It’s time to start screaming and powering up—there’s a new Dragon Ball Z game on the way from Namco Bandai. Running off the wild success of the new theatrical film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods comes the PlayStation 3, Vita, and Xbox 360 title Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z.
Battle of Z is poised to take us through the story of Dragon Ball Z, as well as include elements from the newest film, Battle of Gods. While we will be forced to experience a retelling of the anime and manga’s story all over again for what feels like the thousandth time, we can hope that the Battle of Gods portion will be substantial and give fans something new to sink their teeth into.
What sets Battle of Z apart from previous games like Dragon Ball Z 3/Budokai 3, Burst Limit, Raging Blast, and Ultimate Tenkaichi/Ultimate Blast is that the game’s system is built for giant, multiplayer battle royales featuring up to 8 simultaneous fighters, cooperative four-versus-four, via online play. The prospect of having an all-out brawl with so many characters hearkens back to another Dragon Ball game that was released on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn called Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu or Dragon Ball Z: The Legend. That game allowed up to 6 fighters at once and is regarded as one of the best Dragon Ball games made. As an owner of that title, I’ve got to say that another game that emulates its mechanics and fun has me quite excited. If you aren’t familiar with that title, check out the video below to see what I mean.
Of course, the game won’t always require immense battles filled with 8 participants—regular one-on-one bouts are good to go, as well. In addition to standard fights, Battle of Z is set to include giant boss battles against the likes of Oozaru Vegeta and potentially more as trailers and screen caps reveal further moments in the series.
After the announcement in the recent Japanese issue of Shonen Jump, Namco Bandai Europe’s own YouTube channel posted the first trailer for the game. More news, along with more footage of the game, is said to be given during the Saikyo V-Jump Festa preview event late July.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is being developed by a newcomer to Dragon Ball games, ARTDINK. While they have not made any games pertaining to this franchise in the past, they do have a bevy of titles under their belt, including Tactics Ogre, the PlayStation version of Sim City 2000, Shenseiki Evangelion Typing E-Keikaku, and a deluge of Gundam and Macross games. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is coming this year to Japan, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Brazil.
