Bandai Namco has produced an awful lot of Dragon Ball games. The first of these arrived in 1986 and, since then, Son Goku has appeared on consoles and PCs at a rate that under any other license would be unsustainable. But of course, Akira Toriyama’s work has no ceiling .
Coinciding with the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Dragon Ball Z , we want to pay a very special tribute to the maximum ambassador of the manganime phenomenon: a guided walk through the Dragon Ball Budokai saga, which mainly explores the story arcs between Raditz’s arrival and combat on the planet Kaioshin, adding in some cases very rare licenses.
In fact, we have risked ordering it from worst to best . Because we all know which are the two most loved and remembered deliveries, but the reality is that under the acronyms Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi we have seen all kinds of jewels, some rarity that is worth highlighting and ideas that – luckily or unfortunately – didn’t work altogether.
Two notes : Although Battle of Z is part of the list, we have ruled out the Dragon Ball Xenoverse saga, since both its plot and its theme around Trunks’ Time Patrol deserve to be taken into account separately.
The same applies to the splendid Dragon Ball FighterZ, which would fit into a listing for the Dragon Ball Butoden series. A selection that would also be very interesting to tackle, by the way.
On the other hand, thinking of the reader and, taking into account the number of sequels, we have combined each entry by series, especially highlighting its decisive game. Because if it is already complicated to order all the titles fairly, positioning each delivery in the set goes from being tricky to an error.
Dragon Ball Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi: differences and similarities
At this point, it is worth making a small paragraph to distinguish between the two sagas that we are going to discuss. What do they have in common and what makes them unique?
- The Dragon Ball Z Budokai saga started in 2002 and has been mostly developed by Dimps . These are titles that take elements from traditional fighting games and include mobility options at the service of blows. In fact, as a general rule, to activate special movements it is necessary to execute a previous combo.
- The Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi saga (known as Dragon Ball Z Sparking! In Japan) would start in 2005. Its development has been in the hands of Spike and it is not considered integrated into the Budokai seal for many factors, including the emphasis on mobility and aerial combat, the perspective in the third person from the back of our character or the possibility of projecting attacks freely.
Over the years, both ways of playing have coexisted through deliveries that have acclimated the quantity and detail of the characters and the visual section to the possibilities of each system.
In fact, the first to use the cel-shading aspect was Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2 , although later we would see how it has been sought to give a unique identity to each installment.
As a detail, all the installments of both sagas have focused on the story arcs of Dragon Ball Z , gradually including plots and characters from the movies, the origins of Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball GT , as well as nods to other works by Toriyama. and Shonen Jump publications.
That said, below you will see the games that showed that bringing the tremendous battles of Goku, Vegeta, Freeza and the rest of the Dragon World characters to video games was not only possible, it could also be really fun.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z
Paradoxically, the bottom side of this list is one of the most recent. It even offers content from the film The Battle of the Gods , including Goku’s transformation into a Super Saiyan God.
Borrowing the visual style and various ideas from the Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle arcade series , this Battle of Z was too focused on the online multiplayer experience, offering crossover battles for up to eight players. On paper, very good. In practice, chaos.
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi
Coincidence or not, Bandai Namco proposed to the fans that they choose the name of the game among several options, and although they chose it to be the definitive Tenkaichi , it fell a little short in ambition .
The great innovations, on the other hand, were a visual style that was closer to manga than anime and a plot of its own. For the rest, an attempt was made to seek the greatest possible fidelity with the Budokai Tenkaichi series, although it fell far short of achieving its impact.
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
The Dragon Ball license’s debut in the seventh generation looked great : graphics that sought to rival anime in exquisite HD. However, Bandai Namco fell a long way from putting the meat on the grill.
Despite how worked the story and the cinematics were, the plot reached the climax of the battle with Cell. To which we must add a really austere catalog of characters . Everything pointed to a sequel with the Buu saga and the OVAS. One that never came.
Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team
PSP can boast of having received several exclusive bespoke deliveries , and one of them was this sort of adaptation of the Budokai Tenkaichi format with a very curious twist: tag team matches.
