Play Dragon Ball Kai - Ultimate Butouden Online

Game Overview

Dragon Ball Kai - Ultimate Butouden is one of those DS fighters that actually makes the tiny screen feel like an arena. You pick your favorite Z fighter—Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, whoever—and suddenly you're juggling combos with the stylus while ki blasts fill the top screen. The controls take a minute to click (I kept accidentally teleporting instead of charging), but once they do, the fights get stupidly fun.

What surprised me was how much strategy sneaks in between the button-mashing. Timing supers matters way more than I expected, and some characters straight-up cheat if you don't know their tricks (looking at you, Cell). The sprite work holds up too—those classic Kamehameha waves still give me goosebumps. Just don't expect a deep story mode; this is pure arcade-style brawling with a Dragon Ball skin.

If you've got a soft spot for chaotic anime fights that don't overcomplicate things, this one's a solid time capsule from the DS era.