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If you’re a kid born in the 90s in Portugal, there’s a big chance you’re a Dragon Ball fan to this very day. And that’s me.
And as a fan of video games, I made sure to play every single Dragon Ball game I could on any console I owned.
Starting with Dragon Ball Legends on the Sega Saturn, to Legendary Super Warriors on Game Boy Color, the Legacy of Goku series on the Game Boy Advance, and the mandatory Budokai series available on several generations of PlayStation, to the even more obscure titles like Dragon Ball Fusions on the Nintendo 3DS. Heck, I even played Dragon Ball online on the Korean servers when it wasn’t available globally.
So, as you can see, I love my Dragon Ball games, and the Nintendo Switch is home to a lot of them, surprisingly.
There are a total of 7 Dragon Ball games available, and of the 7, there’s just one I haven’t played, and I won’t be ranking that, Dragon Ball Z: Sparking Zero, since I haven’t had the opportunity to play it yet.
As of writing this, I’m actively trying to find a good deal on this one; games are getting far too expensive…
Still, I’ve played the rest of the games more than enough to give you my full, honest opinion about which one and explain whether you should play them or not.
With this said, here are the 7 best Dragon Ball games on Switch, ranked by how good they actually are and a lot of bias.
7. Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden
Starting the list, we have a game you can’t even obtain anymore, Dragon Ball Super Butoden. A 1-1 2D fighting game with a roster of 10 playable characters that could duke it out on the ground or in the sky. Which made it stand out from the rest of the fighting games at the time.
Unfortunately, there were only 2 ways of getting this game a few years ago. You’d need to either subscribe to a newsletter like I did or purchase Dragon Ball FighterZ during a certain timeframe.
But honestly, you’re not missing much.
Although this game stands as a mark of the SNES era of fighting games, it did not age as well as other titles of its time, such as Street Fighter 2.
The controls are super clunky, and I could never play it for more than a couple of minutes without feeling frustrated.
Still, I’d play this over Dragon Ball Taiketsu at any time.
6. Dragon Ball: The Breakers
What if Dead by Daylight was a Dragon Ball game? With villains like Cell or Frieza hunting down ordinary citizens.
That’s what Dragon Ball: The Breakers delivers, and it’s underwhelming to say the least. Since the game goes on sale for as low as 1.99 €, I bought it just to see if I was missing out, and I wasn’t.
There is fun to be had if you’re playing with friends, but if you rely on the online matchmaking, you won’t be able to find a single soul to play.
However, my biggest complaint, and why I can’t recommend this game, is because despite being a full title release with a price attached, there are microtransactions in the form of gacha pulls to acquire skills and gear that can affect your character’s stats.
If this was free-to-play, I’d understand, but I would still not recommend it.
So, do yourself a favor and don’t even glance at this game.
5. Dragon Ball Geskishin Squadra
Dragon Ball Squadra is a super dumbed-down MOBA, even more than Pokémon Unite, meaning anyone can just pick it up and play without much commitment. However, by this point I’ve had my share of MOBAs.
But I can still recommend this title over its competitors on Switch, mainly because its microtransactions aren’t as predatory and are mostly cosmetics that do not impact gameplay negatively.
Also, this is a completely free-to-play title, unlike Dragon Ball: The Breakers, so it might be the perfect game for a Dragon Ball fan that wants a game to have fun with its favorite character.
Just try not to rage, ok? These team-based games do things in person, I know.
4. Dragon Ball FighterZ
From this point forward, there is not a single game I would not recommend. They are all good titles, and they were extremely difficult to rank.
That’s why I’ve had a difficult time believing that Dragon Ball FighterZ was out of the podium. But here’s why.
Although Dragon Ball FighterZ runs decently at 30 FPS on Switch with really great visuals, it utterly lacks single-player content. Meaning, this is a game that can’t be enjoyed fully if you’re not a fighting game fan.
I used to be, but as I get older, I have less patience to learn new fighting games. Dragon Ball FighterZ has had so many revisions over the years that every time I decide to pick it up, it’s like I’m learning a new game all over again.
The game is far from dead, though, and it’s still getting support and new patches as of 2026, with DLC on the horizon, which is astonishing for a game released in 2018.
In sum, if you’re a fighting game guy, I can recommend it; if not, go for the next titles.
3. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Kakarot is awesome, it’s the type of Dragon Ball game I would’ve loved to have as a kid.
Up until this point, the retelling of the Dragon Ball story in titles such as the Tenka series was pretty barebones.
You’d go from fight to fight with some small exposition in the middle, without interacting with anything outside of battles.
I remember clearly when Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World was released, I was super hyper because, finally, we’d be able to do things like running on Snake Road and actually training on King Kai’s planet.
I had already experienced this in the Legacy of Goku game, but never in 3D.
And that’s why I like Kakarot so much. You’re going through the same story you already know by heart, but it has all of these elements, like exploring and interacting with numerous characters from the entire series, in ways you never did before, with a Tenkaichi-like battle system.
