For an entire generation, the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi trilogy was the pinnacle of Son Goku’s adventures in video games. And there was no shortage of reasons, mind you: endless lists of fighters and transformations, explosive cinematic attacks, and tons of anime-based fanservice. 15 years later, the phenomenon is reborn.
On the occasion of the event DRAGON BALL Games Battle Hour 2023and as a main course within the succession of its own announcements dedicated to the work of Akira Toriyama, Bandai Namco itself has announced through an appetizer of less than a minute a new installment of the Budokai Tenkaichi saga.
Of course, a new Budokai Tenkaichi with a completely renewed visual section and the power levels of the most recent stages of the manga and anime: in the preview it is possible to see how Goku himself deploys the transformation of Super Saiyan Blue (or Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan) with much more stylized, polished finishes and in a way, in keeping with the last two animated forays for the big screen.
In addition to evoking the original games released on PS2 and Wii, the advance does not specify the systems on which it will be available, nor whether Spike (currently Spike Chunsoft) will resume the much-loved saga of Dragon Ball for consoles. In fact, we don’t even have a reference date. But nothing that is currently necessary to brighten your week to all of us who experienced the phenomenon.
What made Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi so special
In many aspects, Dragon Ball: Budokai Tenkaichi, its three sequels and the spin-offs released for PSP were the mold of almost all Dragon Ball games released afterward: despite coexisting with the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai saga, its proposal of absolute mobility on huge grounds and its characteristic rhythm they continued to be present in games like Raging Blast or, much more recently, Dragon Ball Xenoverse.
In any case, since 2007 (date on which the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3) have introduced major changes and new characters, power levels, transformations and events on a scale that goes beyond the universe itself. And who knows? This event opens the door for the new sagas that only exist in manga to enter through the front door in video games.
In any case, the work of Akira Toriyama continues to be one of the great pillars of the current Bandai Namco, which will adapt both Sand Land and the Dragon Ball Super collectible card game throughout this same 2023.
And it is that we have gotten used to the fact that every year there are new games based on Goku, Piccolo, Trunks and the rest of the Z Warriors, but at this point in the game the possibilities of resurrect the series Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi they seemed unlikely. Seen what’s seen, nothing is impossible as long as the dragon balls exist.
