Dragon Ball Z Arcade is a Fighting Game series based on the aforementioned anime made by Banpresto between 1993 and 1995. Two of the three games were made in a similar way that Street Fighter games (a 2D one-vs-one fighting game) with some nods to Bandai's SNES games and one of them was made into Faux First Person 3D. The first game was based on Frieza Saga and the next two were based on Cell Saga.
Games in the series
- Dragon Ball Z - Made in 1993 is the first game on the series based on the Frieza Saga. You can choose between the three Saiyans (Goku, Vegeta and Gohan), Piccolo, three members of the Ginyu Force (Ginyu himself, Recoome and Burter) and Frieza (in his final form), which is the Final Boss.
- Dragon Ball Z: V.R.V.S.note - Made in 1994 for the Sega System 32 arcade platform by Sega and Banpresto. A Faux First Person 3D made for Arcade with a possible port to 3DO Interactive Multiplayer,
which later was cancelled. Here the player only controls any of Z-Fighters (all Saiyans and Piccolo) and the final characters to defeat are a Mirror Match and the Final Boss Ozotto the Super Monster, an original character made exclusively for this game designed by Akira Toriyama himself. - Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle - The last game of the series, made in 1995 as a direct sequel to the first DBZ game. Here the game adapted the Cell Saga, in which the character can choose between all the Saiyan fighters into Super Saiyan versions (Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and Trunks), Piccolo, Mr. Satan, three of the Androids (16, 18 and 20 (aka Dr. Gero)) and Cell (in his Perfect form), which is also the Final Boss.
DBZ Arcade series provide examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Mr. Satan is one of the playable characters in the roster and, unlike his appearances from the previous two Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden games (where he is portrayed much like his canon counterpart), is actually capable of going toe-to-toe with the Z Fighters, Androids 16 and 18, including Cell.
- All There in the Manual: The events of V.R.V.S. happen during the nine day wait for the Cell Games, as the Z-Fighters all have their Cell Games Saga appearance.
- Backstory: The two 2D games have the same backstory of the anime (Frieza Saga and Cell Saga, respectively). In the case of V.R.V.S., it occured during the nine day wait for the Cell Games, before the events of DBZ 2.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: In V.R.V.S., Piccolo's ending has him wish on Shenron for a chance to fight the world's strongest...and he gets Mr. Satan.
- The Bus Came Back: Ozotto appears again and he's alive after the events of V.R.V.S., being prisoner in a planet and later escaping to get the Super Dragon Balls. And more than that, The Reveal is he's a Majin (actually known as Majin Ozotto
), appearing in Dragon Ball Heroes as well in Super Dragon Ball Heroes (the manga and the anime).- As a fan note, there's also an Ozotto mod for Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
- Call-Back: Goku's ending in Super Battle has him spare Cell and hand him a Senzu in the exact same fashion as he did Piccolo Jr. at the end of Dragon Ball. And because Cell shows up in the family-and-friends photo at the end, it even ended in another Heel–Face Turn!
- The Cameo: While Super Battle is exclusively based off of the Cell Saga, a lot of the endings feature characters and designs from the Buu Saga as a Call-Forward.
- Chromosome Casting: With the exception of Android 18 in DBZ 2, all the other games have only male casting.
- Composite Character: Ozotto in V.R.V.S. bears quite a large resemblance to one of Cell's original designs, suggesting that he was based on Cell. He also displays elements similar to Frieza in his second form. Ironically, the cancelled console port would have replaced Ozotto with Cell himself.
- Death Cry Echo: Every character has one in the game.
- Ditto Fighter: Ozotto in V.R.V.S. can take the form of other Z-Fighters during the fight.
- 11th-Hour Superpower: Staying true to the Frieza Saga, Goku turns Super Saiyan for the final battle against Freiza in the 1993 game.
- Exact Words: Vegeta's ending in V.R.V.S. has him wishing on Shenron to stand atop the world. The very next picture shows a giant-sized Vegeta literally standing on top of Earth, looking quite annoyed.
- Faux First Person 3D: The V.R.V.S. game is played behind the charcters similar to Punch-Out!!.
- Final Boss: Respectively Frieza, Ozotto and Perfect Cell. With the exception of Ozotto, the other two can be selectable since the beginning.
- Free-Floor Fighting: All the games has free moving in all the stage, the two 2D games can move up and down just like in Butoden games, and in V.R.V.S. can move to all place as well.
- Gentle Giant: Android 16 in DBZ 2 Super Battle, emphasized in one winquote where he sadly points out that a bird nearby flew away, and his ending revealed he became protector of the planet Earth's many forests and animals.
- In-Series Nickname: Ozotto's nickname in V.R.V.S. is the "Super Monster".
- Kamehame Hadoken: Tonned down in the first game, but made straight as in the anime in DBZ 2, up to giving Goku a Kamehameha beam shaped like Shenron.
- Ki Manipulation: As in all DBZ games, all fighters can do these, usually in the form of energy balls.
- Long-Range Fighter
- Mirror Match: Seen in the 2D games, but in the V.R.V.S. it's the Sub-Boss.
- Mythology Gag: Goku's ending in DBZ 2 Super Battle is the same as the ending of the 23rd World Tournament, since he spares Cell and hands him a Senzu just like he did Piccolo, and Cell even seems to pull a Heel–Face Turn.
- Original Generation: Ozotto, the Final Boss made exclusively for DBZ: V.R.V.S.
- The Smurfette Principle: Android 18 in DBZ 2 is the only playable woman in the series.
- Three Round Deathmatch: Going straight with the two 2D games, averted with V.R.V.S., which is only in one round.
