Your top 10 Dragon Ball games and why

[Vegeta Jr]

10. Hyper Dimension (SNES)
This came out too early for me to get into, I only got into 2D fighters around 10 years ago and that was 99% Street Fighter. Great music and still has a certain charm to the sprites.

9. Dragon Ball Online (PC)
Only just recently got into MMO's, have been wanting to play this for a long time. I decided to finally go for it as an English localisation seems like it will never happen. The only Dragonball game to have character creation (not including the soon to be released Ultimate Tenkaichi), it's so much fun to create a brand new character for the series and fight monsters.
Would be higher on the list, but the language barrier keeps me from fully enjoying it.

8. Tenkaichi 3 (PS2/Wii)
Not a massive fan of the Tenkaichi style gameplay but this one does it best. Although technically not very deep, it's still fun to blast a few matches with a plethora of characters to choose from.

7. SuperSonic Warriors (GBA)
One of the first Dragonball games I ever bought, also holds great memories with it's multiplayer. Fast and fluid action with a pulse racing soundtrack keeps the game fresh and fun even to this day.

6. Ultimate Butouden (DS)
Very recent game, feels like a worthy successor to Hyper Dimension. Soundtrack is sub par but the art style and gameplay are top notch. Character customisation is fun but lacks a lot of variety.

5. Advanced Adventure (GBA)
One of a small handful of games based on the original Dragonball with Goku's escapades with the Red Ribbon Army and King Piccolo. Excellent sound design, memorable tunes and great beat em up action.

4. Super DBZ (PS2)
The stepping stone between Hyper Dimension and Ultimate Butouden. Finally a game based on the Manga and not the Anime, menu design is worth it alone.
Character customisation is pretty deep and it plays like a mix of Street Fighter and Soul Calibur, my two favourite fighting game series.

3. Legacy of Goku 2 (GBA)
If Fighting is my favourite genre then RPG's are it's identical twin brother I can't recognise which is which.
Massive fan of Faulconer's score so having all the memorable tunes made it feel like I was playing the anime. Lots of collectibles and things to do.

2. Burst Limit (PS3/360)
The only next gen game on my list and for good reason, it takes the best of Budokai 3 and amps it up to epic levels. Small character roster is slightly dissapointing and the recycled equippable cutscenes seem a bit lazy, however the gameplay and graphics more than make up for it.

1. Budokai 3 (PS2)
It was either this or Infinite World, both did things better than the other. Infinite World easily has the better roster and customisation but that came at a price. All the newcomers had auto win Ultimates, Hyper mode was broken and 90% of the minigames were boring or unneccesarily hard.
Budokai 3 however had a better story mode and better balance. Dragon Rush mode got old fast though and having to be in Hyper Mode to use an Ultimate made landing it was almost impossible.

[Nex Carnifex]

Budokai 1: Story mode fully fleshed out with legitimate animated cut-scenes and a great soundtrack. Gameplay was horrible however, though the story mode is actually what first got me into Dragon Ball. Before this I had only heard about it from kids at school and never thought I'd like it but I was blown away by the drama in this game. After playing other games though, this game has pretty primitive gameplay.

Budokai 3: This game had amazing gameplay and depth from what I remember. Me and my neighbor used to have the most epic battles, I'd be Cell and he'd be Goku. We'd both let each other power up to our strongest forms before we battled and he'd win a lot of the time by fusing with Vegeta and becoming Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta. Good times.

Tenkaichi 3: So many characters, this game has so much content and the gameplay is the most accurate Dragon Ball simulation I know. You can recreate just about any Dragon Ball battle with this game pretty accurately, I wonder why I don't see machinima's using it on Youtube. It really feels like an almost perfect Dragon Ball game, I played this game so long and the ultimate battle mode was fun tag teaming it with my brother.

Tenkaichi 2: I have the best memories with this game, it had a different feel than 3 for some reason, the battles felt more intense and vast. Me and my neighbor would go at it me being Cell and him being Gogeta and we would always have battles ending up with the Earth destroyed and both of us down to 1 health. Then one of us would activate one of those special bar abilities and teleport or something and finish the other off with some cool strategy. Those were the most epic battles ever, I really felt we were both Gods at that game, and if I faced my brother in it I would destroy him in half a minute because he couldn't even touch me. I think that is what a Dragon Ball game should be, being able to teleport all over the place to avoid attacks and only sometimes getting a blast landed on you, then it being a big deal. I'd invite tons of people over and force them to choose there favorite character and enter the tournament, then it was so much fun cheering each other on.