It truly feels like the quintessential way of experiencing the story of Dragon Ball in video game form.
However, it’s not a perfect game by any means.
The resolution and graphics definitely took a hit on Switch, and even the cutscenes will look blurry, especially when docked. And also, while there are many quests, they are a bit shallow and bloat the gameplay time.
But besides this, I’ve had a great time with the game, and I’ll continue to do so since there is a ton of DLC that I haven’t touched yet. And hopefully, in the future, we might even get a Switch 2 Edition to fix all the performance issues and visual fidelity issues.
2. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
We all know Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 by now as the live-service Dragon Ball game that keeps on giving. Despite being released all the way back in 2017, it still has support to this day with new patches that bring new characters and game modes for people to enjoy.
Eventually, it became so big that with all the DLC, it features over 150 characters to play, which is insane!
And while being able to play with your favorites is super fun, there is something even better. You can create your own character and customize it to your heart’s content with moves and skills from the entire Dragon Ball series.
You’ll be using this character to go over an extensive story, traveling through time as a Time Patrol, making sure history flows correctly. And although you’ll be going through it alone, there are plenty of other modes where you can tag along with other players.
Be it parallel missions, raid battles, or even 1v1 battles where you can prove you’re the best in the galaxy.
And for some weird reason, there’s also this game mode that closely resembles the Super Dragon Ball Heroes card game, and on PC I remember spending a stupid amount of time once the update dropped.
It truly is insane the amount of things you can do in the game, it truly is the ultimate Dragon Ball power fantasy. And even though it released way after Kakarot, I feel the visuals are a bit better since they are not as blurry.
And performance-wise, it runs decently as well, and even better if you play it on Switch 2. You’ll benefit from a better frame rate, resolution, and faster loading times!
However, despite all of this, the game can be a bit grindy due to its MMO-like nature, but then again, so is Kakarot.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 stands as one of the most played Dragon Ball games of all time, however, it doesn’t come close to my number.
1. Super Dragon Ball Heroes World Mission
I f**** love Super Dragon Ball Heroes World Mission, and this is where the bias I warned about in the intro comes into play.**
So, what the heck is Super Dragon Ball Heroes anyway?
Dragon Ball Heroes is a card game for the arcades that was released in Japan in 2010. Players would buy packs of physical cards and then use them in the arcades. Each card corresponds to a certain character from the Dragon Ball Universe that we all know, like Goku or Vegeta, however, this game offers fan service to a level even greater than Xenoverse 2.
Remember back in the day when Dragon Ball was done and images of Dragon Ball AF started circulating the primordial internet? This had us dreaming of the most impossible characters and transformations, like Super Saiyan 3 Bardock, Super Saiyan 4 Bardock, and even Adult Gotenks.
And guess what, they are all in the game, and they all look wonderful in Budokai-like graphics. For kids these days, they might not look great, but for a 30-year-old man who lived the PS2 era of Dragon Ball games with a burning passion? It’s the most beautiful Dragon Ball on Switch.
I’m sorry, FighterZ and Kakarot, but you need fewer polygons on your 3D models to top my number 1 visually.
In the gameplay department, it’s the unique game on the list, and it did great in scratching the itch I was left with after years of not having a sequel to Dragon Ball Legendary Warriors on Game Boy.
There are a ton of cards to collect with no microtransactions involved whatsoever, and you can get them quite easily. Meaning that building your dream team is within your reach.
Of course, being a card game, there are cards and strategies that work better, even if you’re tackling single-player content. Believe me when I say that some of these bosses in Arcade Mode can be brutal, even when you think you have a sound game plan.
This means you’ll be constantly experimenting with new decks. And getting to understand the game and putting together these ridiculous characters that seem to come straight out of a fanfic is what keeps pulling me in.
I hadn’t touched this game in literal years, and I’m hooked all over again, tackling the arcade content I still hadn’t beaten after over 100 hours of gameplay.
But what surprised me the most is that I was able to find someone in ranked almost 7 years after this game was released. I got my ass whooped because I completely forgot how to play and what my deck was supposed to do, though. Still, it was fun!
If you haven’t tried Super Dragon Ball Heroes, please give it a try, it’s part of the Dragon Ball video games that we don’t get to see or experience much since titles like this never leave Japan. Even on the 3DS it was a miracle we got Dragon Ball Fusions, so let’s keep showing our love and interest for the wacky and weird side of Dragon Ball video games.
The Best Dragon Ball Games on Switch
And there goes my ranking of the best Dragon Ball games on Nintendo Switch! Was it biased? Great! That’s why I had so much fun writing it. And I sincerely hope this list reaches Bandai so they can see there’s still at least one person craving more Dragon Heroes!
And if this isn’t possible, I’d be happy with a Dragon Ball Fusions sequel too. Am I asking too much?
Thanks for reading!
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