Dragon Ball FighterZ is currently one of the most popular fighting games in the FGC. It quickly dominated Marvel vs CAPCOM Infinite as the premier tag team fighter of 2018. FighterZ is one of the biggest fighting games as of now. However, within the Dragon Ball community, FighterZ has been compared to a very popular Dragon Ball fan game. Its name is Hyper Dragon Ball Z.
Hyper Dragon Ball Z (HDBZ) is a fan game created in M.U.G.E.N by a group called Team Z2. The group started development of this project as far back as 2014, adding new content with each update. This game made its rounds around the same time as Battle of Z, left a bad taste in fans mouths. This game was a huge hit with the Dragon Ball community, and then a few years later comes FighterZ.
A lot of fans drew parallels to this game and FighterZ being as they both use the same source material. However, these two games are almost night and day when truly compared.
Both games use characters from the Dragon Ball series, so the rosters of both will have some familiar faces.
This image does not feature fighters Videl, Jiren, and GT Goku as this is an earlier build.
In FighterZ it has the usual combatants: Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin, the ones fans would expect. Some legacy characters join in as well, like Gotenks, Android 18, Ginyu, Bardock and Broly joining in as the first set of DLC. Then, rounding out the fray is some of the newer characters from Dragon Ball Super, like Goku Black, Beerus, Hit, and this games original character Android 21. These characters all feel true to manga and anime counterparts, and all feel unique to themselves. However, the one complaint seen constantly is an overabundance of certain characters. If one were to count the DLC fighters, there are a total of five different variants of Goku: Super Saiyan Goku, Super Saiyan Blue Goku, Base form Goku, Goku Black and GT Goku. Vegeta isn’t much better in this regard, as he has 3 variants of his own.
This screenshot was taken from the authors copy of the game. The grayed out characters are characters that have yet to be added.
This is where HDBZ differs however. Now, HDBZ has a much smaller roster than FighterZ, and characters are added much slower. In fact, the character Tienshinhan was just released not too long ago in the 4.2b build of the game. However, the roster doesn’t suffer from the multiple variants issue that FighterZ has. For one, Goku and Vegeta currently only have 2 variants. For Goku, it’s his base for and his Super Saiyan form. Vegeta has his base form and his Majin form from the Buu Saga. Other than that the roster has a few other legacy characters like Frieza and Super Buu, however some have yet to be added. Interestingly, the roster features Hercule and Babidi, two characters who are often unplayable in official Dragon Ball games.
FighterZ definitely has a high number of fighters, and each are interesting in their own right, but HDBZ’s roster offers more out-there picks, meaning that fans can expect more surprising character picks down the line.
Characters are good and all, but what is a fighting game without its mechanics? This is where these two really differ in terms of their mechanics.
FighterZ is a 3v3 tag team fighter. As such, every character has the same way to access their essential tools. The commands aren’t too complex, but that works out in the games favor. Each character has their own set of moves that fill a different purpose. For example, Gokus Kamehameha wave is a long ranged attack, while Hits counter does – well, exactly what you’d expect. As a tag team game, assists are of course one of many mechanics you’ll use often. Some assists excel in offense and are good combo-starters, like Vegetas assist. Others offer a different form of support, such as Android 18, who covers her teammate with a barrier.
In terms of character-specific mechanics however, not many really have one. For example, Frieza is currently the only character who can transform mid-match into his Golden form, and Ginyu has his classic body-swap move. Mechanically everyone uses the same framework, with major tweaks here and there.
HDBZ is very different mechanically. It is a 6-button fighter, similar to Street Fighter. Everyone has the same general mechanics like in FighterZ, but since it’s a 1v1 fighting game, character specific mechanics are more frequent. For example, Super Saiyan Goku has a mechanic in which a meter will fill up when Goku uses a certain move. The amount filled on the meter will determine the damage output of his Ultra. Gohans backdash sends him into the air, which is good for punishing air-dashing opponents. Majin Vegeta has a meter that will fill with each attack he lands. He can use his Final Explosion move when it’s active, and it lasts as long as his meter has been filled.
Both games make use of the Dragon Ball IP in a variety of ways. FighterZ has seen a huge growth in the two years that it’s been in the FGC, and could continue to grow due its upcoming DLC, which includes Broly from the recent Dragon Ball Super movie, Gogeta, and a currently unknown 3rd fighter. It’s reach on multiple platforms has also helped grow its playerbase. HDBZ on the other hand is limited to PC, a limitation imposed onto it by M.U.G.E.N. It’s also a lot more difficult and technical than FighterZ, which could be a bit of a turnoff for most players. However it is also a free game that allows fans to give it a try at any time, and despite it being difficult, the game has a very rewarding system.
Of course, the final verdict is left up to the player. Dragon Ball FighterZ is available for around 60 USD on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, the toaster oven, seemingly anything. As for Hyper Dragon Ball Z, the most recent version is available here.
Give them both a try to decide which is better.
This is the source of the featured image: https://www.dbzgames.org/download/hyper-dragon-ball-z/
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