[songohan619]

Ok, then:

10: Tenkachi Tag Team (PSP)

To be honest, i haven`t played this game very much, but from what i`ve played, it`s better than both Budokai Tenkaichi 1 and Budokai Tenkaichi 2. That isn't to say that those are bad, but i think TTT is better.

9: Origins 2 (DS)

I love kid Goku, so when i got the first origins game, i was really sad that i couldn't play the game, and have fun. Luckily, the second game fixed the controls, so i think it deserved its place.

8: Budokai 1 (PS2)

Your probably thinking "Why isn't Budokai 2 here?" Well, i did not like Budokai 2. It looked horrible, it had some decent gameplay, but i think Budokai 1 played better. It also had a much better look. Also, when it came out, it was the best looking Dragon Ball game, and it was untill Budokai 3 came out.

7: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (PS2)

Fun gameplay, lot`s of character and "noob-friendly".

6: Attack of the Sayians (DS)

This game is really good. If you like RPGs, i have no more to say. GO PLAY!!!!

5: Infinite World

If you like the Budokai games, this is for you.

4: Super Dragonball Z (PS2)

Same as above, only with Fighting games(Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat).

3: Raging Blast 2 (PS3)

The best version of the "Sparking!" Games.

2: Burst Limit (PS3)

The best looking PS3 Dragon Ball Game, with stunning graphics and great gameplay.

1: Budokai 3 (PS2)

This game has it all:

*Great Looks

*Addictive and fun Gameplay

*"Noob-Friendly", but with deeper options

*Great Story Mode


Other Good Mentions:

Jump Ultimate Stars (DS)

If you like anime or manga, go play it. Great fun!

Naruto Ultimate Storm 1 & 2 (PS3)

Two of my four favourite Manga and Anime games(the other two being Jump Ultimate Stars and Budokai 3")
This game has great looks, and is the best current-gen Anime-based game.

[MCDaveG]

I really won't have full top ten as there aren't that many awesome games in this series.
Here's mine

1. Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Wii
Not actually a fighting game, but game building on a popular franchise using engine simmilar to the PSX Dragon Ball Z The Legend.
I enjoyed the biggest roster ever, with almost every character from all the three series with bonus characters for the Wii version.
What I missed were only GT Vegeta and End of the Z Uub. But even as costumes Jackie Chun is there, DB Yamcha.
The gameplay was repetitive after time, but with the Wii controls, mimicking the signature moves, it was fun.
Aside from Story, there are five different Tournaments and some Sim game + series of quests to defeat variety of strong opponents,
survival mode......
I had the most fun with this game and I doubt that there will ever be better one released in future.

2. Legacy of Goku II+III / Buu's Fury
As a fan of Final Fantasy and player of the first three Pokémon series, I was pretty curious about this one, when the first instance came up.
I enjoyed it only as a fan. First time, I was kinda caught with the real time battle, without changing the screens or modes, so at first I was pissed off
that I will watch this miniature parody of Goku for the whole game. The gameplay kinda sucked and the missions to get the flowers, boat etc. really sucked.
But I enjoyed the climax with Freeza and thought that there will be more.
Damn, sequel was a lot better than I thought with lot of nice ideas and tough ups (don't mean the in game advartising for GBA).
As I'm not fan of US dub and hate the version woth Falcouner's music, the arrangement in the game was awesome and fit into it.
Gameplay actually worked and addition of Cooler and beggining it ''chronologicaly'' with Trunks from the future were also great.
I really missed this inclusion from the Kai, in the same way they did the recap at the begining of the series.
US developers actually overdid the cheap Japs in Toei with this.
The third instance of this series actually went little below my rating of this game.
It was the same fun, but I didn't like the inclusion of the Movie stories.
They were set on the right place into the game story, but in the context of Buu, the didn't work.

3. Super Butoden 2
Roster about 10 characters. But you get the climax battle of the Cell arc right at the begining and there goes the Movie 9
with whole new storyline. I really like the visual side of story mode. Almost in every game, there were only text boxes or
with face of the game sprite from the versus menu added. In SB2, there you go with locations, character sprites and
based on some of your actions, primitive animations and great music.
In actual fight there is some first incarnation of destructible battleground (hole in the ground) and Ki-beam clash!!
The game have it's own atmosphere and it was one of the first DB games I played and for years my favorite one,
even in the age of Play Station. The first game in SB series is almost unplayable with broken controls, so after
this brilliant one, I anticipated the third one. That was the greatest letdown of all the time. No storymode,
and all like done in rush.

