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3,853 Posts & 2,435 Pages Documenting Dragon Ball, since 1998. We've got you covered!
Published by 09 May 2018, 11:06 AM EDT2 Comments

Bandai Namco Holdings has posted a ¥54.109 billion (approximately $493 million) profit for the full fiscal year of 2018, compared to a ¥44.159 billion profit last year.

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Dragon Ball came in as the company’s best-performing franchise for the year, pulling in ¥97.9 billion (yet another jump over last year’s ¥61.1 billion), significantly beating the company’s forecast of ¥75.7 billion. The company is projecting ¥80 billion for fiscal year 2019.

In terms of general toys and hobby merchandise (non-video games), the franchise also jumped from ¥12.4 billion last fiscal year to ¥14.2 billion this year. The company is forecasting roughly the same amount next year at ¥14.5 billion.

The official Dragon Ball website’s seventy-eighth entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is a collection of rough sketches circa 1988 for character designs at the 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai.

The website’s commentary notes that this is the first design sketch for Ma Jr. (Piccolo Jr.). Also pictured are Son Goku, Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Tao Paipai as a cyborg.

May 9th has always been a special day in the Dragon World, most significantly as the in-universe date in which the world was taken over by the Demon King Piccolo; the date then also serves as the birth date of Piccolo Jr. later in the story. May 9th is also an out-of-universe pun on “Goku”, where the date’s numbers, “five” and “nine”, can be pronounced as go and , respectively. May 9th was officially recognized as “Goku Day” in Japan back in 2015.

Published by 07 May 2018, 10:11 AM EDTComment

Bandai Namco has announced a forthcoming patch for Dragon Ball FighterZ set for release 09 May 2018 adding two new modes — “FighterZ Cup” and “Party Battle” — alongside a slew of character-specific gameplay tweaks.

NEW FEATURES:
More information will be revealed soon for the events linked to these new features
• FIGHTERZ CUP: a monthly competition where players can fight and collect points for their respective Z-Union
• PARTY BATTLE: Co-op fights where 3 players can join forces to defeat fearsome bosses

MODES:
• REPLAY CHANNEL: To enable implementation of the below gameplay adjustments (see “GAMEPLAY” section), recorded data from Replay Channel will be erased
• COMBO CHALLENGE: Fixed an issue where there was a gap between when the timer starts counting and the game starts allowing some inputs when performing position reset in a combo challenge

TRAINING MODE:
• Fixed an issue where the training dummy doesn’t guard/unguard properly with Enemy Settings set to Guard First Only
• Fixed an issue where the training dummy doesn’t properly playback movements that are recorded in advance when using Ginyu’s Body Change after performing Dragon Rush (Forced Switch) and not resetting the positions in-between these two actions.
• Fixed an issue where the combo damage is not displayed when an attack is counteracted by an armor move . An adjustment has also been made to prevent immediate health recovery when an attack is counteracted by an armor move.
• Fixed an issue where “OK!” is displayed on the Assist character icons even when they are crossed out with Assist Cooldown Setting set to Quick Recovery
• Fixed an issue where the training dummy fails to recover its health with some specific unconnected strings of moves
• Fixed an issue where the training dummy fails to guard in some cases even when the Guard Follow-ups option is selected
• Self-damaging moves will no longer affect the Combo Damage displayed
• Fixed an issue where the training dummy fails to guard attacks with some specific strings when the Guard Settings is set to Guard Follow-ups

STORY MODE:
• Fixed an issue where the defense-up skills are taking effects only the half of what they are supposed to

GAMEPLAY:
GOKU (Super Saiyan):
• Fixed an issue where the dust effect displayed for Goku (Super Saiyan)’s Kamehameha and Warp Kamehameha continues to be displayed while the game is paused by an opponent’s Super Attack

VEGETA (SSGSS):
• Fixed an issue where the Vegeta (SSGSS)’s Big Bang Attack does not explode when blocked by a Z Assist with an armor property (such as Android 18’s Z Assist)
• Fixed an issue where player cannot perform Vanish move when Vegeta (SSGSS)’s Big Bang Attack hits armor property objects (such as Broly’s Powered Shell)
• Modified the damage scaling of Vegeta(SSGSS) several Ki-Blast moves to match with a normal Ki Blast
• Modified the amount of the damage that’s done with the first attack of Vegeta(SSGSS)’s Niagara Pummel
• Adjusted Vegeta (SSGSS)’s On a Scale of One to Ten, I’ll Give You a Three! so that it’s easier now to grab an opponent and follow up with Z assists
• Fixed an issue where the move sometimes hits an opponent even after they’re K.O.-ed
• Fixed an issue where Vegeta (SSGSS)’s invincibility is disabled at the wrong timing when executing Final Flash Attack

