Top 5 Best/Worst Dragon Ball Z games

[DBZAOTA482]

Y'know, let's do it for old time's sake:

Best

5. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit

The most underrated DBZ game of all-time. Although small on content this game makes up for the really great fighting system. It's like Shin Budokai but more streamlined mechanics and all the characters were completely different (first for a DBZ game). It was the perfect balance between accessibility and functionality, and not only that but the graphics were gorgeous. We need a new game like this.

Just fix the Ki system, please.

4. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3

A fan favorite. I might chase heat for having it this low but fuck it... with over 160 characters including transformations it has the most extensive roster of any DBZ game. Every character you can think of is here but not only that there was a lot to keep you busy such as Ultimate Battle mode where you play through 100 different missions, survival fighting as many opponents as you can, a Dragon Sim that incredibly hard to master, and disc fusion with the first two games. The combat was also, while not a complete overhaul like it's big brother BT2 was over the first game, was considerably improved with greater speed, more varied and skillful combo system, and overall more balanced... it was the ultimate DBZ experience. There are a few stupid, stupid designs that keep it from getting higher such as automatic lock-on, Dragon Tour bullshit, the lackluster single-player campaign, and lag-city online for Wii.

3. Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road

The combat is similar to Budokai 3's but with some major changes such as a more intuitive combo system of rush and smash attacks instead of punches and kicks, chargeable ki blasts/supers, and is completely streamlined with no silly gimmicks to slow gameplay down. Super/Ultimate moves are all now integral to characters as are transformations (which is somehow ruined in the game) and the overall speed is even greater than B3's. What holds it back though is the single-player campaign is lame (though creative), the roster is very unbalanced, and it's a PSP game so no local multiplayer unless the other player owns his own PSP and game UMD plus there's no online play.

2. Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World

This game uses the Budokai 3 engine but it's actually a huge improvement in several ways such as the inclusion of the defensive maneuvers and movement options from Shin Budokai and Burst Limit, even greater combo individuality, the removal of Dragon Rush, and the capsule system is more balanced and streamlined. You also didn't have the go in and out the Skill Shop repeatedly to get the capsules you want like in B3... everything is immediately available to you. What keeps it from #1 is certain elements it carries over aren't properly implement such as the fatigue system from BL and several of the real-time ultimate moves, the mini-games in Dragon Mission are godawful, and nullifiers are too predominant.

1. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3

Another fan favorite. If you know me it's no secret that I FUCKING LOVE this game... even more than IW which I FUCKING LOVE... even more than BT3 which I FUCKING... like a lot. This game does just about everything right making for a very well-rounded package. It was a massive improvement from it's predecessors as it proved not only to be a great DBZ game but just great in general.... with a single-player campaign that gives it near infinite replay value, vastly improved combat that was not only far deeper and strategic but actually felt like a DBZ fight, gorgeous (for the time) cel-shaded graphics, the removal of the generic redundant physical capsules, and the super addictive Dragon Arena. The only complaint I have is unlocking things is still a bit of a chore and Dragon Rush is annoying after awhile.

Worst

5. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z

Between the incredibly shallow combat and shitty graphics style this game is just not good. Combat is a pure mashfest with mandatory Co-op and all the characters are pretty much the same with the only thing separating them is a lame type system. You also cannot replenish ki in combat... you couldn't even power up and it committed the ultimate sin on a fight... NO LOCAL MULTIPLAYER!!! There is no reason for this game to exist and I'm glad it failed. It's not just a poor fighting game but a pretty bad DBZ game as well.

4. Dragon Ball Z For Kinect

It's Ultimate Tenkaichi but without the things that made UT... passable. Combat that's somehow more braindead and even more repetitive than UT's with broken Kinect controls that makes you look like an idiot, watered-down story mode, and NO MULTIPLAYER... AT ALL!!!!! At least it looks nice even though it's the same graphics as UT.

3. Dragon Ball Z: Sagas

This game is just sad. It promised something great and original but instead we were flung shit in the face. Boring, glitchy, and exploitable gameplay. Subpar graphics. All the characters play exactly the same which made the extra mode where you can play as other characters pretty much worthless. It lied about the open-world which is wasted on a linear beat 'em up and not a very creative one at that. It just flatout SUCKS!!!

2. Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu

What's a worst DBZ game list without this pile of Oozaru shit? Ugly graphics, shitty MK-clone with DBZ skin combat, unlockables you don't care about, and there's nothing appealing about this game whatsoever. The only thing that made it worth a damn is rendered obsolete by later games which is playing as Broly for the first time.

