With there being well over 9000 video games based on Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ballmanga and subsequent anime, narrowing down the list to the best titles of all time is far from an easy feat. Admittedly, this is less about being spoiled for choice and more a case of there just being a ton of mediocre Dragon Ballgames that barely try to stick out from the crowd.
There have been a lot of villains in the Dragon Ball universe. Here’s a look at the ones who had the best introductions.
In 1986, Epoch published Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyō for the Super Cassette Vision, marking the iconic series’ first foray into gaming. While the West needed around another decade to truly catch Goku fever, nowadays, a year can barely pass without a Saiyan-themed fighting game or RPG hitting the shelves.
With so many projects associated with the series, picking out the best Dragon Ball games can be quite difficult. Let’s highlight DBZ‘s crowning achievements, covering the usual suspects and a couple of underrated gems.
Updated August 30, 2025, by Mark Sammut: A new Dragon Ball game is nearly always around the corner, and the franchise seems set to get a fairly unique entry. Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra is in development and looks set to push the IP into a multiplayer direction, with the project revolving around 4v4 fights. Obviously, DB has incorporated PvP and co-op gameplay in the past, including 2022’s lackluster Dragon Ball: The Breakers, but Gekishin Squadra will be different due to its MOBA gameplay. The game will also be free, another rarirty for the license.
Hopefully, Gekishin Squadra ends up being one of the best Dragon Ball games, as we could use another homerun. In the meantime, you might want to check out one of the franchise’s biggest attempts to go multiplayer: Dragon Ball Online.
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Special Mention: Dragon Ball Online
An MMORPG That Technically Shut Down In 2013, But Private Servers Are Still Available
Namco Bandai, Shanda Games, CJ Internet Corporation, Cayenne Tech
Dragon Ball Online is a difficult game to rank for a number of reasons. On the one hand, its influence on projects like Xenoverse and Fusions is readily apparent, as the MMORPG basically set the foundation for time travel that would be explored in subsequent releases. It also allowed players to create original characters, a craving that traditional DB games had largely ignored up to that point. Similar to Xenoverse, DBO allowed you to pick from a variety of classes, all of whom had unique transformations. The story was pretty ambitious as well, twisting popular story beats from the manga while establishing original characters and a future setting.
Conversely, Dragon Ball Online is not really all that different from most other old-school MMOs. The combat was simple, progression was slow, and you spent most of your time grinding against forgettable enemies. Even in the early 2010s, DBO felt like an outdated product that should have materialized in the previous decade. Finally, the proper game was never released outside of Asia, greatly limiting its potential since it did not tap into DBZ‘s global popularity. The real version was shut down in 2013, although you can still play DBO through private servers.
Personally, my time with DBO occurred after 2013 and through private servers. As I don’t have any experience with the official version, I feel it would be misleading to give it a proper ranking. Consequently, DBO has been added as a special mention.
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Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu
An Early Attempt At A Dragon Ball RPG (And The Best Entry In A Forgotten Series)
Dragon Ball might be primarily associated with fighting games, but the franchise’s earliest efforts predate that genre’s birth and explosion in popularity. Consequently, Goku’s first gaming adventures leaned into platforming or RPG territory, avenues that the series would rarely revisit after the success of titles like Hyper Dimension and Budokai.
Although not having much of a presence in Western nations, the Gokuden series was arguably Dragon Ball‘s first gaming success story. TOSE Software and Bandai released seven entries within this series, with most of them landing on the Famicom. Honestly, the NES Dragon Ball games are hard to recommend nowadays as they show their ages way too much, but they can take die-hard fans on fascinating trips through gaming history. That said, if somebody wants to try out this series, they should go with Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu, a SNES remake of two earlier entries. The RPG covers the Saiyan and Namek Sagas, featuring a pretty decent card-based combat system that would be revisited in later games like Legendary Super Warriors.
While primarily a historical piece at this point, Super Saiya Densetsu is relatively fun to play nowadays, and it still feels surprisingly fresh due to the lack of Dragon Ball RPGs.
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Dragon Ball GT: Transformation
Even GT Deserves Some Love
Dragon Ball GT is generally seen as a low point in the franchise’s history, especially since the series was meant to follow up DBZ. Unfortunately, the anime struggled to find its footing as it attempted to balance Dragon Ball‘s sense of adventure with DBZ‘s action. The result was a story that did not shine as either an adventure or action anime, instead existing in a middle-ground that was not that satisfying. That said, the show still has its positives and is worth a watch for die-hard fans.
The Dragon Ball GT anime did a lot of things well, as these examples prove.
Now, Dragon Ball GT has not been ignored by the gaming industry, with its transformations, villains, and arcs being included in quite a few projects. However, the series has only been asked to carry two standalone games: Final Bout and Transformation. The former is a prime contender for the worst Dragon Ball game of all time, and it has very few redeeming factors. Comparatively speaking, Transformation is a masterpiece next to Final Bout; removed from that context, the GBA exclusive is just an average beat ’em up.
The campaign runs through the first two arcs, ending with the Baby saga. Players get to visit a few different planets that echo the source material, and Transformation focuses on a team of three. The story mode mostly consists of Goku, Pan, and Trunks, but the game has a few more playable characters. While nothing special, Transformation looks fine and has perfectly decent combat.
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Dragon Ball Z: Attack Of The Saiyans
Decent Entry-Level Turn-Based RPG
Nintendo’s handheld systems seem to inspire Dragon Ball to try something slightly different, at least for the franchise. Dragon Ball Z: Attack Of The Saiyans is a turn-based RPG with a limited roster of characters and some exploration. As the campaign does not simply jump from one fight to the next, it only covers a fraction of Dragon Ball Z‘s storyline, concluding with the Saiyan Saga.
