It’s not unreasonable for fans to want as much story content as possible from their Dragon Ball games. After all, this is a franchise that spans over a dozen story arcs with hundreds of characters in the fray. Everyone has a favorite, and sometimes the only way to play as a favorite is when the games cover everything.

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But this leads to a lot of pacing and balancing issues, often to the point where the games suffer as a result. Not all Dragon Ball games are so gung ho about adapting everything, however. There are a few games that choose to adapt only a few story arcs at a time— sometimes even just one. This can be disappointing on a surface level, but it’s this approach to game design that leads to the best Dragon Ball games.

10 Revenge Of King Piccolo (Red Ribbon Army Arc - Demon King Piccolo Arc)

A Nintendo Wii title that came and went, Revenge of King Piccolo is an action platformer that picks up right after the end of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai and stops right after Goku kills Piccolo Daimao, wrapping up the arc in the credits. It’s an interesting Dragon Ball game, if only for its choice in story arcs to adapt.

It’s not often that Dragon Ball games actually cover the pre-Z era. The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai is featured occasionally, but usually only in the context of the final match. RoKP is a pretty comprehensive adaptation of the Red Ribbon and Piccolo Daimao arcs. The 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai isn’t given as much focus, but it’s handled as best it could have been with the game’s structure.

9 Super Saiyan Densetsu (Saiyan Arc - Freeza Arc)

A pseudo remake of sorts of two Famicom Dragon Ball RPGs, Super Saiyan Densetsu picks up right after Raditz kidnaps Gohan and ends during the final fight with Freeza. What’s interesting about Super Saiyan Densetsu is how it allows the story to deviate. Goku can arrive in time to the fight against Nappa if this training goes well. Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu can survive, as well.

It’s even possible to trigger Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation against Freeza by just letting anyone die. It doesn’t have to be Krillin. At one point, Ginyu can switch bodies with a party member and there’s not necessarily a need to switch them back. Piccolo can merge with other Namekians, Super Saiyan Vegeta is a secret boss— this is a pretty solid Dragon Ball game as far as adapting the story goes.

8 Origins (Hunt For The Dragon Balls - 21st Tenkaichi Budokai)

A Zelda-esque top down action-adventure game for the Nintendo DS, Origins has a lot of charm to it, zoning in quite intensely on a portion of the series that often isn’t given enough attention. As far as stories go, it does a great job at adding even more scope to the first hunt for the Dragon Balls, really nailing that adventure feel.

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Goku training alongside Krillin under Master Roshi is also transitioned into quite nicely, keeping the game thematically and narratively cohesive in between arcs. Granted, this is a strength the original manga already has, but it’s often gone unreplicated in the games, leaving arcs often feeling stiff and fragmented when they’re often not.

7 The Legacy Of Goku II (Cell Arc)

A rare western developed Dragon Ball Z game, The Legacy of Goku II was the sequel to the rather horrible Legacy of Goku, a game that covered the Saiyan and Freeza arcs from only Goku’s perspective. Thankfully, The Legacy of Goku II recontextualizes things by framing the game mostly through Gohan— something that actually helps Goku passing the torch down to Gohan in the long run.

It loses points for adapting Funimation’s script, leading to some dubisms, but it’s a great action RPG overall and there’s a lot of charm to seeing the story play out so comprehensively in a video game format. It’s also one of the few Dragon Ball games to really limit Goku’s playtime, him only being playable right before and during the Cell Games.

6 Legendary Super Warriors (Saiyan Arc - Buu Arc)

On the subject of Gohan, this is another game that ends up framing the story mostly through Gohan, really giving the impression that he might be the genuine main character, even if he doesn’t participate in the final fight. To pull this off, the game picks up after the fight with Raditz, opening the story with Gohan.

This actually allows the story to breathe much clearer since the game doesn’t try to shove in Goku where he doesn’t belong. It’s content with keeping the focus on Gohan, leading to one of the better paced Dragon Ball stories. That it’s a full adaptation and takes its time really only helps in the long run. Those adverse to deck building RPGs might want to avoid this one, though.

5 Budokai 3 (Saiyan Arc - Buu Arc)

Although Budokai 3 covers more or less all of Dragon Ball Z (extending even to Uub, something very few games do,) it’s able to pull off telling a well-adapted story by splitting the overall narrative into different character-led chapters. Goku has his own story mode from just his perspective, Gohan has three story modes across his three playable forms, etc.

It does mean that playing as some characters will leave details rather blank (Krillin’s story mode basically ends on a cliffhanger,) but the greater narrative is so much richer as a result. Being able to fly around and interact with the world certainly helps, as do the RPG elements and all the secrets to find.

4 Buu’s Fury (Buu Arc)

Of the Z-era arcs, the Buu arc is the one that goes unadapted most often. It’s a difficult arc to adapt, admittedly, but Buu’s Fury manages to do an excellent job of it, even throwing in some elements of Broly: The Second Coming and Fusion Reborn into the mix. Like The Legacy of Goku II, its predecessor, it does a rather comprehensive job at adapting the Buu arc.

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While the game is easy to a fault, Buu’s Fury features way more customization and variety than The Legacy of Goku II, at the very least keeping the game engaging until the very end. Buu’s Fury could have done with a richer post-game since the final fight against Pure Buu is a bit on the underwhelming side, but it’s a great send off to the Legacy of Goku trilogy.

3 Advanced Adventure (Hunt For The Dragon Balls - Demon King Piccolo Arc)

While light on text, Advanced Adventure is the best adaption fans of the original anime are going to get. Covering all of Goku’s adventures before training with God and becoming an adult, Advanced Adventure is a charming action-platformer that manages to tell the story quite well, almost entirely through gameplay.

In that regard, it’s perhaps best to have some familiarity with the story before playing Advanced Adventure, but it’s one of the best abridged versions of the series there is— if not the very best. It condenses information appropriately and keeps everything moving at a good pace. There’s not much in the way of character growth, but there seldom is in the games.

2 Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Saiyan Arc - Evil Dragons Arc)

Budokai Tenkaichi 2 takes Budokai 3’s Dragon World and turns it into a more comprehensive retelling of pretty much the entire anime save for OG Dragon Ball. This is one of the only games in the series to do a full adaptation of Dragon Ball GT. It’s missing quite a bit of story material, but the major arcs and villains are represented.

It’s really just an improved version of Budokai 3’s story mode in almost every sense. The story’s surprisingly well paced, actually allowing itself to breathe, and there’s something weirdly endearing about taking one’s time through Dragon Ball Z only to blitz through Dragon Ball GT. It’s a unique story mode for that reason alone, if nothing else.

1 Attack Of The Saiyans (23rd Tenkaichi Budokai - Saiyan Arc)

Let’s get one thing straight, Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans is the best Dragon Ball game ever made. Developed by Monolith, the studio behind Xenogears, Xenosaga, and Xenoblade, Attack of the Saiyans is a genuine RPG in every sense. It’s one of the highest quality games on the DS, mixing reflex based gameplay with turn based combat.

It only covers two story arcs, but the game knocks both out of the park, actually giving characters arcs and slowly fleshing them out. It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with Attack of the Saiyans. Best of all, its script is manga accurate. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its own unique content, though. Attack of the Saiyans manages to add in well-paced filler to really flesh the story out.

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