Anyone who enjoys anime knows that it usually lags behind the manga, and any tied-in video games fall behind both of those. Dragon Ball Super, the latest iteration of the beloved Dragon Ball Z anime, has been out for years now and has yet to be properly explored in a video game. It's a prime example of this, and while fans have been wanting a proper Dragon Ball Super game for years, it's time for it to actually manifest.
It should be noted that current Dragon Ball Z games have included Super (or closely related content) for a while now. Super Saiyan Blue and other characters/forms are available in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and Dragon Ball FighterZ, while DBZ: Kakarot dipped its toe in Super with its first two DLC packs (though based on the related DBZ movies first and foremost).
In fact, Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2 is even adding Orange Piccolo to the roster, but this is simply a bandaid over the wound of not having a dedicated game. Ultimately, what this means is there is a lot of Dragon Ball Super content in video games out there, but not a lot of Dragon Ball Super games.
Dragon Ball Super is Exploding with Ripe Video Game Content
A lot of modern Dragon Ball games focus on the big arcs of the DBZ Anime: The Saiyan Saga, the Frieza Saga, the Cell Saga, and the Majin Buu Saga, with the latter wrapping up the anime. Players have experienced this in so many ways now that it's effectively old hat in video games. They need something new, and Dragon Ball Super is right there. There are more major story arcs (and major fights within them) that can be explored across the anime and manga: the God of Destruction Beerus Saga, the Golden Frieza Saga, the Universe 6 Saga, the Copy-Vegeta Saga, the Future Trunks Saga, the Universe Survival Saga, the Broly Saga, the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, the Granolah the Survivor Saga, and the Super Hero Saga.
Most important, of course, are the fights that make up these Dragon Ball Super Sagas. Players deserve a game dedicated to them fighting these new and returning villains, like Golden Frieza, Jiren, Fused Zamasu, Moro, Cell Max, and more. What's likely to happen, of course, is a game that doesn't explore all the way up to modern events, which means it needs to start them now to keep them at a good pace. The first one may cover up to the Universe Survival Saga, for example, and not go much further than that. DLC could be the answer there, if not outright sequels like older games.
The fights are the most important part arguably, but the new forms players can be, eventually, is what should drive these games. Super Saiyan Blue is rather old at this point, but tapping into Ultra Instinct Goku in the context it happened would be a big moment for players. Eventually, the video games would need to catch up to more recent forms like Black Frieza and Ultra Ego Vegeta as introduced in the manga or Beast Gohan and Orange Piccolo as introduced in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. The fact of the matter is the games are incredibly far behind as it stands, and every year that a new one doesn't release, they fall even further behind.
While fans are speculatively calling the recently confirmed Budokai Tenkaichi game "Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 4," there's certainly a case to be made for this to be a proper Dragon Ball Super game. Dragon Ball Super: Budokai Tenkaichi has a nice ring to it, and what's more, the general layout, fighting game approach, and standard gameplay elements make it a proper way to introduce Dragon Ball Super in full.
A new Budokai Tenkaichi game is in development.