. The PS3/360 ports don't add an online mode and IIRC are based off of the edited EU version of Budokai.
Click to expand...

On the upside, it does support custom soundtracks, and you get the Greatest Hits content/balance changes. No online's pretty retarded, though.
 
I had lots of fun playing Origins on the DS, it's a really fun game. It was nice to dive back into the original quirky DB atmosphere.
 
Legacy of Goku 2 and Buu's Fury are legitimately decent action RPGs with multiple playable characters and leveling if you want something besides fighting games. The first Legacy of Goku had more puzzles/a zelda vibe which was sorta cool, but the combat was so broken it's not fun to play at all (every fight was just using kamehameha, then solar flaring/running away to recharge the kamehameha and do it all again). All three are GBA games by the way

I hear Origins on DS is good, and I played the demo and liked it a lot but never got around to buying it. But that's Dragonball and not Z
 
For the Gameboy Advance:

  • Dragonball Z : The Legacy of Goku
  • Dragonball Z : The Legacy of Goku 2
  • Dragonball Z : The Legacy of Goku 3 (Buu's Fury)

Another great DBZ game is

  • Dragonball Z : Supersonic Warriors
 
DBZ Fighting Games:

Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Wii/PS2 l
(biggest roster) best of Tenkaichi series. In my opinion the best DBZ fighting game.

Super Dragonball Z PS2
More standard fighter. Manga coloring and the only game with playable adult Chi-Chi.

Raging Blast 2 360/PS3
Best HD fighter. Comes with new OVA and has characters not featured before.

Dragonball Beat-em-up Games

Play in order to follow almost the complete Dragonball tale (except for 23rd tournament)

Dragonball Origins DS

Dragonball Origins 2 DS

Dragonball: Revenge of King Piccolo
Has bonus versus fighting mode with Dragonball version of characters.
 
Attack of the Saiyans on DS was really cool. Developed by Monolith Soft as well, so it's actually a pretty decent RPG.
 
I'm not interested in DB fighting games (I'm not really into fighting at all), but I would totally play a good DB action-adventure with some RPG mechanics for improving Goku's strength and abilities. Are there any games like this?

EDIT: Ok, guess the GBA titles are pretty much that. But I want a proper console one
 
Origins sounds like the kind of thing I'm after, so took a risk and went for an eBay copy. I do recall playing the demo for that at one point actually, shame I wasn't into the series back then. :/

So first that to learn the story before Z, then either the HD collection or just Budokai 3 on PS2. Sounds like a plan!
 
RoadHazard said:
I'm not interested in DB fighting games (I'm not really into fighting at all), but I would totally play a good DB action-adventure with some RPG mechanics for improving Goku's strength and abilities. Are there any games like this?

EDIT: Ok, guess the GBA titles are pretty much that. But I want a proper console one
Click to expand...

The only game in that vein for consoles is DBZ Sagas, and that's pretty universally agreed to be terrible.
 
Everyone leaves out that the Budokai HD Collection replaced all the music because the composer Kenji Yamamoto had to be let go over plagiarism.

Which is sad, his music was GODLY in the Budokai series. :( Could've just told him to knock it off and stay. :(
 
Hero of Legend said:
Everyone leaves out that the Budokai HD Collection replaced all the music because the composer Kenji Yamamoto had to be let go over plagiarism.

Which is sad, his music was GODLY in the Budokai series. :( Could've just told him to knock it off and stay. :(
Click to expand...

He had also plagiarized like all the Dragon Ball Kai as well by that point.
 
-Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3 for PS2 (i prefer 2 but 3 is almost identical and has more characters)
-Origins for DS if you can stand the touch controls
-Advanced Adventure for GBA is a crazy good platformer with magnificent graphics and a very fun tenkaichi mode

Also this is mostly nostalgia talking but...
-Dragon Ball Z: The Legend for PS1/Saturn which is essentially the proto-BudoTen
-Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 for PS1 mediocre fighting game with a nice roster of characters and look similar to the anime
-Dragon Ball Final Bout for PS1 which is where you went back in the days if you wanted 3d graphics and GT characters also kick ass OST.
-Hyper Dimension for SNES for out of this world design for the characters, it's essentially UB22 with less characters and better graphics
 
Phoenixus said:
Lots of votes for the HD collection, I'll try and snag a copy. Ta!

Are there any with RPG or adventure elements? Fighting games are awesome and all (and a perfect fit for DB of course), just wondering how much variety there is.
Click to expand...

Attack of the Saiyans on DS

saiyansds2.jpg
 
Budokai 3, Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and Burst Limit are my favorites.

Budokai series and Burst limit are closer to traditional fighting games

Tenkaichi series has the over the shoulder camera and is more open.

Depends on your preference OP, but I highly recommend you check out both series :)
 
Question for you DB/Z afficionados: has anybody ever played VRVS with the Activator? Is it possible to have it set up?
 
LeleSocho said:
-Dragon Ball Z: The Legend for PS1/Saturn which is essentially the proto-BudoTen
-Hyper Dimension for SNES for out of this world design for the characters, it's essentially UB22 with less characters and better graphics
Click to expand...

