(Source : Budokai Tenkaichi)

Fans of the popular Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi series have reason to rejoice as publisher Bandai Namco has officially announced a new entry during the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Championship tournament. While details are currently scarce, a flashy trailer has confirmed that the upcoming game will include modern Super Saiyan forms for the series’ long-time protagonist, Goku.

 


The teaser trailer revealed that the game is currently in development and will feature a “next-gen” Goku powering up to his Super Saiyan Blue form, which was first introduced in Dragon Ball Super. This is a welcome development for fans of the series as the Budokai Tenkaichi franchise has laid dormant for more than a decade, with many assuming that the popular 2D Dragon Ball FighterZ had surpassed the 3D-oriented fighting games, and that Bandai Namco had long moved on.

The last franchise entry – Tenkaichi Tag Team – was launched in 2010 for PlayStation Portable, and Budokai Tenkaichi 3 was released a whopping 16 years ago. However, the enduring popularity of the Dragon Ball series has seemingly led to a major revival, and fans are eagerly anticipating the return of the beloved Budokai Tenkaichi series.

While we currently know very little about what’s on the way beyond the involvement of Bandai Namco, Toei Animation, Bird Studio, and Shueisha – the companies currently helming the rights to the Dragon Ball franchise – it is still an exciting time for fans of the series. It is currently unknown whether the original developer, Spike (now Spike Chunsoft), will return, but regardless, the return of the Budokai Tenkaichi series is worth celebrating.

The Budokai Tenkaichi series sparked a revolution in what anime games could look and feel like and contributed to the rise of other stellar anime fighting titles, including games like Naruto Ninja Storm, which coincidentally also currently has a new entry in development with Bandai Namco.

The announcement of the new Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi game has sent shockwaves throughout the gaming community, and fans are eagerly awaiting further details about the upcoming release. We can expect to hear more about the game in the coming months, and the revival of the Budokai Tenkaichi series has already got fans excited about the future of the Dragon Ball franchise.