BROLY:
• Fixed an issue where the energy ball goes up in the air when Broly’s Gigantic Meteor is clash canceled
• Fixed an issue where Broly’s Jumping Heavy Attack doesn’t clash cancel
• Fixed an issue where the Powered Shell effect appears for a split second when Broly gets K.O-ed
• Fixed an issue where an opponent wall bounces when a player hits the opponent with Broly’s Gigantic Strike with corner on the back
• Fixed an issue where hit count doesn’t increase when hitting an opponent with Broly’s Jump Heavy Attack, the medium and the heavy versions of Lariat Express
• Matched the number of times Broly’s Jumping Down Heavy attack can endure hits with other moves to allow an opponent to counter it with a Crouching Heavy attack
• Fixed an issue where Broly’s Powered Shell disappears when hit by certain ranged Special Moves
• Fixed an issue where Broly is able to cancel into his Super Attack at the moment he catches an opponent with his Eraser Blow the medium and the heavy versions of the Lariat Express, Gigantic Claw and Gigantic Strike
• Fixed an issue where Broly’s barrier effect is out of sync when canceling into Sparking Blast 1 frame after the start of a Super Dash

BEERUS:
• Fixed an issue where Beerus’ Standing Unique Attack, Jumping Unique Attack and Sphere of Destruction disappear before they destroy what is in the background when reflected
• Fixed an issue where the lower energy ball of the two created by Beerus’s heavy version of Sphere of Destruction cannot be repelled by Beerus’ attacks when it bounced back without hitting an opponent
• Fixed an issue where Beerus is able to keep shooting Ki-blasts without an end after hitting an opponent with his Beerus Ball in a certain way
• Fixed an issue where Sphere of Destruction keeps flashing and making sounds when it takes hits during a pause
• Reduced the recovery frame of Beerus’ down medium attack to match with other moves

TIEN:
• Fixed an issue with character displays that’s observed when Tien hits an opponent who is positioned at the backside of Tien

KRILLIN:
• Now Krillin’s Z assist will always throw a rock unless a player is inputting left when he appears on the screen
• Increased the duration of hit stun and the time an opponent isn’t able to recover for Krillin’s Z Assist

NAPPA:
• Adjusted the knock back distance of an opponent so that Nappa’s Jumping Down Heavy attack is more likely to hit twice
• Mitigated the damage scaling of Nappa’s Too Bad to balance out with other invincible moves
• Adjusted damage scaling of Saibaman’s explosive attacks

YAMCHA:
• Fixed an issue with appearances when a player defeats the last character of an opponent with Yamcha’s Ultimate Wolf Fang Fist

CAPTAIN GINYU:
• Fixed an issue where the Z Assist Character is displayed while performing Ginyu’s Body Change
• Fixed an issue where Ginyu’s Jumping Heavy attack can put an opponent in the sliding knockdown state in a different timing than other characters

HIT:
• Fixed an issue where Z assist characters remain on the screen in the case Hit’s I Keep Improving hits an opponent while the characters are in their hit stun

FRIEZA:
• Fixed an issue where Frieza’s Death Saucer doesn’t vanish after clashing with Broly’s Powered Shell
• Extended the inner part of the hit box for Frieza’s Crouching Heavy
• Fixed an issue where damage scaling isn’t properly processed when executing Frieza’s You might not survive this time and connecting it with following Death Ball.
• Fixed an issue where Frieza’s Death Saucer flies in a wrong path when clashed once
• Fixed an issue where Frieza’s You must Die by my Hand! cannot be executed when getting a hard knock-down by certain moves (Nappa’s Arm Break, etc.)
• Adjusted the damage and the damage scaling for Frieza’s You might not Survive this Time