Legends is nothing like budoten, and hd isn't anything like ub22. Ub22 it's just a crappy psx port of shin budoten from the saturn with 3d backgrounds and less frames of animation, where shin budoten is a sequel to the super budoten 3 on the snes. The budoten games are a series of 5 games - 3 on the snes, 1 on the megadrive, and one on the saturn.

Hyper dimension is notable for being the only snes fighting game to NOT play like the budoten games. It lacks the series defining split screen gameplay, and is fast better off because of it.

Used to be everyone would mentiom dragon ball z legends on thr psx and saturn. But those people are wrong, legends is just a crappy 32-bit spiritual successor to dragon ball z idanaru son goku densetsu(the legend of grear son goku) on the pc engine. except legends doesnt have cutscenes, nor does it cover dragonball, nor can you choose your attacks, nor does it have mid-round exposition. Legends covers the vegeta, cell, and buu sagas. Legend of great son goku covers the red ribbon saga, the 22nd tenkaichi budokai, the piccolo daimaou saga, the 23rd tenkaichi budokai, the vegeta saga, the freeza saga, and the cell saga (it takes place in the buu saga as gohan telling goten about his father).

Legends just has one set of sprites with maybe 50 animations that they simply scale in and out. Legend of great son goku has hundreds of animations redrawn at various depths.

The pc engine game blows the saturn and psx versions away. Beyond it, I also liked the super famicom games, namely super saiya densetsu (the card game), the two gokuden games, and hyper dimension.
 
Krejlooc said:
Legends is nothing like budoten, and hd isn't anything like ub22. Ub22 it's just a crappy psx port of shin budoten from the saturn with 3d backgrounds and less frames of animation, where shin budoten is a sequel to the super budoten 3 on the snes. The budoten games are a series of 5 games - 3 on the snes, 1 on the megadrive, and one on the saturn.

Hyper dimension is notable for being the only snes fighting game to NOT play like the budoten games. It lacks the series defining split screen gameplay, and is fast better off because of it.

Used to be everyone would mentiom dragon ball z legends on thr psx and saturn. But those people are wrong, legends is just a crappy 32-bit spiritual successor to dragon ball z idanaru son goku densetsu(the legend of grear son goku) on the pc engine. except legends doesnt have cutscenes, nor does it cover dragonball, nor can you choose your attacks, nor does it have mid-round exposition. Legends covers the vegeta, cell, and buu sagas. Legend of great son goku covers the red ribbon saga, the 22nd tenkaichi budokai, the piccolo daimaou saga, the 23rd tenkaichi budokai, the vegeta saga, the freeza saga, and the cell saga (it takes place in the buu saga as gohan telling goten about his father).

Legends just has one set of sprites with maybe 50 animations that they simply scale in and out. Legend of great son goku has hundreds of animations redrawn at various depths.

The pc engine game blows the saturn and psx versions away. Beyond it, I also liked the super famicom games, namely super saiya densetsu (the card game), the two gokuden games, and hyper dimension.
Click to expand...

I said BudoTen (aka Budokai Tenkaichi) not Butoden.
 
PS2 - DBZ Budokai 3.

Not the HD one that censors things a bit and removes a lot of the good music. That was done due to the composer ripping off a lot of songs/music but the replacement songs were a big downgrade.
 
OP please remember this. Budokai and Burst Limit are great games but they aren't very DBZ. Budokai Tenkaichi 2/3 on PS2 are the only games I've played that encapsulates the feel of DBZ. It shouldn't really be played on a 2D field any more than Street Fighter should be played on a 3D one. That's not to say the Budokai Tenkaichi series is the only good one...there are plenty of good DBZ games. They just aren't very good DBZ games.
 
The PC Engine game for comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM4ubAMRTcs

Exploratory said:
OP please remember this. Budokai and Burst Limit are great games but they aren't very DBZ. Budokai Tenkaichi 2/3 on PS2 are the only games I've played that encapsulates the feel of DBZ. It shouldn't really be played on a 2D field any more than Street Fighter should be played on a 3D one. That's not to say the Budokai Tenkaichi series is the only good one...there are plenty of good DBZ games. They just aren't very good DBZ games.
Click to expand...

I always thought Virtual On would have made a great DBZ game, especially with the way you could dash left or right and lock on to enemies, then fire rapid fire small shots, or stand in one spot and charge up for a much larger blast.
 
1. Watch the original Dragonball too, it is a very good adventure series on it's own. DBZ might as well be a different franchise, it's a giant retcon.
2. Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2/3 capture the essence of the battles really well (on Wii, with additional motion controls for special moves)
 
LeleSocho said:
It's the natural evolution of Idainaru Dragon Ball densetsu
Click to expand...

In terms of gameplay or presentation? I thought Legends played about the same as Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu, but I felt it's presentation was way lacking. I really liked the redrawn cutscenes from Son Goku Densetsu and the way they went out of their way to basically emulate the TV show. The still images with text was way disappointing in Dragonball Densetsu.

So does Budokai Tenkaichi present the story well? 3D cutscenes would be cool.

Spieler Eins said:
1. Watch the original Dragonball too, it is a very good adventure series on it's own. DBZ might as well be a different franchise, it's a giant retcon.
Click to expand...

DBZ is Dragonball, the manga. It's all one big series, no distinction. The distinction came from the anime series.
 
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