Which older Dragon Ball games are worth playing?

[DBZ Macky]

I've experienced pretty much all the modern Dragon Ball games like the Xenoverse series, and I do enjoy playing the 2000s-era games like the Legacy of Goku series, Shin Budokai 2, etc. from time to time.

But I've never actually gone back to play the ooold RPGs, and I was wondering if they are actually worth playing.
Finally have some time off because of recent developments, so might as well give them a go.

Any recommendations? (anything before 2015)

[Locust]

Dragon Ball Kai: Saiyan Invasion is a really fun JRPG - I would have loved for that team to cover other arcs but for some reason, they just didn't do it

Still! It's a fun JRPG, has some neat gameplay features
The plot is what it is, we all know what happens in the saiyan arc, but - there's a few game only plot points that were, while not groundbreaking or anything, fun to playthrough and added a nice little bit of worldbuilding to the game

For even older games than that -

I liked Dragon Ball Z Gaiden
It's an RPG/card game kind of thing, it's very dated but I'm a big fan of retro games so I loved it a lot - but your mileage will vary by how patient you are with older games

Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hishōden is quirky - again with the above, your mileage will vary by how patient you are but - it was interesting

I have no idea with Hishōden or Gaiden have an English translation (I play in Japanese), however - I would guess there might be English fan patches though?

[Koitsukai]

I've never played again any previous gen games, but I've checked them out on youtube more than once. So to me, DBZ Idainaru (ps1) is still an entertaining game, with the original voices, cool moves, and every big DBZ fight. Maybe Final Bout(ps1) although the mechanics are obsolete by today's standards, the soundtrack is awesome and it has some nice combos, and looks pretty nice too.

Besides those two, I think of that game that had every form of every character, Buuhan, Buutenks, every Cell, every Freeza, and Buu could actually absorb anybody he wanted to

[Kaywayk]

Granted, these aren't that old, but since you said anything before 2015:

Supersonic Warriors 1 and 2 (2 is better overall, imo, but the first one has some of the best what-if content in the franchise). The entire GBA and DS library of dragonball games is pretty good actually, bar a few like Taiketsu and the original Legacy of Goku. I'd recommend checking out all of them really, but if you're pressed for time I'd play those two plus Advanced Adventure.

Budokai 2 and Infinite World are underrated Budokai entries, I prefer Infinite World to 3, personally. Budokai 2 also has awesome what-if stuff, including playable fusions. I also really like the story mode in 2, it's a very unique presentation and concept. Infinite World's story is average, but the addition of minigames still keeps it a cut above the rest.

The SNES rpgs are okay, I could never really get into them but I've heard some of them give you quite a bit of freedom in regards to changing the story. Hyper Dimension is also a good SNES game, though there's not much content.

If you want something REALLY obscure, there's a dragonball game on the PC-98 that's pretty fun. It's a pain to emulate tho, and it's japanese-only with no translation that I know of. There's a fan-made english manual that explains how to play it floating around somewhere.

[Desassina]

I recommend Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension on the Super Nintendo, which I got to play without the story mode through a French import, and Dragon Ball Z the Legend on the Sega Saturn. The first one is a traditional fighter and the second one is a party brawler. Moving forward to the first decade of 2000, there is Super Dragon Ball Z on the Playstation 2, which is an arcade fighter from Street Fighter developers. There is also a role playing game called Attack of the Saiyans on the Nintendo DS that is well worth it.

[FoolsGil]

Is it just RPGs you're interested in? Because imho Super Dragon Ball Z for the PS3 is a far better fighter than Budokai 3.

[DBZ Macky]

Is it just RPGs you're interested in? Because imho Super Dragon Ball Z for the PS3 is a far better fighter than Budokai 3.

It's not that I'm just interested in RPGs, but the fighting games tend to get kind of repetitive. If I've already gone through Infinite World and Budokai 3, I'd be less likely to enjoy the same Raditz-Buu adventure in Budokai 1 or 2 (Those games kind of make up for it with a few new wacky what-if scenarios though).

An RPG like Attack of the Saiyans only covers a very small portion of the story, but it does it more than well enough and in a way that I can replay it a few times with different team compositions and what-not.