PICCOLO:
• Fixed an issue where Piccolo’s Z Assist doesn’t fire the energy blast when used right after a Super Attack
• Fixed an issue where a player can’t block Piccolo’s Z Assist unless the player is inputting the direction away from an opponent when the opponent switches the positioning of the player’s main character and the opponent’s main character while Piccolo’s Z Assist Homing Energy Blast is still on the screen

ANDROID 18:
• Modified the light version of Android 18’s Back Grapple’s so that the hit count increases when an opponent is smashed into the ground
• Also modified the damage value and the damage scaling in accordance with the above modification

ANDROID 16:
• Now players will be able to recover from the ground when hit by Android 16’s Dynamite Driver
• Removed the invincibility to ranged attacks from Android 16’s Standing Heavy, Jumping Heavy and Crouching Heavy

VEGETA (Super Saiyan):
• Reduced the duration of block stun for Vegeta (Super Saiyan)’s Z assist

GOHAN (Adult):
• Modified the property of Gohan (Adult)’s down light attack to match with other light attacks
• Modified Gohan (Adult)’s heavy version of mid-air Ultimate Back Attack so that opponents are now able to ground recover when hit
• Reduced the frame advantage of Gohan (Adult)’s heavy version of Machine Gun Kick when it’s blocked by an opponent

KID BUU:
• Fixed an issue where Kid Buu’s Candy Beam sometimes hits an opponent for several times
• Made a modification to Kid Buu’s Pearl Flash so that the damage scaling of Super Attacks is now applied

ANDROID 21:
• Fixed an issue where the move property of Android 21’s Solar Flare which becomes available after absorbing an opponent isn’t ranged attack
• Android 21’s Total Detonation Ball has been adjusted so that it now disappears when hit by Broly’s Powered Shell
• Fixed an issue where a sound effect isn’t played when Android 21 executes a mid-air version of her special move Sticky Energy Blast
• Fixed an issue where Android 21’s hurt box isn’t consistent depending on which mid-air damaged motion is triggered

GOHAN (Teen):
• Fixed an issue where wrong down state is applied to a character when getting hit by the medium version of Gohan (Teen)’s Flying Kick high up in the air
• Fixed the timing when Gohan (Teen)’s 5-Hit Combo disappears
• Fixed an issue where the effect was out of synch during Son Gohan (Adult)’s Jet Upper and Z Assist
• Fixed an issue where characters’ appearances become strange while they’re falling when Son Gohan (Adult) hits an opponent high up in the air with his ground version of the Ultimate Back Attack (after Potential Unleashed)

GOTENKS:
• Fixed an issue where the hitbox of Gotenks’ Z Assist remains even after he has left the screen
• Fixed an issue where Gotenks’ Jumping Heavy can put an opponent in the sliding knockdown state in a different timing than other characters
• Fixed an issue where Gotenks’ Z Assist can forcibly put an already mid-air opponent’s position back to the ground

CELL:
• Cell’s Psychokinesis Crash has been adjusted so that the attack no longer appears behind an opponent character

TRUNKS:
• Fixed an issue where Trunks sometimes doesn’t execute follow up attacks after hitting an opponent with his Shining Slash

GOKU BLACK:
• Made an adjustment so that Goku Black’s medium and heavy versions of the Fierce God Kick no longer locks down even a knocked out opponent

OTHERS:
• Fixed an issue where some characters don’t instantly transition to their down motion but keeps performing their super armor moves until the end in the case the character loses all its health by an opponent’s move that has a property to lock down an enemy
• Fixed an issue where a character reacts and turns back to an opponent after the Vanish attack while they are performing certain Special Moves or Super Attacks such as Goku (Super Saiyan)’s Kamehameha
• Fixed an issue where a character floats in the air for a short period when getting a sliding knock down by particular moves such as Goku Black’s Holy Light Grenade
• Fixed an issue where Z Assist characters fly high up in the air when they are forced to leave the screen by certain moves such as Goku Black’s God Slicer Dance
• Fixed an issue where a player’s character loses its ability to move properly when the player performs Z reflect against some specific moves such as Android 16’s Hell Flash
• Fixed an issue where a player’s normal Jumping Heavy Attack works in the same way as an auto combo finisher when an opponent’s Z Assist character leaves the screen while the player is performing a combo
• Fixed an issue where scaling that should have been applied to non-recovery frame to prevent a combo loop isn’t applied when starting a combo with certain moves
• Fixed an issue where a character slides horizontally with facing downward when triggering Super Dash under specific conditions
• Fixed an issue where certain voices aren’t played in certain situations
• Fixed KO voices so that the appropriate voices that are corresponding to certain characters will be played
• Increased the duration of throw invincibility for both air and ground back dash
• Made some adjustments to make it harder to execute the Z reflect for the second time in succession
• Fixed an issue where the invincibility of Z assist characters aren’t properly disabled when leaving the screen due to the main character getting a hit
• Fixed an issue where a player’s main character is able to cancel moves to an another move even when they are whiffing in the case the player team’s fireballs got reflected by an opponent’s Z-reflect or Super dash.