4. Super Gokuden 2
I like the story with ''answer quiz'', visual style the battles are made, ''jan-ken-pa'' battle engine,
what-if endings and starting with 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.
Because of that, the character art on the avatars trough the Z portion of the series looked like from the end of Dragon Ball.
The biggest letdown was the decline of the SNES console thanks to it's age and not making the later parts of the story past Freeza.

[Rory]

The following is shamelessly ripped from my top 5 list, as I have not got a top 10:


5
Dragon Ball Z Supersonic Warriors

For me Supersonic Warriors was the first game that really conveyed they hectic speed and action of the series. The game was by no means perfect, but it was just damn good simple fun. While its sequel was also fun, it didn't seem to be much of departure from the original, which was a shame really, as there was a lot of potential for it.
Each character was very similar to one another, but the intensity and speed of the game kept you from noticing (and come on, it's a hand-held Dragon Ball title from 2004).

The game really grabbed me back then, and it's still fun to blast out these days.

4
Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension

Now I'll admit, this game was introduced to me via emulation when I was much (much) younger, but boy did I fall for it. The whole look and feel of the game just wowed me. It felt in the same league as Street Fighter (I was introduced to this not long after my friends got me into the 'big' fighting games on the block). The fact that this is a SNES game based on a kids comic/cartoon still really impresses me.

Best pre-Budokai game in my eyes, no questions asked.

3
Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3

While Budokai 2 did a lot to improve the series in terms of graphics and general presentation, it really left a lot to be desired in the game-play department.
Hello Budokai 3. Boy did you change the game. So many little things came together to deliver a seriously beefed up Budokai game. Teleportation, Quick Dodging, Flying (yes, this was pretty awesome at first!), and of course Beam Struggles. Even simple things, such as ditching the Dial-A-Kamehameha, really helped the overall package.
It's a really strong game, as is still pulled from my shelf for multi-player to this day.

2
Dragon Ball Advance Adventure

*Cuddles Dimps*
If it weren't for my sheer adoration of my number 1 (no prizes for guessing what it is), this'd take that place, easy.
Dragon Ball Advance Adventure is a fantastic game, with charm and character coming out of it's ears. When I heard that there was finally a game coming out that wasn't based on the Z portion of the series (for the umpteenth time), I was really hoping for something great, and boy did this game deliver. It's a simple side scrolling beat'em up, sure, but what it does, it does almost masterfully. The game starts off slow, but as you gain more abilities, and more powerful variations of ki and physical attacks, it just keeps getting better and better. Variation is also a great word to use, because if you're not running through stages beating up bad guys and bosses, you're flying on Kinto'Un, and if you're not doing that, you're in the Tenka-Ichi Budokai.
Best thing is, when you've done it with Gokuu, you can unlock over 20 characters to play through the game with, who all play very differently from one another (Kuririn being a person favourite).

An absolutely charming, and all around impressive game. The game I play more regularly to this day... apart from...

1
Super Dragon Ball Z

Suupa Doragon Boru Zetto!! ... -BEOW-
Yeah yeah, you saw it coming, well done.
What can I say? A Dragon Ball game, lead design by Toriyama himself, gameplay from creators of Street Fighter II, music by (I think) Shinji Hosoe (so reminiscent of his Street Fighter EX work that it's not even funny) and customisable characters.
Put all of this together and you've got yourself a fucking legendary Dragon Ball game.
Does it emulate the high speed and intensity and flashiness of the show? No, that isn't the point. This is a fighting game, and that's exactly what you do.
The combinations you can pull off in this game are pretty insane, and just show you how much thought really was put into the game, giving each character such wildly different possibilities and strategies.
The visuals really make it what it is though. It's the manga come to life, and still looks beautiful in terms of animation and art style. The game is just a treat to play, and is easy my most played Dragon Ball game of all time.

[mysticboy]

10. Burst Limit
The fighting system was somewhat new to me as I hadn't played any of the Shin Budokais by the time I got this. Nonetheless, the fighting was smooth and the graphics were amazing. Unfortunately, the severe lack of content (content you'd think to be standard to a DB fighter) was a huge let down for me.

