Get ready for a Dragon Ball rumble
Published Mar 18, 2018 12:00 am
By Adlai Rosh
Aside from what is possibly the best name for a Dragon Ball title to date, the game positively oozes Dragon Ball. Celebrating the series’ rich history, FighterZis the closest you can get to a perfect licensed game. Not only does it apply to hardcore gaming fans hungry for a game like Marvel Vs. Capcom following Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite’s lackluster performance, but its usage of the incredibly popular Dragon Ball license attracts newcomers to fighting games.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 2D fighting game in the vein of the Marvel Vs. Capcom series. Players control teams of three fighters with the goal of defeating all of the opposing player’s characters, controlling one fighter at a time. The fighters in reserve can be called forth to perform assist attacks to extend combos or provide pressure, and they can be switched out to allow characters to recover from damage. Combos have been radically simplified compared to other fighting games. Players can perform combos by consecutive presses of the same button – mashing light attack leads to a series of light hits, mashing medium attack results in a combo that ends with a super. These combos are far from optimized for damage but they’re flashy, easy, and fun. I had a blast playing with my younger siblings even though they had never played the game before; all I had to tell them was “press the same button over and over”. You can even collect the 7 Dragon Balls during a fight to summon Shenron, allowing you to wish for rapid health regeneration, dead teammate revival, full restoration of your health bar, or give you another stock of Sparking Blast.
The game is fanservice of the highest quality. What else would you expect? With such iconic characters such as Goku, Vegeta, and Frieza, it would be a crime not to go the extra mile. Each character’s moves are rife with references to the tiniest detail, with videos on youtube putting side-by-side comparisons of characters with their anime and manga counterparts. Even the God of Destruction Beerus’s various bored finger flicks (and even a sneeze) is referenced. Special introduction animations play out sometimes, as well as special ending cutscenes known as a “dramatic finish”. My personal favorite is the dramatic finish against Nappa while playing as Yamcha, causing the saiyan to wind up unconscious on the ground the same way Yamcha was killed early on in the series.
The story mode is a blast to play through – you’re put in the shoes of an earthling soul who happens to be controlling the main protagonists. This makes you as much a character as a viewer, and the game even treats you as such. The heroes and villains you wind up controlling all treat you as a character, really immersing you in the world of Dragon Ball. It’s a smart way of storytelling while justifying the team gameplay mechanics – every character is afflicted by some sort of mysterious radiation that renders them incredibly weak and unable to fight unless they’re being controlled by you.
From the hilarious and upbeat dialogue in the story mode, to the gradual increase in power that you go through as you level your fighters up, and even within the match with comeback mechanics such as Sparking Blast and collecting all 7 dragon balls. Sparking blast has saved my skin more times than I can count and really brings to mind the various ridiculous comebacks the heroes have managed to pull. The story mode feels like a compressed dragon ball arc, with important scenes taken up by filler. And what entertaining filler it is, ranging from Gotenks wondering what he should call Vegeta and Goku (As Gotenks is a fusion of Vegeta and Goku’s sons, they’re both technically his dads), to Piccolo trash talking Yamcha’s cowardice, to Captain Ginyu absolutely beaming at the chance to show Lord Frieza his new dance.
As someone burned out by the failure of Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, I wouldn’t say that this is a clone. This is an evolution of the formula, brought on by a beloved franchise using more than just nostalgia to carry it afloat. Dragon Ball Fighter Z is a game I recommend not just for Dragon Ball fans, but for fans of fighting games, too.
Aside from what is possibly the best name for a Dragon Ball title to date, the game positively oozes Dragon Ball. Celebrating the series’ rich history, FighterZis the closest you can get to a perfect licensed game. Not only does it apply to hardcore gaming fans hungry for a game like Marvel Vs. Capcom following Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite’s lackluster performance, but its usage of the incredibly popular Dragon Ball license attracts newcomers to fighting games.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 2D fighting game in the vein of the Marvel Vs. Capcom series. Players control teams of three fighters with the goal of defeating all of the opposing player’s characters, controlling one fighter at a time. The fighters in reserve can be called forth to perform assist attacks to extend combos or provide pressure, and they can be switched out to allow characters to recover from damage. Combos have been radically simplified compared to other fighting games. Players can perform combos by consecutive presses of the same button – mashing light attack leads to a series of light hits, mashing medium attack results in a combo that ends with a super. These combos are far from optimized for damage but they’re flashy, easy, and fun. I had a blast playing with my younger siblings even though they had never played the game before; all I had to tell them was “press the same button over and over”. You can even collect the 7 Dragon Balls during a fight to summon Shenron, allowing you to wish for rapid health regeneration, dead teammate revival, full restoration of your health bar, or give you another stock of Sparking Blast.
The game is fanservice of the highest quality. What else would you expect? With such iconic characters such as Goku, Vegeta, and Frieza, it would be a crime not to go the extra mile. Each character’s moves are rife with references to the tiniest detail, with videos on youtube putting side-by-side comparisons of characters with their anime and manga counterparts. Even the God of Destruction Beerus’s various bored finger flicks (and even a sneeze) is referenced. Special introduction animations play out sometimes, as well as special ending cutscenes known as a “dramatic finish”. My personal favorite is the dramatic finish against Nappa while playing as Yamcha, causing the saiyan to wind up unconscious on the ground the same way Yamcha was killed early on in the series.
The story mode is a blast to play through – you’re put in the shoes of an earthling soul who happens to be controlling the main protagonists. This makes you as much a character as a viewer, and the game even treats you as such. The heroes and villains you wind up controlling all treat you as a character, really immersing you in the world of Dragon Ball. It’s a smart way of storytelling while justifying the team gameplay mechanics – every character is afflicted by some sort of mysterious radiation that renders them incredibly weak and unable to fight unless they’re being controlled by you.
From the hilarious and upbeat dialogue in the story mode, to the gradual increase in power that you go through as you level your fighters up, and even within the match with comeback mechanics such as Sparking Blast and collecting all 7 dragon balls. Sparking blast has saved my skin more times than I can count and really brings to mind the various ridiculous comebacks the heroes have managed to pull. The story mode feels like a compressed dragon ball arc, with important scenes taken up by filler. And what entertaining filler it is, ranging from Gotenks wondering what he should call Vegeta and Goku (As Gotenks is a fusion of Vegeta and Goku’s sons, they’re both technically his dads), to Piccolo trash talking Yamcha’s cowardice, to Captain Ginyu absolutely beaming at the chance to show Lord Frieza his new dance.
As someone burned out by the failure of Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, I wouldn’t say that this is a clone. This is an evolution of the formula, brought on by a beloved franchise using more than just nostalgia to carry it afloat. Dragon Ball Fighter Z is a game I recommend not just for Dragon Ball fans, but for fans of fighting games, too.