The 3-on-3, “2.5D” fighting game is developed by Arc System Works for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam). The game runs at a 1080p resolution and 60fps frame rate, with higher resolutions available on the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X consoles, as well as the PC. Dragon Ball FighterZ was released 26 January 2018 in North America and Europe, and 01 February 2018 in Japan. Alongside its Japanese release, Bandai Namco announced that they had shipped two million copies of the game, making it the fastest-shipping game in the franchise’s history.

Arc previously worked on Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as the Super Sonic Warriors games (Bukū Tōgeki and Bukū Ressen) on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. The developer is otherwise known for their Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series of fighting games.

The official Dragon Ball website’s seventy-seventh entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is a preview for additional Dr. Slump from its premiere in the 1980 #5-6 double issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump (released 05 January 1980):

Dr. Slump, by self-described country bumpkin Akira Toriyama.

A message from Toriyama-sensei has arrived from Nagoya… Wow! Such cute lettering and illustration… This is a country-bumpkin whirlwind bblowing through the world of gags! There’ll be lots of laughs next week, too!!

CAW-CAW
I just went from egg to chick a little while ago. I wanna fly soon. So I thought, everyone, please be good to me.

The debut of Dr. Slump was previously featured as the twenty-first and seventieth entries in this series.

Published by 04 May 2018, 10:55 AM EDTComment

The second collected volume of Yoshitaka Nagayama‘s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Dark Demon Realm Mission (“Ankoku Makai Mission”) manga series, “Time of the Dark Demon Realm’s Resurrection” (暗黒魔界復活の時 Ankoku Makai Fukkatsu no Toki), saw its release this week (02 May 2018) in Japan.

7つの暗黒ドラゴンボールを集め、暗黒魔界復活を目論む首領・メチカブラ! “時の界王神”率いるトランクスたちタイムパトロールは、持てる力を結集して立ち向かう!! 暗黒魔界ミッション、極に第一部完!


Boss Mechickaboola plots to revive the Dark Demon Realm by gathering the seven Dark Dragon Balls! Trunks and the Time Patrol, lead by the “Kaiōshin of Time”, concentrate their power to stand against him!! Dark Demon Realm Mission Part 1 reaches the ultimate conclusion!

Nagayama’s introductory comment touches on the completion of “Part 1” of the series:

第一部完!! 暗黒魔界、マジ魔神…。


Part one is complete!! Dark Demon Realm, Maji-Majin [“seriously the devil”]

Removing the dust jacket reveals separate front and back cover artwork showcasing a slew of characters from the series:

The second collected volume picks up where the first left off, collecting the sixth through tenth standard Dark Demon Realm Mission chapters, originally serialized in the July 2017, September 2017, November 2017, January 2018, and March 2018 issues of Shueisha’s bimonthly Saikyō Jump magazine.

Alongside greyscaled versions of all chapter titles pages, the tenth chapter in particular features a new title page, which was originally a multi-page spread in the March 2018 issue of Saikyō Jump. Between the ninth and tenth chapters is a bonus chapter exclusive to the collected edition featuring a battle between an unmasked-and-remasked Bardock and King Vegeta: Xeno.

The only bonus Charisma Mission content in this volume is a set of two pages originally printed after the tenth chapter in the March 2018 issue of Saikyō Jump; where an additional two pages were present to promote Universe Mission, the collected volume instead transitions to a full-on real promotion for the new update, concluding with two entirely new Charisma Mission pages wrapping up the promotion.

The volume also comes packed with a “Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta: Xeno” card — with an “Atomic Kamehameha” — for the Super Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game.

