Play Dragon Ball Kai - Ultimate Butou Den (Japan) Online

Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden is the last Dragon Ball game published for the Nintendo DS, and takes the form of a 2D fighting game with 3D visuals. Despite sharing the name of the Butōden series from the 90s, this doesn't retain the split-screen mode found in those games. Special moves can be pulled off by either pressing certain combinations of buttons, or by pressing that attack's button on the touchscreen. You can increase your strength at the cost of your ki charging speed at any time, or vice versa, with either L+up/down or a button on the touchscreen. Ultimate Attacks force you and your opponent into brief mini-games where the one with the higher score will achieve the best outcome, whether that's pulling off a successful attack or dodging/countering it. However, all touchscreen input is optional and you can play the game with just the face buttons.

The game's story mode takes you through the Saiyan, Freeza, Cell and Boo arcs featured in the Dragon Ball Z / Dragon Ball Kai television series, along with optional missions exploring various what-if scenarios that unlock the further you progress. There's also a challenge mode where you can take on various teams of opponents with your own team, a practice mode, and the ability to fight against either CPU opponents or other players using the Wireless Link function. Completing missions in the "Story" and "Challenge" modes, especially with an S rank early on, will unlock new characters, costumes, and various accessories that can be attached to any character in the Customise menu.