9. Revenge of King Piccolo
This is the first and, as of right now, the only non-fighting DB game I've ever played. The graphics were gorgeous for a third-party Wii game. The gameplay felt too much like Viewtiful Joe to me. But overall, it was a pretty solid side scroller.

8. Budokai
This the first DB game I've ever played. I thought the graphics and presentation were like a toy model of those events in DBZ. This is the only DBZ game I played that had actual cutscenes and there fun minigames in the story mode, even though there were only 2. But, the fighting was pretty simple and Power-Weighted Cell was a bitch!

7. Tenkaichi
I thought that the concept of flying around a huge map at will in a 3D space just screamed DBZ. This game had an enormous roster with a few DB and DBGT characters thrown in. I thought that the what-ifs were pretty well thought out and fun to play through. But, again, the fighting pretty simple and shallow. Also, there were no in-game transformations.

6. Budokai 2
This is an improvement on nearly everything that was wrong with the first one. The fighting was still a bit shallow, but hell, at least with the option of simply using E--> instead of PPPPE allowed me to be a little more tactical. And I actually liked the story mode in this. It was pretty interesting and new even though it didn't have real cutscenes. The fusions and that Babidi's Spaceship mode were nice bonuses.

5.Raging Blast
This is a prime example as to why developers shouldn't take fan suggestions. Don't get me wrong, the game is pretty goddamn good, it had so much potential. Everything from the graphics, to the characters, to the stages, and looked better than the anime itself. The fighting was rebuilt from the ground up and had new elements added, but a lot of key elements were removed. Many complained about the controls and the camera, but I didn't have any problems with either.

4. Tenkaichi 2
Every problem in the first Tenkaichi, were fixed in this game. The fighting to the presentation and graphics, everything was improved upon. The only flaws I saw were the customization system and fusing item which I thought was pretty tedious. And also the menus were reversed.

3. Raging Blast 2
Remember that potential I mentioned earlier? Well, this game almost had it. The flaws in the first one aren't here anymore and the new fighting system has had a year to develop and it has deepened and aged well. However, there's no item shop and the customization system is just....

2. Tenkaichi 3
Take the few flaws from BT2, improve them and further deepen the fighting, get the menus right and you get the god of BT games. The 150+ roster, the various modes and unlockables make this game's shelf life very long.

1. Budokai 3
^ whatever I said up there except the "T's" and the "150+ roster" pretty much.

1 and 2 are interchangeable.

[MetaMoss]

My list is also shamlessly ripped from my post on Rory's top 5 thread (because I'm lazy and haven't played enough DB games to make an adequate top 10), with corrections made when appropriate:

5

Dragon Ball: Origins
Dragon Ball DS
Nintendo DS


It's Gameplay is inspired by the DS entries of the Legend of Zelda series, but why copy when you can copy the best? I know some people might not like it, but it adds some story elements into the show, like how Goku got that fat girl for Kame-senin.

4

Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II International
Gameboy Advance


I know, why the hell do I have this? Because I like it. This was the only one in its series to be good enough to be released in Japan. Yes, it was made in America. Yes, its based off the FUNi dub. But it has quality. Like Origins, it takes cues from the Legend of Zelda, specifically the older ones. But it goes further with the leveling system of an RPG.

3

Dragon Ball Z: SuperSonic Warriors 2
Dragon Ball Z: Intense Battle in the Skies
Nintendo DS


The Japanese title fits the description perfectly. This is the same awesome battle system from the first (which I played, like once) and adds team attacks and a story mode with many what-if paths, like one where Broly and Mr. Satan become friends, and another where Vegeta turns into an average Joe. And I cant get over this quote by Gotenks:

I'm Gotenks, and I'm gonna kick your ass!

2

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Dragon Ball Z Sparking! METEOR
Wii/Playstation 2 (played Wii version)


This is, in my opinion, the best of the Tenkaichi/Sparking! series, because it has the most features, such as day/night maps, online (for Wii), and the large choice of characters. Sure some are lame (*cough*Appule*cough*), but its enough to satisfy your DBZ battles (until the 2008 JSAT special came out ).

And, finally:

1

Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans
Dragon Ball Kai: Saiyan Invasion
Nintendo DS


The first Dragon Ball RPG to come to the States. When I first played this, I had an awesome feeling. The feeling of "This is it. The Game you've been wanting for years." It has enough filler to disown it's Kai moniker from Japan, but that was just dumb luck. I always like to play this game with the volume all the way up, just to hear Nozawa's "KA...ME...HA...ME...HAAA!!!" or "Kaio-KEN!". Starting it at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai was a very good idea. I hope for a sequel to this, maybe on the 3DS?

