When you think about Dragon Ball Z video games, odds are you’re going to remember a🌺ll thos🥂e fighting games: Budokai, Tenkaichi, Raging Blast. Not all of them were great games, but they did capt𒊎ure the action that made DBZ so popular in the first place. It ꦕmakes sense to associate Dragon Ball with the fighting genre. That said, the series didn’t start out with fighting games. It actually began as a series of RPGs for the Famicom, otherwise known as the Ninte♓ndo Enter𓆉tainment System everywhere else.

To be more specific, the first Dragon Ball was actually an overhead adventure game🎶 for the NES called Dragon Power, but the less we spea๊k of that the better. Immediately following Dragon Boy was a card based RPG that followed the King ꦚPiccolo saga. Cards were used to move around the world map and cards were used to attack enemies in random battles. This served as the staple that so many other Dragon Ball RPGs would follow.

It’s easy to write off the Dragon Ball Z RPGs as justಌ a misrepresentation of what the series is about but, in a way, it actually captures the essence of the franchise better than the fighting games. DBZ is more than just an action anime, it’s a character driven work. What b꧃etter genre to represe🍒nt characters than a role playing game? They weren’t always good, but they were novel, and that alone makes the DBZ RPGs worth looking into.

20 The Legacy Of Goku

In 2002, Webfoot Technologies was given♛ a ver♈y special honor: they were given the honor of developing the first American made Dragon Ball Z game. Toei Animation even went so far as to create 🐷a brand new illustration for the cover of the game. The Legacy of Goku was going to capitalize on the DBZ frenzy that was invading America, and while the game did indeed capi👍talize, it was lambasted by critics for being perhaps the worst possible adaptation of Dragon Ball Z.

Webfꦛoot Technologies had taken the good faith Toei had put into them and released a game wiܫth as little effort as possible. The story contradicted basic Dragon Ball lore, simple wolves could kill Goku in two or three hits🃏, a🐈nd instead of letting players experience the plot from Gohan and Piccolo’s perspectives, Webfoot added filler specifically for Goku to pad the game. Throw in some glitches and a mind numbing soundtrack, Legacy of Goku was the🌟 worst first i✅mpression the Western world could have possibly gotten for DBZ RPGs.

19 Harukanaru Densetsu

Even though Legacy of Goku is without a doubt worse than Harukanaru Densetsu, the latter is actually a bit mor✤e disappointing due to the fact that effort was clearly put into it. Harukanaru Densetsu is a card based RPG for the Nintendo DS that remakes the first Z-era Famicom RPGs, but withouꩵt any of the features that made those games fun.

Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, and Vegeta each have their own story mode which means you’re going to have to play through ▨almost every event four times to fully complete the game. In other🗹, smarter RPGs in the series, there’s one story where you play as multiple character༺s. Harukanaru Densetsu decided that was stupid, though, and that repetition was actually more fun. It’s especially sa🤪d, because the presentation is fantastic. The game has a good soundtrack, it looks just like the manga, and the card system had a ton of potential. Unfortunately, playing an RPG with one character four times is tedious and fails to capture the Dragon Ball Z spirit.

18 Great Demon King’s Revival (Daimaō Fukkatsu)

Chances are you didn't grow up playing the Dragon Ball RPGs on the Famicom, and that's alright considering🤡 most of them aren't very ﷽good. Daimaō Fukkatsu is the first of꧟ those not-so-great RPGs chronicling the King Piccolo saga. Like Harukanaru Densetsu, it's a card based turn based RPG, and like Harukanaru Densetsu, there's very little reason to inves♔t time 𝔍into it.

Needless to say, a game that covers one o✃f the series’ shortest s💎agas isn’t going to be very fun. The RPG elements aren't very refined, traversing a Mario Party-esque board gets exhausting, and your only chara🅠cter is Goku (just like another very terrible RPG). It's an interesting piece of Dragon Ball RPG history, but that's about it.

17 Hot Battle! Artificial Humans! (Ressen Jinzōningen)

Have you ever wanted to play a Dragon Ball Z RPG that covered the start of the Android saga 𝔉up until Cell appeared for the first time before ending abruptly? Of course not,💎 but the good news is you can anyways! Ressen Jinzōningen is the fifth cꦦard based RPG for the Famicom and the third tღo cover the Z era. Unfortunately, it started development before the Cell saga had even properly began. Bandai wasn’t going to let that stop them though. What’s the harm in releasing an incomple🍬te game?

The only reason Ressen Jinzōningen isn’t lower on the list is because it’s at least interesting. Cooler is thrown in mid-game to pad for the time and Goku can actually avoid getting the heart virus if defeat Cooler fa𓄧st enough. This is also the first of the RPGs to use a traditional level up system. Is it good? Not really, but it’s at least a unique piece of DBZ RPG history.

16 Plan To Eradicate The Saiyans (Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku)

Despite the Cell Games being over by this point, Bandai decided they weren’t going to tempt fate again. Instead of adapting the rest of the Cell saga with the Broly film thrown in for filler,𝕴 the DBZ RPG series chose to tell its own story: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku, or better known as Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans, pitted the Z-Warriors against their past movie villains and a new antagonist with an intense Saiyan hatr♍ed.