Also, I couldn't find anything about Super Dragon Ball Z for the PS3, do you mean the PS2 game?

I recommend Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension on the Super Nintendo, which I got to play without the story mode through a French import, and Dragon Ball Z the Legend on the Sega Saturn. The first one is a traditional fighter and the second one is a party brawler. Moving forward to the first decade of 2000, there is Super Dragon Ball Z on the Playstation 2, which is an arcade fighter from Street Fighter developers. There is also a role playing game called Attack of the Saiyans on the Nintendo DS that is well worth it.

I think I did play Hyper Dimension a long time ago, and I've already played (and loved) Attack of the Saiyans, the latter is definitely a solid recommendation. DBZ: The Legend seems interesting, I'll give it a look!

Granted, these aren't that old, but since you said anything before 2015:

Supersonic Warriors 1 and 2 (2 is better overall, imo, but the first one has some of the best what-if content in the franchise). The entire GBA and DS library of dragonball games is pretty good actually, bar a few like Taiketsu and the original Legacy of Goku. I'd recommend checking out all of them really, but if you're pressed for time I'd play those two plus Advanced Adventure.

Budokai 2 and Infinite World are underrated Budokai entries, I prefer Infinite World to 3, personally. Budokai 2 also has awesome what-if stuff, including playable fusions. I also really like the story mode in 2, it's a very unique presentation and concept. Infinite World's story is average, but the addition of minigames still keeps it a cut above the rest.

The SNES rpgs are okay, I could never really get into them but I've heard some of them give you quite a bit of freedom in regards to changing the story. Hyper Dimension is also a good SNES game, though there's not much content.

If you want something REALLY obscure, there's a dragonball game on the PC-98 that's pretty fun. It's a pain to emulate tho, and it's japanese-only with no translation that I know of. There's a fan-made english manual that explains how to play it floating around somewhere.

I've played pretty much everything on the GBA and most of the DS, and those are definitely some solid choices. While there's atrocious stuff like the "Trading Card Game" and Taiketsu (which almost feels like a fever dream), Advanced Adventure is definitely one of the best games in the entire franchise.
I was just replaying a bit of Supersonic Warriors 1, but yeah I remember 2 having much better what if stories. The games are also actually tough on the higher difficulties, so they'll probably last me a while.

I remember spending days and days on Infinite World back in the day, it's definitely packed with content. I forgot about the minigames, but yeah they were pretty fun as well! The what-ifs in Budokai 2 do sound interesting, but I'm still on the fence if I'd like to play the entire game.

Yeah, one of the things that interest me about the SNES RPGs is the what-if stuff, apparently Piccolo can fuse with multiple Namekians on Namek, and Tenshinhan/Yamcha/Chaozu can help in the fight against Freeza in one of the games.

Is the PC game you're talking about this?

I've never played again any previous gen games, but I've checked them out on youtube more than once. So to me, DBZ Idainaru (ps1) is still an entertaining game, with the original voices, cool moves, and every big DBZ fight. Maybe Final Bout(ps1) although the mechanics are obsolete by today's standards, the soundtrack is awesome and it has some nice combos, and looks pretty nice too.

Besides those two, I think of that game that had every form of every character, Buuhan, Buutenks, every Cell, every Freeza, and Buu could actually absorb anybody he wanted to

Everyone I've talked to about Final Bout says that the game was a nightmare to play with the clunky controls
But yeah, from what I've seen on YouTube, the soundtrack is definitely a banger.

Dragon Ball Kai: Saiyan Invasion is a really fun JRPG - I would have loved for that team to cover other arcs but for some reason, they just didn't do it

Still! It's a fun JRPG, has some neat gameplay features
The plot is what it is, we all know what happens in the saiyan arc, but - there's a few game only plot points that were, while not groundbreaking or anything, fun to playthrough and added a nice little bit of worldbuilding to the game

For even older games than that -

I liked Dragon Ball Z Gaiden
It's an RPG/card game kind of thing, it's very dated but I'm a big fan of retro games so I loved it a lot - but your mileage will vary by how patient you are with older games

Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hishōden is quirky - again with the above, your mileage will vary by how patient you are but - it was interesting

I have no idea with Hishōden or Gaiden have an English translation (I play in Japanese), however - I would guess there might be English fan patches though?