The game offered interesting solutions to the limitations of the Sony laptop, which – remember – only has one stick. Plus, despite their flaws, the characters are surprisingly detailed for the little console’s hardware.
Serie Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai
After a successful tour on PS2, Dimps took the formula of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series to Sony laptops, squeezing the possibilities of it and its UMDs quite well at a price: the first installment would have a repertoire of just 18 characters .
However, what has earned him extra points, in addition to the technical achievement, is that Bandai Namco derailed from the usual plots to start exploring beyond the manga and anime with new story arcs, including the events after the saga. of Buu.
El imprescindible: Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road
Special mention to Dragon Ball: Shin Budokai 2 – Another Road . After that extensive title we find a story that includes more characters and explores the future events of Trunks after the battle with Cell, having to face Dabra and Majin Buu himself. A unique and very well spun plot, narrated in seven chapters.
Serie Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast
Bandai Namco wanted to update the Budokai Tenkaichi saga in a big way and they succeeded in many respects. On the one hand, with a really strong visual section for the time . However, the star novelty was based on the fanservice .
The Raging Blast series offered us new and apotheosis versions of well-established characters, including the transformations in Super Saiyan 3 of Vegeta and Broly , as well as a greater integration of the completely destructible scenarios in the combats.
El imprescindible: Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2
That Spike did a sequel to Raging Blast did not catch us again. By this time we were used to the fact that if a delivery worked, it would return the following year.
However, this second part came with a surprise: in addition to new characters, it included an animated remake of Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans , a 30-minute OVA unreleased in the West. And also the perfect excuse to include your villain in the game.
Dragon Ball Z Budokai series
After a prolific and extensive career with the Butoden saga, Bandai Namco opted to give a complete turn to the gameplay, making it more fluid and -in the process- taking advantage of the 128 bits of the PS2. And boy did he get it .
Prodigious cinematics for the date , fun and easy to execute combos and some character models that, at that time, left us with our mouths disjointed. Especially since they bet on Cell Shading. Everything a fan of Son Goku and company could wish for.
The must-have: Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3
The third installment of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series was tremendous in many respects: not only did it come overflowing with content, but it also rethought all playable aspects (mergers, energy use, collisions, and much more) to improve the experience.
To which must be added another great detail: the board system that we saw in the story mode of DBZ: Budokai 2 had been replaced by a huge mapping that we could freely walk through. And yes, the Super Saiyan 4 versions of Goku and Vegeta entered the picture.
Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World
In many respects, Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World was a farewell letter. A full stop after the streak of -deserved- successes of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai . And the best thing is that Dimps did not leave anything in the inkwell. It even topped off the mini-game experience at a price – the classic Tournament mode didn’t make the cut.
Infinite World was an extensive review of all previous Budokai installments, including the bulk of its fighters with various additions and absences, adding new movements and customization options and adjusting the combat system so that, in this farewell, the player can perform spectacular techniques without so many limitations.
Serie Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi
With the success of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series assured, Bandai Namco wanted to offer a different game experience that is much closer to the sensations of the manganime. And Spike hit the key .
The three installments of the Dragon Ball Z: Buokai Tenkaichi series moved away from traditional fighting standards to focus entirely on offering that impossible mobility of Toriyama’s characters , as well as the contrast and intensity of their combo chains and the greats. projectiles. The result was a pleasant surprise that would be improved with each new delivery.
The must-have: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 was the culmination of everything learned and previous content. And if we quantify it, the sum shoots up: 10 game modes, more than 150 characters (transformations included), online battles and cutting-edge visuals for PS2 and Wii.
In fact, the Nintendo console had an interesting extra addition: the possibility of using motion sensors to execute the most explosive techniques. Something that curdled much better than Dragon Ball Z for Kinect.
As you saw above, Bandai Namco and Spike would bet on the same formula in deliveries and later systems without repeating the same impact.
Of course, the formula of DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi is still valid and active through Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. A saga under a context that undoubtedly deserves its own story.