For all its ambition, Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans, unfortunately, suffers the same fate as Daimaō Fukkatsu: it’s boring♓. By this point, it was th🦂e sixth card based DBZ RPG in a row. Market saturation is very much a thing anಌd these ga♓mes are very samey. When you consider how it came hot off the trails of a game that ended on an enormous cliffhanger, it just feels off. It gets points for originality, but notꦍ much else.

15 3: Goku’s Story (3: Gokuden)

Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden is the second of the Famicom RPGs hence the 3 in i🎉ts title. Gokuden is basically what Daimaō Fukkatsu should have been in the first place. Instead of just covering one tin♏y saga, the game spans the ENTIRETY of Dragon Ball. Gok🔯u is still your main playable character, but you do get Krillin and Yamcha every now ಌand again to balance things out.

Gokuden does suffer from many of the same problems as Daimaō Fukkatsu unfortunately🐲, but it’s easy to forgive when you consider th🐬at this may be the only Dragon Ball game that actually lets you play through every saga. You can even fight Raditz at the end as a secret boss. It’s at times dated and tough to get through but, if you can find yourself a good 😼fan translation or 𒁃can read Japanese, it’s certainly worth a playthrough.

14 Super Legend of Goku - Assault Chapter (Super Gokuden - Totsugeki-Hen)

Super Gokuden - Totsugeki-Hen, or Super Legend of Goku - Assault Chapter, is the first of two of the weirdest Dragon Ball Z games you’ve probably never heard of. It’s 𒆙technically an RPG because you have stats, but there are no random battles and most of the game is played like a visual novel where you navigate your way through the beginning of Dragon Ball to the end of the King Piccolo saga.

Combat bo𝓀ils down to playing rock, paper, scissors against every꧋ boss until you pick the right options and win. An RPG that relies on RNG is seldom a good thing, but the level of polish present is incredibly high. Almost bafflingly so. Some of the attack❀ animations are just way too good for the Super Famicom. If you ever get a cha🐽nce to play Totsugeki-Hen, give it a try. You♓r perception of what constitutes a Dragon Ball RPG will never be the same.

13 Super Legend of Goku - Awakening Chapter (Super Gokuden - Kakusei-Hen)

Super Gokuden - Kakusei-Hen, otherwise known as Super Legend of Goku - Awakening Chapter, is the sequel to the previously mentioned Totsugeki-Hen. Where y🦩ou were once rock, paper, scissoring for fun, you will now rock, paper, scissors to death. Kakusei-Hen picks up immediately where the last game left off. King Piccolo is dead and Gokᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚu iꦅs ready for the Piccolo Jr. saga. Unlike the first game which covered pretty much all of Dragon Ball, this one only goes up to Goku’s showdown with Frieza. It has a ton of fun getting there, tho𒈔ugh.

You have access to ♏Gohan this time around which keeps battles surprisingly fresh. Both Goku and Gohan have their own moves and stats, so jumping betw💛een the two ensures you don’t get burnt out playing as the same character. Take into account that Z’s stor๊y is just all around better written with more sophisticated themes and arcs, and you’ve got one bizarre adventure waiting for you.

12 Goku’s Soaring Legend (Goku Hishōden)

If you thought the last t𒆙wo games were weird, get ready for the next two. Goku Hishōden was a Dragon Ball Z RPG hybrid for the original Gameboy that started with the Piccolo Jr. saga and ended with 🍰Goku fighting Vegeta at the end of the Saiyan saga. The keyword in that sentence is, of course, “hybrid.” You see, Goku Hishōden isn’t your ordinary RPG, it’s also a platformer and a rhythm ꧂gam🦩e.

It’s kind of hard to believe that Dragon Ball u💙sed to be so e🎃xperimental with their games, and that’s exactly what makes something like Goku Hishōden so ꦏmemorable: it sincerely tried to be something new. It was still an RP🎐G, but it deviated away from the card system that ruled over the Famicom games so it could add its own twist. It isn’t the best DBZ ex🐽perience out there, but it’s one you certainly won’🍌t forget.

11 Goku’s Fierce Fighting Legend (Goku Gekitōden)

Where Goku Hishōden was a good RPG because of its eccentricities, Goku Gekitōden is a good RPG because of how refined its RPG elements are. Instead of being a turn based RPG with platforming and rhythm elements, the second gaꦓme is an action RPG with 🎀platforming🔴 and rhythm elements. Kind of. It’s not so much an ARPG, as it is a real time RPG. Either way, it’s a refreshing turn of events that helps the game feel more like the anime.

Goku Gekitōden, like every sequel in a Dragon Ball Z video game series, picks up where t🎃he last one left one. Goku’s just allowed Vegeta to leave Earth with his life, and now the remaining Z-warriors are headed to Namek to wish their friends back to life. Gohan, Krillin, Vegeta, and Piccolo are all playable characters this time around which really puts the RPG aspect upfront and center.