1. Dragon Ball: Final Bout

TOSE's second failed attempt to bring Super Butoden to the firth gen of gaming. Yeah, I made it no secret that I hate this game with a seething passion. Never before has a game has ever given me a headache just from playing it till this game and for good reason. It's combat is filled with exploits and is completely unbalanced which is accompanied by horribly sluggish and delayed controls. The AI is also dumb as shit as well as being cheap motherfucker by spamming that annoying Meteor combo feature which for life of I can never do and when a game gives you the option to turn off one of it's main gimmick you know there's a problem.

The fact that anyone can like this game astounds me. This is not only the worst DBZ game I've ever play but this is also the WORST FIGHTING GAME I'VE EVER PLAYED!!! The only good thing about it is the soundtrack... which you can just buy on CD for a similar price as the full game. The only thing you'd miss is the pain.

[90sDBZ]

For me it goes

Best:
1. Budokai 3 - Fast paced, accesible yet deep, a roster that's big without being OTT, a great soundtrack, a really fun story mode, and the best looking ultimates ever. What's not to love.
2. Infinite World - A fun alternative to B3 with enjoyable bonus games and some changes to the roster.
3. Budokai 2 - A story mode that tries to be different, some cool What-if scenarios and characters, and the addition of Babidi's Spaceship make for a pretty unique experience.
4. Budokai 1 - The one that kicked off the great PS2 era with a bang. A really faithful story mode with cutscenes that have yet to be matched by any other DBZ game.
5. Tenkaichi 2 - For me this is slightly better than BT3 for having a more complete story mode, better music, better presentation, the ability to move around and hide before a fight begins, and the ability to form a spirit bomb in the air like in the show.

My honourable mentions are Legacy of Goku 2 and Buu's Fury for being true to the show, including tons of fun side quests, using Team Faulconer's music, and being highly replayable.

Worst:
1. DBZ for Kinect - I haven't played it but I've seen enough to know to avoid it. Plus I don't have Kinect anyway.
2. Battle of Z - Played the Demo and was really underwhelmed despite trying to be optimistic about the game.
3. Taiketsu - Haven't played this in well over a decade. I think that says it all, although it was kind of cool collecting screenshots from the show.
4. Ultimate Tenkaichi - More of a sequence of cutscenes than a game. The reanimated scenes from the anime were good though, and some of the giant boss fights were somewhat fun.
5. Ultimate Battle 22 - I actually still play this from time to time, largely for the music and the large amount of special moves characters have. I will say that the game felt pretty ambitious for the time with its big roster and attacks that haven't been in many games since.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I'm tempted to cheat on at least one guaranteed entry here and list a series of games, but I'll resist and try to pick which of that one I actually like the best. I'll also try to keep it just to game's that I've played myself, and ideally more than once...though I already know at least one of my entries on 'worst' I'll have played once and likely never again.

BEST
5. Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors (Game Boy Color)

I admit, I don't love this game near as much as a lot of people do, but it's definitely one I had a lot of fun with back in the day. I'd never played a game with a battle system quite like it before, and the sheer amount of characters you could get in it was, at the time, amazing to me. The fact that a lot of the game relied on luck of the draw (like what card you'd get out of your deck) at any given time kept things interesting too. Sadly though, I never got to fully experience all the game had to offer - my cartridge seems like it was glitched out of the box, cuz I could never get the 'new game plus' thing to work so that I could unlock more characters and get a lot of the villains - every time I'd start over, it would just erase my previous play data. Still, I had a fun time with it, and could see myself re-visiting it someday.

4. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (PlayStation 2)

Say what you will about all the characters playing roughly the same, there's just something fun about having the sheer amount of playable characters this game offers at your disposal. Especially with it being the first game that allowed us to run around as Arale and beat the crap out of people. It also tossed us a nice handful of original Dragon Ball characters into the mix, something that most of the newer games seem to thumb their nose at sadly. And while the combat isn't the deepest in the world, it definitely lives up to it's fan moniker as a 'DBZ Simulator'. It's good, mindless fun that served me well for the many, many years I was still working with a PS2 and no PS3. I also have the Wii copy, but I never took to it the same way I did the PS2 one.

3. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PlayStation 2)

It might have less playable characters than it's BT3 successor, and it's combat might be more like a normal fighting game and less like DBZ, but holy crap is it not a ton of fun regardless. The fighting is fast and frantic (in a lot of ways actually more so than BT3), it's story mode is one of the best I've ever played, and it took full advantage of absolutely everything the previous two games established and made them even better. It also arguably did more with Oob as a character than GT or anything else he's ever been featured in has too, so I appreciate that in a way too. It's definitely a game I want to play again eventually.

2. Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury (Game Boy Advance)

I'll be honest, I just love the Legacy of Goku series as a whole. Even the original game, which has a lot of really big flaws, is still fun enough to me to play today. Heck, whenever I do re-play the games, I do tend to start off with that one and make it's way through to this one. But if I had to pick just one of the games as a favorite, it's definitely Buu's Fury. Following the usual DBZ game logic of 'by the third game, whatever formula it's going for is just about perfected', Buu's Fury is probably the best DB based RPG I've ever played. There's even a ton of end-game potential too, something the first game didn't have at all, and the second game only dabbled in (getting Mr. Satan and leveling him up to Lv. 50 to get his 'secret' ending was a pain). Why can't we get something like this series again dammit?

1. Dragon Ball Xenoverse (PlayStation 3)

Easily the number one favorite for me as of now though is Xenoverse. Don't get me wrong - this game is maddening. It's hard in all the wrong places. The difficulty spikes towards the end can be unforgiving, the RNG is maddening beyond belief - to actually try to unlock stuff and do it all exactly right only for the game to go 'No, f**k you, try again' is the worst thing I've ever experienced in a game - but at the end of the day, it's still some of the most fun I've had with a DBZ game. And I admit a large part of that is due to it's custom character creation and it's somewhat original story. I hadn't realized how tired I'd gotten of playing through the same stuff again and again with each game until I got something that shook it up, but now that we've gotten something like this, it's hard for me to imagine going back to the same old grind again unless a game was just amazing enough to balance it out. Custom character creation is something I'd been dreaming of for a long, long time though, so I'm glad it finally has become a big part of these games - I'm looking all the more forward to Xenoverse 2 as a result!

WORST
5. Dragon Ball GT: Transformation (Game Boy Advance)

The game's not really...'bad'...especially not in the vein of some of the other games I'm going to list here, but it was definitely a disappointment. After coming off of the amazing Legacy of Goku trilogy detailing the Z storyline, I expected GT Transformation to be a similarly fun romp through GT, but sadly it wasn't anywhere near the same kind of game. Still, for what it was, it was fun enough I suppose, and I did eventually beat the whole thing. I just don't see myself going back to it anytime soon either though.

4. Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (PlayStation 2)

Oh man, was this game a let down. It had a lot going for it in it's conception, an action/adventure style DBZ game on consoles rather than another fighting game, but something clearly went wrong along the way. The game is a chore to work through, especially once you get to the later stuff. Oddly enough though, the game's worst feature can also sometimes be it's best - the glitches. For every annoying glitch I'd encounter at times, like beating second form Freeza but the bar for Piccolo's arrival getting stuck and never getting past the level without re-starting first, there was amazing stuff like some characters turning invisible in the middle of a fight and adding a whole new form of challenge. Easily my favorite glitch though? Nappa somehow ATTACHING to whatever character I was playing as and basically flailing there, unable to hit me and unable to get free. The game might not be fun, but it sure could be entertaining.

3. Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 (PlayStation)

Again, this game's not really 'bad' per say, but it's certainly not my style. Most of my playing of this game came from before I had a PS2, and I would mess around with it to have some kind of DBZ game to play on a non handheld console. The leveling up feature was pretty fun for a while, but overall it's just not a game I had a lot of actual fun with, nor is it one I really ever want to visit again seriously. Again though, a lot of this is just due to it not being my style of fighting game - unlike with Super DBZ though, which also just isn't really my style, I can't feel a level of effort that makes me want to try to enjoy it despite that. That's why Super DBZ doesn't make this list, really - it's the very definition of a game that is by no means bad but just not meant for me.

2. Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (PlayStation)

And then there's this game. To be fair though, I might have found a certain level of enjoyment out of it if I'd played it back when it first came out, or if I'd also had it around the same time I had Ultimate Battle 22 - basically the pre-Budokai (or at least pre-my being able to play it) days. Unfortunately though, I wouldn't even see a copy of the game until years after that (like post-Budokai Tenkaichi 3 at the very least), and wouldn't play it until way after that either. As such, there was absolutely nothing there to enjoy for me. I've played it all of once, and even that playing was basically me going 'well, I own the thing, I may as well try it out'. It was...unpleasant. Moving on.

1. Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (Game Boy Advance)

This crap though is easily the worst DBZ game I've ever played, and I'm ashamed to say that there was a point in time that I actually played the thing a lot and had almost everything unlocked in it. I can only think it must have been from the fervent obsession of a young fan. The controls are sluggish, the graphics are ugly, the extras you unlock aren't really anything to write home about (and yet again, I at one point in time toiled away to unlock them...), it's just...wow. Easily the biggest rip off I've ever felt playing a DB game, and I didn't even buy the thing for myself.

[sangofe]

Quite hard to do a top-5, but the games I enjoyed the most are DBZ Legends for Sega Saturn, a gameboy DBZ game that covered the end of DB and Saiyan saga (I admit I downloaded it as a rom at the time - this was late 90's) , DBZ Budokai (at the time it was great), DBZ Budokai 3, and Sparking Meteor 3.

[Viewtiful Jess]

The Best:

• 5. The Budokai Series
  These games were most of our childhoods. Each one was unique in its own way and paved the way for how Dragon Ball games.
  
  4. Buu's Fury
  This game is the best DBZ game on GBA.
  
  3. Super DBZ
  It's Street Fighter with Dragon Ball. Chi-Chi is in it. Demon King Piccolo and Piccolo are separate characters. Yardrat Outfit. Trunks has a fucking lazor sword or katana if you choose. Cyborg Frieza has a BFG attached to his tiny ass shoulder. KAI OUTFIT GOHAN WHO CAN DUEL WEILD THE Z-SWORD AND HIS TRAINING SWORD FROM PICCOLO.
  
  2. Budokai Tenkaich 3/Raging Blast 2
  BT2 had a better story mode there is no question about that,and Raging Blast HAD a story mode, however I believe their sequels got enough right to be just a little bit better. BT3 had an even huger roster than the first too, and included a lot of characters people thought would never be in the games. It controls were perfected for that series, and it is still so much fun people return to it after all these years. RB2 improved it's combat, skill sets and it's design. I LOVE the cell shading, it is gorgeous! I loved being able to give Goku a halo, or moves from any point in the series, it is still a wonderful game!
  
  1. Xenoverse
  Xenoverse was the game that I think pleased the most fans, myself included. It gave us a good cast of the series characters, a unique story outside of the manga/anime, and a character creator that wasn't Saiyan Maker v3 on new grounds. It had some issues I hope it's sequel fixes but I believe it deserves a number 1 spot!

The Worst

• 5. Dragon Ball Z for Kinect
  FUCK
  
  4. Battle of Z
  ALL to this day I still do not understand this game. How it plays or what it's supposed to be
  
  3. Final Bout
  OF
  
  2. TAIKETSU
  THESE
  
  1. TAIKETSU AGAIN
  GAMES. THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR. I can't believe how ass this game is. I was so hyped for this game, PLAY AS BROLY ads and promos. I can't believe how bad it was. This is the only game I willfully abandoned when I moved. This game was so evil that one time when I was super sick and didn't exactly make it to the bathroom my vomit hit the part of my childhood floor where Taiketsu was. It hit everything but the game.

[EXBadguy]

Best:

1. Xenoverse
2. Budokai Tenkaichi 2
3. Budokai 3
4. Budokai Tenkaichi 3
5. Legacy of Goku 2 & Buu's Fury(Both in a tie)

Honorable Mention: Super Dragonball Z, Shin Budokai 2, and Budokai 2

Worst:

1. DBGT: FInal Bout
2. Ultimate Battle 22
3. Legacy of Goku (it aged HORRIBLY!)
4. DBZ Taiketsu(I'd put that game higher on the list if it wasn't for the soundtrack!)
5. DBZ Sagas

Dishonorable Mention:

Infinite World (I for one was dissapointed that Dimps took out a lot of stuff that was in Budokai 3, though the gameplay stands out at least)
Ultimate Tenkaichi (that game had poor execution, though what saved it from being on my shit list are parts of the Hero Mode and Story)

[Hellspawn28]

Best:

1. Budokai 3 - Still the best DBZ game in my opinion. Great graphics, great combat system, solid roster and lots of reply value. I remember this game was my biggest year of 2004 next to Half Life 2, Halo 2, Ratchet & Clank 3 and Tony Hawk Underground 2.

