Dragon Ball Z: Budokai

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai is a 3D fighting game developed by Dimps and released in 2002 for PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. The game adapts the Dragon Ball Z anime across multiple story arcs, beginning with the Saiyan Saga — opening as Goku's brother Raditz arrives and kidnaps his son Gohan — and continuing through to the Cell Games Saga. Players follow the narrative while battling through key encounters from the series. Beyond the story mode, Budokai includes a World Tournament mode, a practice mode for refining combat techniques, and the ability to purchase new moves. The game also features a Dragon Ball collection mechanic: gathering all seven Dragon Balls allows players to summon Shenron. The combination of a faithful story adaptation and multiple supplementary modes made it a notable early entry in licensed anime fighting games.