Attack Of The Saiyans does very little to separate itself from other turn-based RPGs, but it is a serviceable one that should please fans of the franchise and the genre. While derivative in the grand scheme of things, this Nintendo DS title is relatively unique in the Dragon Ball world.
E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Cartoon Violence, Mild Language, Tobacco Reference
Developer(s)
Media.Vision
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo seems to have been wiped from existence, barely existing as a footnote in the franchise’s gaming history. Along with being a Wii exclusive, it is not quite as good as the Origins games on the Nintendo DS, despite delivering a similar overall experience. Still, Revenge of King Piccolo deserves recognition for being a home console release that moves away from DBZ, instead focusing on Akira Toriyama’s first few manga arcs and their anime adaptation. This simple creative decision instantly sets the game apart from nearly every other post-2000s Dragon Ball release, justifying a recommendation in the process.
So, what does Revenge of King Piccolo play like? Well, it is essentially a straightforward beat ’em up with some lite platforming. For the most part, players will rush through linear levels while frequently stopping to bash out encounters with enemies. Although simple, the combat is more than flashy and fast-paced enough to keep things interesting throughout the relatively short campaign. Ultimately, Revenge of King Piccolo is just a middle package that has nothing to offer non-fans but could hit the mark with diehards.
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Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle
Something A Bit Different
Like with any popular anime property, Dragon Ball has spawned more than a few mobile games. The main two are Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle and Dragon Ball Legends, both of which have been around for a few years and feature original storylines. Trepidation towards mobile titles is to be expected, particularly free-to-play ones, but these two titles are better than average.
Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle has quite a unique twist on gameplay. The anime game incorporates puzzle elements, forcing players to think their way through battles. Dokkan Battle cannot compare to the franchise’s best Dragon Ball Z games on consoles, however, in the world of mobile gaming, it is a respectable entry.
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Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden
Mega Drive Alternative To Super Butoden
While the SNES/Super Famicom received the Super Butoden trilogy (at least, in Japan and Europe), the Mega Drive/Genesis had to make do with Buyuu Retsuden, a fighting game that was cut from largely the same cloth. In terms of quality, this 1994 release was closer to the original Super Butoden than its sequels, albeit with vibrant visuals that helped the detailed character models pop off the screen.
Like so many early fighting games that are not the genre’s heavyweights, Buyuu Retsuden can be difficult to revisit in this day and age, especially since the European version is rarer than the Japanese one. Still, if someone is fond of the SNES trilogy, they should check out this alternative as it is like discovering a fourth entry. While stiff and repetitive, the combat is mostly fine, even if it is let down by battles that regularly overstay their welcome. The story mode gives each character a unique campaign, which mostly consists of battles introduced by text.
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Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team
Tag Team Addition Cannot Save A Tired Formula. Still, Not Bad.
On the surface, Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team was just another 3D arena brawler that cycles through the same old arcs while using a tired combat system that was in desperate need of evolution, more so than the introduction of 2v2 battles could provide. Out of all the Tenkaichi and Budokai Tenkaichi games that were released over roughly a decade, Tenkaichi Tag Team was the most forgettable and, arguably, the worst (not counting Ultimate Tenkachi, which was something else entirely); yet, this 2010 release had one major thing in its favor: portability. Unlike every other entry, this title was designed specifically for the PSP, and it was the franchise’s last effort for that console.
While arguably not the best DBZ game on Sony’s handheld system, Tenkaichi Tag Team deserves praise for impressively translating the home console entries’ gameplay for the PSP. Despite having far fewer inputs to work with, Spike managed to mostly retain Budokai Tenkaichi‘s controls, resulting in a spin-off that should scratch a fan’s itch to take this particular subseries on the go. Tenkaichi Tag Team delivers high-octane and accessible action, along with very good visuals for the device.
That said, the game is quite by-the-numbers in most areas. The Dragon Walker story mode has a cute overworld presentation, but it is otherwise just another retread of the same arcs that the franchise has been revisiting for decades. The secondary modes are mainly time-wasters that can be fun distractions, which is fine for a portable game like this.
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Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors
Enjoyable Story Mode
The Game Boy Advance has a surprisingly good selection of Dragon Ball games, and they cover a wide spectrum of genres. Supersonic Warriors exists to fill the console’s fighting game quota for the franchise, and while its mechanics are rough around the edges and do not hold up particularly well, there is still a lot to love about the overall package.
The best sagas across the Dragon Ball franchise typically include the most dramatically and poignant arc endings across DB, DBZ, GT, and Super.
The story mode is the main reason to revisit this project since the developers really went for broke to make this as enjoyable of an experience as possible for fans. Along with chapters that follow DBZ‘s main sagas, each playable character has their own what-if scenario, most of which are a lot of fun to see unfold. Supersonic Warriors‘ gameplay is also not terrible and does not detract too much from the game’s strengths.
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Dragon Ball Legends
Respectable Mobile Option
Compared to Dokkan Battle, Dragon Ball Legends provides a mobile experience closer to the franchise’s console releases, although the app is still tailor-made for Android and iOS devices. Boasting impressive visuals for its platforms, Legends‘ combat blends fighting mechanics with a card battle system, striking a middle-ground that succeeds in being accessible, fast-paced, and surprisingly strategic.
Bandai Namco’s project has amassed an impressive amount of content over the last few years, and its story is likely to hit home with fans of the manga and anime. The plot follows Shallot, a new Saiyan who suffers from memory loss. As combat revolves around 3v3 battles, Dragon Ball Legends has an impressive roster of playable characters that are unlocked via a gacha system.
