Dragon Ball Super is not without its flaws, but it is still incredibly popular among fans of the Dragon Ball franchise. Yet, despite this, it has almost no representation in video game form, a problem which many find odd. Although games like Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 do a good job of incorporating aspects of Dragon Ball Super into games, it is most usually as an afterthought, DLC, or side content. Amidst a nigh endless sea of games adapting the story of Dragon Ball Z in one way or another, many fans agree that it is time for a change of pace and the introduction of a standalone Dragon Ball Super game.
Since the mid 80s with the release of Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyō, there have been a plethora of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z games, even some focused explicitly on Dragon Ball: GT, yet in all that time. there has never been a stand alone Dragon Ball Super game. This might have been understandable when the series first began airing in 2015, but it has now been five years since the series began and two years since it ended, and though Super Saiyan God forms are coming to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and other games, it isn’t enough.
Dragon Ball Super in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 has done a great job of introducing characters, themes, and missions based off of Dragon Ball Super, such as Broly’s new canon incarnation, Kefla, and Ultra Instinct Goku, but suffers from the game’s premise itself. While the Xenoverse saga certainly puts a fun spin on the story of Dragon Ball Z, casting the player as a time patrol member tasked with restoring the timeline to its proper state as numerous villains attempt to disrupt it, the games certainly don’t provide a faithful reincarnation of the story, and don’t try to either.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is the best game right now to experience Dragon Ball Super content firsthand, but its focus on custom characters and the fact that all of the Super content is locked behind paid DLC don’t help its case in any way. Still, at the very least, Xenoverse 2 does introduce new story missions and parallel quests that put the player right into the action of the story of Dragon Ball Super, which is certainly a step in the right direction.
Dragon Ball Super in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s upcoming DLC plans to introduces some aspects from Dragon Ball Super, including the Super Saiyan God form pictured above for both Goku and Vegeta, Beerus, Whis, and possibly more, but doesn’t seem to be adapting the story in the same way it did Dragon Ball Z’s story. This was disappointing to many, as it seemed like Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot had a chance to rectify the lack of Dragon Ball Super representation, but instead opted to follow suit with other games and include it as an afterthought.
Instead, the DLC will unlock training missions with Whis which will allow the player to unlock Super Saiyan God and ultimately fight against Beerus in what should be the hardest fight in the game. The strange part, however, is that it is said that this content can be accessed even before clearing the main story, and having Goku train to unlock Super Saiyan God nullifies the ritual and other elements of the story of Battle of Gods. To make matters worse, it doesn’t seem like DBZ: Kakarot is built for expansion, meaning that there will likely never be a Universe 6 DLC or anything beyond that.
Dragon Ball Super Standalone Game
Ultimately, Dragon Ball Super needs its own stand alone game in order to fix this problem. Understandably, many games want to start at the beginning with Dragon Ball Z (even though technically Dragon Ball would be the beginning), and then feel the need to include Dragon Ball Super afterwards, but the characters and story of Dragon Ball Z are so well known by players at this point that beginning with Dragon Ball Super would hardly be a problem. Furthermore, all of the new characters in Dragon Ball Super are properly introduced.
Still, starting a story at its halfway point is odd, and there will always be a subset of newcomers that may not understand what’s going on, and this is why a Dragon Ball Super game should be handled in the exact same way the show was. Dragon Ball Super is a full blown sequel to Dragon Ball Z, not a tag on like DLC is for video games, so perhaps an existing Dragon Ball Z game could get a sequel featuring this content? While many fans would love to see the Budokai or Tenkaichi franchises return with Super content, there is something far more likely.
Dragon Ball Super: Kakarot
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot showed fans that a story focused DBZ game could be great, something which almost no other DBZ game had ever attempted. The same thing needs to be done for Dragon Ball Super, and as was previously stated, it would be better suited as a sequel than as a set of DLC. Though DBZ: Kakarot was great, there is a lot it could improve on to be an even better experience in terms of combat, progression, and boss battles, and a sequel, Dragon Ball Super: Kakarot would give developers a chance to revamp some of the systems from the first game.
Dragon Ball Super has a host of great ideas that fans have loved, such as the various god forms for Saiyans, (most of) the Future Trunks arc, and the unforgettable Tournament of Power. In fact, the Tournament of Power has enough content to make an entire game on its own given how much occurred off screen. Dragon Ball Super also does a great job of giving previously sidelined characters a new sense of purpose and relevance, even if it does sometimes throw the Dragon Ball power scaling off a little bit. Until it does get a stand alone installment, however, fans will have to make do with what is currently available in Xenoverse 2 and FighterZ, as well as the swiftly approaching DBZ: Kakarot DLC.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
