The Dragon Ball series has one of the greatest legacies in any anime, manga, and long-running series in general. Through its history of sneaky references and even its creator and author forgetting tons of things, it has become a pop culture phenomenon that nearly everyone knows of.
Of course, with any phenomenon like Dragon Ball come lots of tie-in pieces of media, including toys, clothes, and everyone's favorite video games. While some Dragon Ball games may have been heavy hitters that fans loved, there are others that just didn't make the cut of even being good.
10 Lived Up To Expectations: Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 was one of the first big Dragon Ball games that most fell in love with
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai wasn't only the first game in the Budokai series but it was one of the first big Dragon Ball games that most fell in love with. Being one of the first games on the new PlayStation 2 during the Toonami hype of the series had a hand in that as well, of course.
While Budokai 1 may have not had the polish the following games of the series did, it still had an amazing story mode. The story mode and the game itself being the first definitely made up for the shortcomings.
9 Fell Short: Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi was ruined by the boring rock-paper-scissors-based gameplay
While the first Budokai game was able to make up for shortcomings for being one of the earliest Dragon Ball Z games, sadly the same can't be said for the game hoping to shake things up for a change, Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi.
This game was the first of many things when it came to Dragon Ball games. While many were jumping for joy due to the character creation, all-new custom character story mode, great graphics, and manga-like look, all that was dashed away by the boring rock-paper-scissors-based gameplay.
8 Lived Up To Expectations: Dragon Ball FighterZ is looked at as the first true & serious Dragon Ball fighting game
Dragon Ball FighterZ is definitely one game that absolutely any and every Dragon Ball fan owns right now. This game is looked at as the first true and serious Dragon Ball fighting game. While that's far from the truth, it doesn't change how great the game is.
From straight-out-of-the-manga references in every little detail to awesome gameplay with a high skill-ceiling, this game is nearly perfect and only getting better thanks to DLC and updates. The only downside is the horrid story mode and poor online net code.
7 Fell Short: Dragon Ball Z: Kinect's motion controls were unresponsive & worked for absolutely no one
Of all the infamous Dragon Ball Z games, Dragon Ball Z: Kinect may be the worst and most heard of. This was another game that promised to make any series' fan's dream come true, but ended up falling face flat.
Dragon Ball Z: Kinect, like many motion-controlled Kinect games, ended up a horrible mess. These motion controls in the game were unresponsive and worked for absolutely no one.
6 Lived Up To Expectations: Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 lives on fondly in the hearts of many fans
The Budokai Tenkaichi series of videogames is one that is very divisive. It is either well-loved or absolutely hated by fans of the Dragon Ball series. On one side, some fans love the huge stages and roster. On the other, fans hate that there are so many characters because they all feel copy-pasted.
Nevertheless, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 lives on fondly in the hearts of many fans if for nothing but being the Dragon Ball game that decided to completely overload on characters and try to be action-accurate to what it was adapting.
5 Fell Short: Dragon Ball Z: Sagas is plagued with horrible gameplay, graphics, & music
Of course, there aren't only fighting games in the closet of the Dragon Ball series, but adventure games as well. Dragon Ball Z: Sagas sought to be the "Budokai" of this genre for the series.
Sadly, this game is now one of the worst in the roster of the series, plagued with horrible gameplay, graphics, music, and everything else in between.
4 Lived Up To Expectations: Super Dragon Ball Z was Truly a hidden gem
For anyone that believes that Dragon Ball FighterZ is the first "true" fighting game of the series, then maybe it's a good idea to look into Super Dragon Ball Z.
This game was yet another 3D fighter in the series but was done by the team behind the classic Street Fighter II and with very unique and polished gameplay. Truly a hidden gem.
3 Fell Short: Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu's controls made no sense
Of course, there is no shortage of horrible Dragon Ball fighting games either. After all, there are so many different games of the genre, from the franchise.
What can quite possibly be categorized as the worst of the genre when it comes to Dragon Ball is Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu, a horrible game for the Gameboy Advance with controls that make no sense.
2 Lived Up To Expectations: The Legacy of Goku Series was a great change of pace for the series
The series that put Dragon Ball RPG games on the map is the Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku series for the Gameboy Advance, including Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury.
These three games are very similar to The Legend of Zelda series of games but with more Dragon Ball features like fusions, beams, flying, teleport puzzles, and more. While not for everyone, they were a great change of pace for the series.
1 Fell Short: Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 1 fell short with its very stiff camera, bad controls, & bad roster of characters
While Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 may be one of the most well-loved games in all of Dragon Ball history, the first game in the series doesn't share the same legacy.
In fact, the legacy of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 1 is far from what its sequels represent due to it being a beta of sorts. A very stiff camera, bad controls, and a bad roster of characters will do that to a game.