2. Xenoverse - This game felt like the DBZ game that I wanted after the PS2 era. Sure this game has flaws but I stay up all night playing this game. I never had this much with a DBZ game in nearly a decade. It was also so much creating my own characters and I hope XV2 will be pretty good too.

3. Sparking! METEOR (Tenkachi 3) - While I like the story mode and replay value in the second game better, I felt like the third game had better camera and character selection. I can still pop in this game with my friends and still have a lot of fun even today.

4. Legacy of Goku II - Big improvement over the first game. This game felt like a solid action RPG and was pretty long too. I like over the third game because I felt like LOG3 was pretty easy compare to the second game.

5. Legends - My first DBZ game and it's a lot of fun. The game is a very enjoyable solid fighting and was ahead of it's time. Too bad the US never got a offical release of this game. Why Atari pick UB22 over this game is beyond me.

Worst:

1. Ultimate Battle 22 - I remember that this game got bad reviews before the game was release in the US before 2003. I remember renting my copy at Blockbuster and return it like five hours later. I hated everything about this game. I knew it would be bad, but I wanted something fun. The controls are broken and the combat system in this game was atrocious. This game feels so slow which is something I do not want to see in a DBZ game. The tournament mode is only fun if you have a second player but good luck finding someone who would want to play this game!

2. Collectible Card Game - I remember I got this for free from a friend like over a decade ago. I never played the card game and I was hoping that this game would be easy for people who are new to the card game. I was wrong since this game was horrible. I hate that there is no tutorial mode. At least Yu-Gi-Oh: The Eternal Duelist Soul on the Gameboy Advance had a tutorial mode so that people who never played the card game can learn how play the card game. Not to mention that the music in this game is so repetitive. You are going to hear the same multiple music track over and over again.

3. Taiketsu - I remember getting this game for $10 in 2004 and I don't think it was worth. The gameplay was terrible and it seem like you can just win by pushing your opponent to the wall. The graphics look awful and you finish the game under a hour.

4. Sagas - I remember Atari hype this game up as "A brand new Action Adventure game set in the DBZ Universe!!!" in 2004 and I remember I wanted the game so bad. It look like it can be fun with you and your friend playing DBZ together. I remember broke around Spring 2005 and I really wanted it. So I end up renting the PS2 version and I'm so glad that I didn't buy the game. The game is very buggy, the game looks like a Dreamcast game (The Dreamcast was consider to be dated by 2005 standers) and the game is so boring. I feel like the only good thing about this game was the intro and that was it. I remember my Mom got me the Gamcube version of the game for my 14th birthday and I didn't even wanted it. She was lucky enough to return and got her money back.

5. Legacy of Goku I - Yeah the first Legacy of Goku game is not very good. The game is pretty boring and the whole game feels very lackluster. At least the sequels are way better. I wish Atari did a remake before they lost the rights after 2008.

Final Bout almost made it on the list but I have a very big nostalgia attachment to that game. It's hard for me to hate it.

[Kamiccolo9]

All of you are filthy liars and have terrible taste for not having Legendary Super Warriors as number one.

Following that, in no particular order, are Legacy of Goku II, Supersonic Warriors 2, Advanced Adventure, and Tenkaichi 2.

The worst in the franchise would have to be the three Budokais for being overrated watered-down fighters with a DB skin, that one GBA game everyone else mentioned, and, siding with Hellspawn here, the Collectible Card Game for GBA. God, that one was awful.

[Soppa Saia People]

Best:
Budokai 3: 1. Real fun, play it.
Advanced Adventure : 2. Great platformer.
Hyper Diemansion : 3. I like the color scheme.
Buu's fury : 4. Pretty sweet.
Raging Blast 2 : 5. Not a good game, but it can be fun.
Worst ? The rest of 'em.

[Kid Buu]

Captured the feel of DBZ the best too me. Dunno what my other three picks would be, and I don't wanna make a worst list.

[NitroEX]

Can't be bothered making a list but the first Raging Blast deserves an honourable mention on the shitlist for being such a monumental downgrade compared to the previous two games. That shallow cash grab will forever be the most disappointing DB game in my opinion. Looking back it was an sign of things to come.

[CashmanX]

I'm not seeing Ultimate Butouden on any of these lists folks... *Slowly draws sword*

Best in no particular order:

1. Ultimate Butouden

2. Xenoverse 3

3. Budokai 3

4. Legacy of Goku 2 International

5. Super Dragonball Z