Nagayama’s original Charisma Mission series debuted with a special Rookie Charisma Mission Episode 0 in the December 2013 issue of Saikyō Jump, then ran in earnest from the July 2014 to July 2016 issues. In it, Engineer Yoshito, Battle Navigator Tsubasa, and Battle Princess Momo illustrate the various features of the game in comedic ways. With the cancellation of Katsuki Hirose‘s Dragon Ball Discross Divine Power God MAX!! spin-off manga series (due to the Discross arcade game’s official discontinuation), Nagayama returned with Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Charisma Mission!! in the March 2017 issue. A sequel/continuation from and initially a replacement for the previous Dragon Ball Heroes Super Charisma Mission! manga series, Dark Demon Realm Mission began in the September 2016 issue of Saikyō Jump telling a new story set in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes world with Time Patrol Trunks, Chronoa, and more.

Following the completion of “Part One” of the story with the ten Dark Demon Realm Mission chapters, Nagayama transitioned the series into Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission in the May 2018 issue of Saikyō Jump, coinciding with the new Ultimate Mission update series to the Super Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game.

The second volume retails for ¥400 (plus tax), spans 192 pages, and is available to order on CDJapan and Amazon Japan.

The official Dragon Ball website’s seventy-sixth entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is the reverse side of the second “Dr. Slump Hoyoyo Card” that came with the 1980 #41 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, released 09 September 1980 (as opposed to the publication date of 13 October 1980 listed in the official website’s writeup).

The front of each card had a full-color illustration, and the back had a character profile with a short interview with Toriyama. For this particular card, Toriyama pens an interview between himself and Arale from Dr. Slump. This particular entry was selected in honor of Arale’s May 3rd birthday (“Flying Fish 3” in Dr. Slump‘s calendar).

[ top left ] “Dr. Slump Hoyoyo Card Special No. 2: Arale Norimaki”

Birthdate: Flying Fish (May) 3, 1967 (actually 1980); age 13
Address: 1 Flying Squirrel, Penguin Village, Diving Beetle Island

[ right ] “This is Arale-chan!!”
“We had her fill in her own information.”

HEAD: Teacher said I’m smart

ARMS: Stwong

BUTT: Kaboom

HEIGHT: 60 meters

WEIGHT: 80 tonnes

FACE: Kewl

BOOBS: Boing-boing

STOMACH: Boing

LEGS: I can run faster than a rocket


INTERVIEW:

[in the author’s workroom]

TORIYAMA: Well, hello there.

ARALE: N’cha.

TORIYAMA: Well… I’d like to get right down to asking y–…

ARALE: KI——–N! [suddenly starts running around]

TORIYAMA: H-hey, now! Please don’t stomp around such a small room!

ARALE: This room’s dirty.

TORIYAMA: N-never mind! Er- uhm, lately, I’ve been getting a lot of postcards saying, “Hasn’t Arale gotten fat recently? How can she gain weight when she’s a robot? You dummy!” So, what about it?

ARALE: Your face is funny.

TORIYAMA: I-I’m not concerned about me!! P-please just answer the question!

ARALE: Kyahahaha! [doodling all over the manuscript on the desk]

TORIYAMA: AAAAAUGH! What are you doing?! Hey! Knock it off!

ARALE: Toeh! [Toriyama is sent flying into space; the interview is over] Bye-cha!

In his author comment accompanying this issue — and chapter 37 of Dr. Slump within it — Toriyama makes a lame joke that does not work particularly well in English, but is certainly one Kaiō might appreciate:

もう秋だ。こおろぎ、ころころころがった! おそまつでした!? <明>

Autumn already. The crickets rolled over with a chirp! That was a lame joke?! <Akira>

The official Dragon Ball website’s seventy-fifth entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is a postcard sent out to members of Toriyama’s fanclub in May 1987:

I’ve had a lot going on so it’s been a while; how have you been? My days are even busier than before: I work, go shopping, take care of Sasuke, look after the cat, walk the dog, and take care of the birds.

Toriyama mentions his son Sasuke around this time in his author comment accompanying Dragon Ball chapter 126 in the 1987 #26 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump:

最近赤ン坊の”佐助”ばかりかわいがるので、猫のコゲが私わたくしにやきもちをやいて困ってます。 <明>

Since lately I’ve only been paying attention to my baby son Sasuke, my cat Koge has been acting jealous. I don’t know what to do. <Akira>

Fanclub postcards have previously appeared as the first and twenty-second entries in this series.