I still long for an AotS sequel after all these years, they even dared to show a silhouette of Freeza at the end hinting at it!

DBZ Gaiden seems very interesting, I definitely plan on giving it a try sometime. I might try out the old RPGs (Gokuden series) in order, but if there's one I 100% intend to play, then it's Gaiden. Still on the fence about Hishoden, though.

After giving it a look, it seems like there's fan translations for the Gokuden series, but I wasn't able to find one for Hishoden, guess that decides it then

[FoolsGil]

Is it just RPGs you're interested in? Because imho Super Dragon Ball Z for the PS3 is a far better fighter than Budokai 3.

It's not that I'm just interested in RPGs, but the fighting games tend to get kind of repetitive. If I've already gone through Infinite World and Budokai 3, I'd be less likely to enjoy the same Raditz-Buu adventure in Budokai 1 or 2 (Those games kind of make up for it with a few new wacky what-if scenarios though).

An RPG like Attack of the Saiyans only covers a very small portion of the story, but it does it more than well enough and in a way that I can replay it a few times with different team compositions and what-not.

Also, I couldn't find anything about Super Dragon Ball Z for the PS3, do you mean the PS2 game?

Yeah PS2 my bad. It is such a great game. It's more of a traditional fighter, it was developed by people who worked on Street Fighter 2, and had a more robust customization system than the Budokai games. It could do wonders if it was given an HD release and provided online play.

[Kaywayk]

I've played pretty much everything on the GBA and most of the DS, and those are definitely some solid choices. While there's atrocious stuff like the "Trading Card Game" and Taiketsu (which almost feels like a fever dream), Advanced Adventure is definitely one of the best games in the entire franchise.
I was just replaying a bit of Supersonic Warriors 1, but yeah I remember 2 having much better what if stories. The games are also actually tough on the higher difficulties, so they'll probably last me a while.

I remember spending days and days on Infinite World back in the day, it's definitely packed with content. I forgot about the minigames, but yeah they were pretty fun as well! The what-ifs in Budokai 2 do sound interesting, but I'm still on the fence if I'd like to play the entire game.

Yeah, one of the things that interest me about the SNES RPGs is the what-if stuff, apparently Piccolo can fuse with multiple Namekians on Namek, and Tenshinhan/Yamcha/Chaozu can help in the fight against Freeza in one of the games.

Is the PC game you're talking about this?

No, that looks like a fan made game for windows. The one I'm on about was on the PC-98. Budokai 2's story isn't that long, you can go through it in 2-3 days easily. The Buu Saga is the real slog of that game.

Edit: it's this one: https://youtube.com/watch?v=yM4ubAMRTcs

[DBZAOTA482]

Shin Butoden 2-3
Hyper Dimension
Legends
Budokai 1-3
Legend of Goku 2
Supersonic Warrior 1-2
Buu's Fury
Budokai Tenkaichi 2-3
Infinite World
Origins 1-2
Burst Limit

[Robo4900]

The Legacy Of Goku 2 and its sequel, Buu's Fury.

[Sin]

The Legacy Of Goku 2 and its sequel, Buu's Fury.

I so need to find a copy of Buu's Fury, we never got it here in the UK, great games even LoG 1 had its charm.

I would also recommend Dragon Ball Z: The Legend, for Sega Saturn - it's also available on the PS1 but there are some changes.

[Anonymous Friend]

Super DBZ for PS2 and the fan game Hyper DBZ are great.

Also, that game that was recently played on this site's Youtube page.

[DBZAOTA482]

Super DBZ for PS2 and the fan game Hyper DBZ are great.

Also, that game that was recently played on this site's Youtube page.

Oh yeah, forgot about Super Dragon Ball Z.

[Matches Malone]

Budokai 3 and Tenkaichi 3 are definitely worth playing.

[hellspell1]

BT3 is my all time fav, the legacy of goku series is up there too.

[FPSSJ4_Goku]

I don't know if any of you know this, but I am in LOVE with Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butoden. I don't think it gets recognized that much at all, probs because it stayed in Japan, Dragon Ball Kai just ended, it didn't sell all too well, etc. I think Ultimate Butoden deserves some more love, just like any other butoden game.

(FYI I'm new here)