Dragon Ball is one of the most famous media franchises in history. From the manga to the various anime series to the movies, Dragon Ball is hugely popular. So, of course, there have also been some video games based on the franchise. Yet, ‘some’ is kind of underselling it.
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There has been a steady stream of Dragon Ball game releases since the mid-80s. The world has seen Dragon Ball-inspired fighting games, beat ’em-ups, RPGs, and more. They’ve been in 2D, 2.5D, and 3D. Plus, some have been re-tellings of the anime, while others have told original tales. Altogether, this is how many Dragon Ball games have been released.
There Are 101 Dragon Ball Games
The world has been treated to 101 Dragon Ball games. This only counts pure DB titles, not crossovers. Therefore, games like Jump Force haven’t been counted.
The first one was called Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyo, and it was released in 1986 on the Super Cassette Vision. It is a shoot ’em up where Goku shoots blasts from the Nimbus. It was only released in Japan.
Dragon Ball games only being released in Japan isn’t a unique sight, as 33 of the 101 titles were made solely for Japanese audiences. This was more common with the early games in the series and those on mobile. In fact, only two of the 13 Dragon Ball mobile games came out in the US.
The 2000s was a particularly popular time for Dragon Ball games since 44 of them were released during that period. This is much more than the ’90s, which had 26, and the 2010s, which had 24.
The Xbox 360 is the console that has had the most Dragon Ball games, as ten of them have landed on the system. Nine of those games were also released on the PS3. The one that wasn’t was the only Xbox 360 exclusive: Dragon Ball Z: For Kinect.
There Are 4 Games In The Budokai Tenkaichi Series
The Budokai Tenkaichi (aka Sparking) series is the most celebrated and famous Dragon Ball game series ever. There are currently four entries in this series.
Each one is a 3D arena fighter. The first, simply titled Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2. It was the only title in the series to be a PlayStation exclusive.
2024’s Sparking Zero was the only entry to be released on an Xbox console, as the Xbox Series X|S was one of the systems it launched on. It’s also the only one to have the word ‘Sparking’ in its title outside of Japan.
Because most Dragon Ball games share the same publisher and developer, it can be difficult to decipher which titles are part of the Budokai Tenkaichi series. For example, the Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team and Ultimate Tenkaichi games haven’t counted toward the four, even though some would consider them part of the series. This is because the Japanese names for the games don’t have the word ‘Sparking’ in the title, proving that they aren’t technically part of the series.
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