Published by 30 April 2018, 6:56 PM EDTComment

Alongside a twopart podcast series on this material, we are excited to debut a new expansion in our “Manga Guide“:

Dragon Ball Prototypes

The main listing page contains links to overviews of Dragon Boy and The Adventure of Tongpoo, two short stories Akira Toriyama developed and published in 1983 that served as obvious and intentional stepping stones toward Dragon Ball. Each page in the guide contains a full synopsis, character name breakdowns, comparisons with later Dragon Ball scenes, and much more.

In addition, the main “Dragon Ball Prototypes” page contains a complete overview for three drafts that would serve as the direct basis and development for Dragon Ball itself, taking us from a straight Journey to the West adaptation to the story of a boy with a tail going on a grand adventure with his new female companion.

Tied in with this, we also have a new translation for the archive: “The Making of Dragon Ball” from Bird Land Press 15, the November 1984 entry in Akira Toriyama’s official fanclub newsletter. In this particular issue, Toriyama describes the development process in his own words, and at a unique point in time: right as Dragon Ball begins serialization!

READ THE FULL TRANSLATION

Visit the new guide section and enjoy the new article translation!

Published by 30 April 2018, 6:53 PM EDTComment

This week on the show, our podcast wraps up a two-part look at the various Dragon Ball prototypes over the years. We pick up here in late 1983 with the self-contained one-shot The Adventure of Tongpoo, and we make our way into 1984 with a series of drafts that will ultimately become Dragon Ball itself!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0441! Mike and Julian discuss “The Adventure of Tongpoo”, a one-shot Akira Toriyama drew in 1983 which served as one step along the way to creating “Dragon Ball” itself. What feels different here from “Dragon Boy” earlier that same year? We wrap things up with a look at a series of drafts taking us from a straight “Journey to the West” adaptation up to the characters and story we know and love as “Dragon Ball”-proper!

REFERENCED SITES:

Our podcast available via iTunes and/or Google Play Music, or you can pop the direct RSS feed into the program of your choice. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3 or by streaming it on YouTube. We invite you to discuss this episode on our forum.

Published by 29 April 2018, 8:36 AM EDTComment

The official Taiwanese Bandai Namco Facebook page upload a promotional video for the heavily-rumored Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (“SSGSS” or “Super Saiyan Blue”) Vegetto — a thus-far-unannounced — new downloadable character coming to Dragon Ball FighterZin a post yesterday that has since been removed:

The company recently revealed Merged Zamasu as the next character coming individually for ¥500/$5, or as part of the game’s game’s optional $34.99 “FighterZ Pass” covering eight total characters. The first two additional characters, Bardock and Broli, were released last month. Though extensive datamining has taken place among fans, the remaining fighters have yet to be officially announced.

The 3-on-3, “2.5D” fighting game is developed by Arc System Works for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam). The game runs at a 1080p resolution and 60fps frame rate, with higher resolutions available on the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X consoles, as well as the PC. Playable characters include Son Goku, Son Gohan (Cell arc design), Vegeta, Freeza, Cell, Boo (Good), Trunks, Piccolo, Kuririn, #16, #18 (with #17), Yamcha, Tenshinhan (with Chiaotzu), Ginyu (with teammates), Nappa (with Saibaimen), Gotenks, Son Gohan (Boo arc design), Boo (Pure), Hit, Beerus, and Goku Black (with Zamasu), as well as “Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan” (SSGSS, or “Super Saiyan Blue”) versions of Goku and Vegeta that can be accessed early via pre-orders or unlocked through gameplay. The Akira Toriyama-designed “#21” has also been revealed as a new character central to the game’s story mode.

Dragon Ball FighterZ was released 26 January 2018 in North America and Europe, and 01 February 2018 in Japan. Alongside its Japanese release, Bandai Namco announced that they had shipped two million copies of the game, making it the fastest-shipping game in the franchise’s history.

Arc previously worked on Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as the Super Sonic Warriors games (Bukū Tōgeki and Bukū Ressen) on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. The developer is otherwise known for their Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series of fighting games.