All Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi games ranked

The Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi games dominated the PlayStation 2 in the 2000s and are even remembered today as some of the best games in the franchise. These games have molded how the one-on-one fighting genre should look, inspiring several other games. Budokai Tenkaichi has always been popular for its huge roster of characters from the Dragon Ball franchise and immersive gameplay where players get to fight in 3D environments from the show.

Dragon Ball has had many games over the years, but the Budokai Tenkaichi series has remained a fan favorite for many years. After the trilogy ended its run on the PlayStation 2 more than a decade ago, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero is on the horizon as a sequel in the franchise.

With the game releasing soon on October 11, 2024, for the PC, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5, we believe it's time to rank all the Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi games from worst to best.

Note: This article is subjective, reflects the writer's opinions, and is ranked.

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These Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi games have been ranked from worst to best

3) Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (2005)

The first game covers major story arcs from Dragon Ball Z (Image via Atari || lulzPIE)

Budokai Tenkaichi was the first game in the franchise released for the PlayStation 2, and it innovated the formulae of previous Dragon Ball Z games. This entry introduced 3D battles, making the combat more dynamic and allowing each stage to be a massive arena for the players to fight. Each stage in the game felt different as they resembled familiar locations from the show.

While these changes were welcome, they came with issues regarding controlling the camera, a difficult control scheme to get the hang of, and a subpar visual quality that would get better with the sequels. There was also a small selection of characters to play, making it the smallest roster in the franchise, which didn't get any better when the characters had repetitive movesets.

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2) Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2

The sequel allowed players the characters to equip items and skills (Image via Atari || kplem)

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi acted as a base for the sequel, as everything from the original was improved upon here. Budokai Tenkaichi 2 was released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2, and it covered a great deal of story arcs from the show with improved visual fidelity and graphics. We also saw the inclusion of new game modes like Ultimate Battle Z and World Tournament.

This game also increased the roster by a huge percentage and provided a more flexible control scheme for the players to learn. However, some issues from the first game still plagued Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2, such as the constantly changing camera angles and story missions that felt repetitive after a while.

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1) Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (2007)

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 featured destructible environments (Image via Atari || TheEverlastingGaming)

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 was released for the PlayStation 2 and turned it up a notch by featuring over 160 playable characters including their variations. This game not only enhanced the graphics over its predecessors on aging hardware but also upgraded the combat mechanics to make them feel more fluid and responsive.

This entry introduced the day and night cycle mechanic wherein the time of day affected your character's abilities, and a story mode that covered the arcs of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. There was an overwhelming amount of content here; however, the franchise couldn't fix its issue of repetitive gameplay that plagued the games from the first Budokai Tenkaichi entry.