How to experience the plot of Dragon Ball using only the games

[Leguminoso]

This was a thought exercise that I was doing for several weeks and finally I came out with a conclusion.

I found the best method possible to experience the plot of Dragon Ball, without reading or watching the anime or manga proper, you use the games and only the games.

Dragon Ball has had plenty of games, but not all of them do the whole plot. So, I went on a deep dive and I found the best method possible.

How do you experience the plot of Dragon Ball using only the games?

We have to clear the field. Plenty of beloved, staple Dragon Ball titles fail this test completely because they skim, alter, or skip critical story arcs.

Alters Canon: Great fan service, but time travel interference completely distorts the main canon timeline. So Xenoverse 1 and 2 are out.
No Real Story Mode: Completely replaces a standard campaign with "Galaxy Mode," focusing strictly on continuous battles over narrative beats. So Raging Blast 2 is out.
Non canon: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans is out, so is FighterZ.

A game only qualifies if it covers its specific arc with full narrative context—including dialogues, proper sequence of events, and crucial character moments.

So, what is the best method possible?

Least games: You want as much dialogue, character progression, and world-building as humanly possible using only few interactive media.

1. Play Dragon Ball Origins on the Nintendo DS: Covers Emperor Pilaf Saga through the 21st world tournament. This is where the grand adventure starts. While a lot of modern gamers ignore early Dragon Ball, skipping it completely guts Goku’s childhood, his bond with Bulma, and his training under Master Roshi. It adaptation-wise gets almost everything right: You actually explore the world instead of just cutscene-hopping. It captures the comedy, the early martial arts vibe, and the full journey through the Red Ribbon Army base. Also it drops you out right at the end of the 21st world tournament arc.
2. Play Dragon Ball Revenge of King Piccolo on the Nintendo Wii: Covers Red Ribbon Army Arc, Baba’s Tournament Arc, King Piccolo Arc. Picks up the baton right where Origins leaves off. This beat-'em-up/platformer is a hidden gem because it handles the darkest period of original Dragon Ball with actual care. You get Krillin’s first tragic death, Goku’s brutal fight with King Piccolo. Why skip Dragon Ball: Origins 2? Origins 2 makes a fatal mistake, it focuses exclusively on the Red Ribbon Army and the Baba Tournament arc. It cuts off before you ever get to King Piccolo.
3. Play Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot + ALL DLCs: Covers the 23rd tournament, the Saiyan Saga through Majin Buu Saga + End of Z + Super Arcs (Battle of Gods, Resurrection 'F', Future Trunks). Kakarot is the god of this challenge; it’s an action-RPG designed from the ground up to let you live out the plot. You get the iconic moments, the filler slice-of-life scenes (Like learning to drive with Piccolo), and deep lore side-quests. With the DLC, it carries you all the way through DBZ’s finale, dives deep into Future Trunks’ timeline, and spans into early Dragon Ball Super.
4. Play Dragon Ball Sparking Zero: It covers Kakarot but briefly and it gives you a ton of Super content and some of GT.

Mega Insane "One Arc, One Game": This is if you want to be that guy and experience as many games as possible.

1. Dragon Ball: Origins (Nintendo DS): Covers Bulma picking up Goku, the journey for the initial wish, Oolong, Yamcha, and ends right after the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament.
2. Dragon Ball: Origins 2 (Nintendo DS): Origins 2 got excluded from the normal list because it was too narrow, but for the insane run, it's mandatory. It covers ONLY Muscle Tower, General Blue, Mercenary Tao, and Commander Red. It slows down and forces you to play through the entirety of Goku taking down a military regime solo to the Baba Tournament arc.
3. Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu: Since Origins 2 ghosted us on Demon King Piccolo, this Japanese RPG board game adaptation focuses almost strictly on the terror of King Piccolo, Krillin’s tragic death, and Goku drinking the Ultra Divine Water to put the Demon King in the ground.
4. Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans: It kicks off with a prologue covering the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament (Goku vs. Adult Piccolo Jr.) and spends the entire main campaign building up to and fighting Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta. Once Vegeta crawls into his pod and flies into space, the game ends.
5. Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza: If you want pure Frieza Saga immersion, this NES card-battler picks up the instant Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma land on Namek, running through the Ginyu Force all the way to Super Saiyan Goku beating Frieza.
6. Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II: It starts with Future Trunks cutting Frieza into confetti, moves through the Android threat, and concludes at the Cell Games with Gohan’s Father-Son Kamehameha.
7. Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury: It picks up at the Other World Tournament, runs through Great Saiyaman, Babidi, Majin Vegeta, Fusion, and ends with the Spirit Bomb obliterating Kid Buu.

But what about GT? Well, here comes the big problem. No game has adapted GT completely. GT Transformation only covers up to the Baby arc, Tenkaichi 3 covers the rest but barely, and the hack ISO Tenkaichi 4 is more accurate than Tenkaichi 3 but you still miss out on several fights.

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

What about infinite World? Covers GT tho

 

[Leguminoso]

What about infinite World? Covers GT tho

It is as accurate as Tenkaichi 3, aka it removes tons of content. So it is out.

 

[beefbowl]

Why not play Advanced Adventure for the whole kid Goku story? It covers the story beats good enough.

 

[Leguminoso]

Why not play Advanced Adventure for the whole kid Goku story? It covers the story beats good enough.

You lose Monster Carrot, you lose Eighter, you lose a ton of character and dramatic moments.

It is an awesome game, but it is a highlight reel.

 

[Macaulay Kong]

If you want a super-complete experience, there kind of isn't one, they all have to gloss over certain events and especially the more perverted/adult ones that Toriyama used to sprinkle through his comedy series which early DB had a lot of
I'll give a shout-out to Budokai 1 for being essentially the first DBZ game to really go out of its way to recreate scenes from the series down to the devs having the trouble of creating 3D assets and models that were used for a single short cutscene that recapped events. Stuff like Roshi's house, lots of Bulma outfits and animations were made just to appear for a few seconds and really give the sense of watching a recreation of the scenes from the anime and manga. Whereas other games went for a more simplified approach of simply using characters portraits or more basic animations while the characters talked in one of the playable arenas. Nowadays they're back to putting more effort into that sort of thing, as you can see in Kakarot and a few of other higher-budget titles