Look, I know you’ve played about two dozen Dragon Ball Z games over the course of the console generation. At this point, we’ve all seen each of the wildly popular TV show’s sagas played out in the virtual world, and for the most part, the games haven’t been too satisfying. But the passion behind the brand new trailer for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z that just came out of the Tokyo Game Show is infectious. It’s not wrong to glaze over the second someone mentions becoming a Super Saiyan, but new gameplay for this fighting title is here and ready to drag you back into another Namco Bandai game.
What’s actually new this time around? It’s been two years since the last DBZ title, so the team has been working to bring its fans more than 70 playable characters, online features that support up to 8 players, and a Day One Edition Naruto Sage Mode Costume for Goku. Additionally, cooperative action, in-game reviving, dream team creation, and gigantic bosses are all new additions to the series, and examples of all these tweaks can be seen in the above trailer.
Battle of Z is shaping up to be one of the most interesting DBZ games in quite some time, but the release schedule is a little convoluted. The game is confirmed for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Vita in Europe, North America, and Japan, but no release date has been announced for North America or Europe. All we know is that it’ll arrive in Japan sometime in 2014.