When Dragon Ball FighterZ was announced in last year E3, I got super exited, since it appeared that it was going to be the Dragon Ball fighting game we all were waiting for. And needless to say, it became one of the most popular and successful games ever released. But since it was initially released only on PS4 and Xbox One, I was one of the army of Switch owners requesting a port, since I don’t have aforementioned consoles nor am a PC gamer. Finally after months of hoping and supporting the developer with Xenoverse 2( loved it by the way), this year’s E3 was the answer we were waiting for. Now FighterZ is on the Nintendo Switch, and I must say that I am impressed with the work done to provide Nintendo Switch users the same experience as the other platforms.
Now you might say, “I’m not a Dragon Ball fan (how dare you!). Will I enjoy this game if I like fighting games?” To answer your question: Yes, you will enjoy it so much you WILL BE a Dragon Ball fan. This game has the DNA of one of the best fighting game developers out there: Arc System Works. Because Arc is not only interested that the game sells (which is important by the way), but that you the player can enjoy and take advantage of all different mechanics to its fullest. So, you can play at a level you wouldn’t normally be able to.
And, to do that you need to have a good tutorial, right? You need one that can teach you from the basics of movement to advanced techniques like Dragon Rush and delayed supers. Luckily for you, this game includes a really good tutorial mode to get you throwing Kamehameha’s and banishing to your heart’s content. I definitely recommend going there firsthand, and then do each character combo challenge. Why, you might ask? Because the combo challenge teaches basic combos and bread and butter skills of each character all the way up to a combo ending with each character Meteor Super (the most powerful super of each one).
This opens up a lot of possibilities when playing. For example, Bardock’s combo ten has you doing two EX specials (done with heavy attack at cost of meter), then a banish, then low medium attack, then ki blast, then another Ex special, ending with his meteor. However, you can do just the Ex special into meteor or even do a longer combo to meteor. It’s up to your imagination, so you can really work to try to come up with your own variations of each combo challenge. Now, being hat there are 32 characters in the roster (24 base and 8 DLC), there is a whooping 320 challenges to sink your teeth to.
After being greeted by the cool opening, ( I never get tired of it) you are sent to the world hub. It has an appearance like the world tournament of the anime series with different facilities that you can go to. After choosing your avatar (can get more purchasing random capsules with zeenie), you can move around and see what the game has to offer. You can go to the training grounds, which is modeled like King Kai’s planet (where Goku went to train after dying the first time), and I like that his red car is running around it. It is a really cool touch. There is also the Arcade mode that looks like the Red Ribbon Tower. Story mode looks like Goku’s spaceship (when he traveled to Namek during Frieza saga), and so on. In each location, you can see that care has been put to bring the memories back to fans of the series.
The Story mode is really good. If I could say where it is canonically, I think it is between Dragon Ball Super future Trunks saga and the tournament of power. I think that it is awesome how the player is the protagonist of the story, and I like how you take control of villains in part of the story also. This is a fresh take, since previous games had us reliving the story from the beginning until Kid Buu Saga, movies, and GT.
Another cool addition to this version is the Extreme Mode. The Extreme mode is tailored to players who aren’t familiar with fighting games. Making specials, meteor, and super moves easier so that even button mashers can have fun and play. There is also the Extreme Battle Mode in which up to six players (with Joycons or Pro controllers) can battle it out in three vs three teams. Also, another feature in Nintendo Switch version is the option to have local play one versus one, two versus two, and so on. It’s a really good feature to have since in one versus one or two versus two, you can see who the best players are. Hopefully, it is a feature that can be used in professional fighting tournaments.
Graphically, the game looks AMAZING. It’s like looking at an episode of the anime. The character animations are fluid. The sound effects scream Dragon Ball. One thing that I particularly love is how full of manga and anime references the game is. It feels like a love letter to Dragon Ball history. From each character to basic attacks to specials and supers, each and everyone is taken from anime and manga. From the iconic teen Gohan’s father son Kamehameha to the “I hate you” from Majin Buu, each attack and super is spectacular. I like also the dynamic stage change that happens when you defeat an opponent with a heavy attack. He or she gets sent flying across the screen and crashing against mountains buildings and such. It captures the essence of Dragon Ball’s high octane fights. I also love the terrain change if you finish an opponent with a powerful attack–like Frieza’s death ball a cool cinematic in which a huge explosion occurs that can be seen from space. When the cinematic ends, the terrain changes to mountains and a lava planet that’s about to explode (typical in DBZ), so it has a lot of visual flair. Handheld mode looks really crisp, and playing with the TV makes the game look so great that you might think that the game was made for Switch first instead of being a port.
The music is SO GOOD. It goes in hand with the frantic action happening on screen. Each character’s main theme is awesome. The electric guitar arrangements are a joy. Honestly, playing this game in handheld mode with some good headphones feels like heaven.
Now with DLC, I feel like if the game is released and then more characters are developed to be added as DLC I accept it, since they weren’t cut from the original roster and are going to add fresh blood and changes to the game’s meta. DLC really adds value to the game as it should be. I really like all of the DLC characters (my favorites were Bardock and Fused Zamasu). Some might even say that there are too many Goku’s in the game (you can have a full team of Goku and Vegeta respectively). But even if it’s the same character, their move sets are not the same. For example, SS Goku and SSB Goku cannot use Spirit Bomb, and their Meteor Supers are SSJ3 and Kaioken SSBlue. However, base Goku can use Spirit Bomb as a special and meteor. Also, his Kaioken Super is one of the most dynamic I have seen since depending of the amount of fighters left in your team affects the super. Having the full team will end in a diagonal dunk style attack with the two ends doing a diagonal Kamehameha, and with Goku being the last ends with a aerial X20 Kamehameha. It’s really cool and effective, and in all variations of the super only uses one bar. Even if they look the same, no two characters are carbon copies of another, and this is why I totally support DLC on this game. Having Vegitto going against Broly or Bardock against Cooler is something that fans have dreamed off (and the win quotes after each battle). There are also special finishers called Dramatic Finish that happen after certain requirements are met, like Trunks cutting Frieza and then finishing him with a Burning Attack. They add the cherry on top of a very tasty cake.
Bottom Line: Dragon Ball FighterZ has dragon rushed to the Nintendo Switch. With new and unique modes like Extreme Mode, great graphics, amazing music, and overall over the top fighting action that only Dragon Ball can deliver, the game feels right at home. Even if you are not a fan of Dragon Ball, this is a fighting game that you simply cannot miss.
A Review copy was provided for this review.