Play Dragon Ball Z - Super Butouden Online

I first played Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden on the Super Nintendo in 1993, a time when fighting games were really finding their footing on home consoles. It was published by Bandai and felt like a direct portal into the anime, letting you control characters from the Namek and Cell sagas. This was before the more complex 3D fighters took over, so it represented a specific moment for 2D anime brawlers on the SNES.

You pick a fighter like Goku or Vegeta and face off against another character on a 2D plane. The main goal is to deplete your opponent's health bar before they deplete yours. The game has a few signature mechanics; you can charge your ki meter by holding buttons, which then lets you unleash special moves like the Kamehameha wave. You can also perform super moves that take you to a separate close-up screen for a powerful cinematic attack. The pacing is quite fast, and the computer can be punishingly difficult, especially in later fights. It feels like a direct, energetic translation of the show's most explosive moments into a competitive fighting game.