Least Favorite Game (this is a new addition, so this post isn't completely useless):

Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu
No Japanese Release
Gameboy Advance


This game is one of the worst I've ever played. It is utter shit. The graphics were ugly, the gameplay was glitchy, and it was very hard to play. Though I think the theme (which is a remix of Legacy of Goku II's) is cool. I was in a local game store looking to buy a game, and was torn between this and SuperSonic Warriors, but went with this piece of garbage because it was cheaper. Worst Decision Ever. A while back, I was trying to sell some of my GBA games at a family yard sale, and this game ended up being stolen by some kid (I noticed that he was trying to convince his parents to buy it, yet they wouldn't), but then I thought to myself, "What the hell. It's his loss."

Honorable Mention (another addition, since I played this game a lot more after my original post):

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Dragon Ball Z Sparking! NEO
Wii/Playstation 2 (played Wii version)


If I had played the PS2 versions of BT2 and 3 more, I might've put the former over the latter, but since I played the Wii verisons, I chose BT3. Budokai Tenkaichi 2 controls on the Wii feel like they just attempted to map the PS2 controller scheme onto the Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo, which I don't think works well. Budokai Tenkaichi 3's controls have their own uniqueness that I love. The good points for Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is its immense story mode, which Budokai Tenkaichi 3 sorely lacks.

[buffninja91]

I haven't played too many of them, but guess my top 5 or so would be:

1. Budokai 3 - Tons of replay value and good story mode. Really liked the more serious fighting game feel from the last 2 games, which were kinda simple and boring.

2. Legendary Super Warriors - Been playing since I was a kid, and to be honest I still love it. It just never gets old.

3. Tenkaichi 3 - Sheer roster and simplistic gameplay make it fun enough.

4. Super DBZ - Loved the break away from all the anime oriented games, and the distinct feel and tone that brought with it, although for me this wasn't always good.

5. Collectible Card Game - Another one I played as a kid, this gets a spot mostly because of the actual game that I was taught to play, so I would practice on this.

[SSJmole]

1 - Budokai 3 - Great gameplay , A decent roster , Great modes and just the most fun Dragonball fighting game

2 - Legacy of Goku II - great rpg fun and an improvement on first

3 Buu's fury - Great fun not as good as II but good.

4 Burst limit - best looking game , great fighting and a great story ,mode

5 Legacy of Goku - I really love the rpg engine and the sheer fun involved from it been rpg

6 - Budokai 1 - I loved it so much when it was first out and extra points for mini cell story

7 - Hyper Dimension - great 2D fighter that's a great game NOT just a great DBZ game

8 - Budokai 2 - Fun game improves some stuff over 1st but not as fun story mode

9 - Ultimate Battle 22 - I loved the genius of it changing name with cheat to Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 27

10 - Shin Budokai - Another Road : I loved the fact it created it's own story, could have done it better but still fun.

[Vashkey]

Not sure I can think of ten...




7. Budokai
The only reason this game enven makes it on the list is because it's the only Dragon Ball game that even got cut scenes right. Other wise it's a so so fighter

6. Tenkaichi
A new way to play Dragon Ball Z, it was pretty exciting back then. The combat was solid but I feel the gameplay hasn't improved in any significant wat which is why I quit after Raging Blast and I wasn't fond of Tenkaichi 3

5. Shin Budokai
Pretty similar to Budokai 3 so it was pretty fun. I was pretty impressed at the time since the PSP was semi new.

4. Tenkaichi 2(Wii)
Yeah, the combat had been improved but the real star of the show was the movement based controls where you actually got to mimic the kamehameha. It was refreashing to have a new way to play. Too bad they some how screwed up the movement controls in Tenkaichi 3 despite having more development time :/

3. Advanced Adventure
A fun Dragon Ball themed beatem up

2. Legacy of Goku II
A huge improvement over the original. Worth impressive twenty hours of gameplay. Faithfully replicating the dub soundtrack was some nice fan service, that said if you weren't into the dub then you probably wouldn't like the game. Otherwise the only other weak point was the combat was a bit easy.

1. Budokai 3
Really enjoyed the revamped fighting system and rpg elements.

Any other Dragon Ball game I've played I just don't like enough to consider a favorite.