Dragon Ball FighterZ: PS4 Review

Dragon Ball FighterZ: PS4 Review

Released by Bandai Namco
Platform: PS4

If you've ever wondered what Dragon Ball Z is about, this is not the game for you.
Bandai Namco's ambitious fighter embraces both the online and offline world for those interested in spinning a line through Goku's adventures.

Teaming up with his friends Goku has to fight a revived Android 16 and a slew of androids made to look and behave like them in a series of smackdowns initiated by their appearance.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is really a game that actually does what you'd expect from it.

A sort of anime Tekken/ Street Fighter hybrid, the game's desire to have you relive long scenes of anime interspersed with brutal fights and mano-a-mano smackdowns may seem like a challenge to some.

But what emerges from Dragon Ball FighterZ is really a love letter to the series and to Goku.

It may be a touch alienating to those uninitiated with the series itself, and certainly with the long character cut-scenes within the main story of the game, there's a lot that feels like it's pandering to the fans, with apparent in game nods to the show and what's gone before.

In many ways, that labour of love is a good thing - as anything weaker than that would sell the game and the franchise short.

Fighting is much like the usual in these sorts of games - a combination of meshing buttons and stringing attacks together, be they heavy, mild or otherwise, the rushing attacks can mean a fight is over quicker than anticipated.

But given there are three rounds in each fight, sometimes, that's not a bad thing.

Online, the game's connectivity limits itself to Oceania, meaning servers are Australian and sometimes suffer from cconnection issues as well as match-making.

But when it works, it does so swimmingly and flawlessly, a sign that online fighting is still the way to go with these kinds of titles.

Ultimately, Dragon Ball FighterZ is a credit to its namesake.

As a piece of arcade smack-em-ups, it's certainly got the fighting chops to tackle the best of them - and while the reliance on the Dragon Ball Z world may struggle to make this fighter as widely loved as perhaps it should be, its slavish devotion to Goku's world and those who orbit may make it an anime-themed gaming KO.