Bandai Namco has announced a fourth entry in the much-loved Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi series of fighting games.
The new game will become the fourth entry in the franchise and the first new game in the series since 2010’s Dragon Ball Z Tenkaichi Tag Team on the PSP. The series’ last outing on a major console was Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 on the PlayStation 2 in 2007 (though it wouldn’t make its way to Australia until 2008).
The new game is in development at Bandai Namco in partnership with the show’s long-time production company Toei Animation. Not much is known about it, other than this rather nostalgic teaser above that features the logo appearing on a classic PS2-era CRT television, which gives way to Goku undergoing his more recent blue-haired transformation from Dragon Ball Super, called Super Saiyajin God Super Saiyajin (yes, they really do say Super Saiyajin twice). The transformation is colloquially referred to as Super Saiyajin Blue.
The Tenkaichi series differentiated itself from its Budokai sister series by introducing 3D environments for fights to take place in. Where Budokai was a more traditional 2D fighter in the style of Tekken, Tenkaichi took those mechanics and added verticality, letting players fly around to find new angles of attack. It wasn’t perfect, but, at the time, it was as close as players could get to replicating the anime. The Dragon Ball Xenoverse series could be considered the spiritual successor, taking many of its mechanical cues from Tenkaichi, while Budokai’s more traditional style eventually became the FGC favourite Dragon Ball FighterZ.
We wait to see what Bandai has up its sleeve here. No platforms have been announced yet, but it’s probably safe to assume PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC will be on the list.
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