Dragon Ball FighterZ (NSW) Review

There's no slowing SuperPhillip Central down now! A new review is here for the site, and it's for Dragon Ball FighterZ's Nintendo Switch port. Readers! Lend me your eyes, so we can read this review together!

To Z or not to Z on the Nintendo Switch with Dragon Ball FighterZ...

Last year I reviewed Dragon Ball FighterZ on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. I enjoyed it so much that it wound up being one of my favorite games of 2018 completely. You can bet that I jumped at the chance to play this excellent and enthralling three-on-three anime fighter once again because now FighterZ arrives on the Nintendo Switch. How does Dragon Ball FighterZ translate from the twin powerhouses known as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to the smaller scale Switch? Well, thankfully, the answer is really well! 

One of the primary reasons I loved the original versions of Dragon Ball FighterZ was how accessible it was. There's no need to memorize complex control stick, D-Pad or button combos that are exclusive to one character or another. Each fighter's main moves are unleashed with the same button combos--generally a half circle motion with the D-Pad or control stick and a press of a shoulder button or attack button. Sure, to gain an advantage in battle you'll need to know which combination of inputs performs what attack so you're not using a move that is meant for aerial opponents while they're standing on the ground, but it's overall easy enough to learn the basics.

Apparently androids do feel pain... y'know, down... there.

The Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons together or with the Pro Controller there's a generous amount of buttons and each serves their purpose, whether it's charging at an opponent, unleashing a Ki blast, light attacks, medium attacks, or heavy attacks (all three of these are assigned to a different face button and even mashing on the same button can present some pretty awesome and impressive attacks). If you're lacking controllers, you can always opt to split up the Joy-Cons between two players and play that way, though it's obviously not going to be the preference of competitive players.

One of the only characters in Dragon Ball FighterZ who uses
a physical weapon, Trunks slices into Super Saiyan Goku.

Dragon Ball FighterZ on the Nintendo Switch sports the same amount of modes as the other consoles of which this version's a port. You have your arcade mode that has three unique paths that alters which opponents you face based off of your fighting performance, tournament mode, spectator mode, local multiplayer, online multiplayer, a shop where you can spend earned Zenny to unlock new profile titles and windows as well as avatars to play as in the game's online or offline lobbies, and much more, including character tutorials and the story mode.

The story mode presents several entertaining and high quality cutscenes that look absolutely glorious. Some scenes that play out only occur if you have a specific duo or trio of characters on your team in the same fight, so there's some motivation to go back and replay chapters once the final story arc of the three has been completed. That said, that motivation quickly loses steam when you realize how much of a grind story mode is. 

The fun moments between characters will certainly make any Dragon Ball fan happy.

You're moving along a map, choosing which adjacent point on the map to go to, and encountering a seemingly endless amount of clones in the process. Each map houses a boss to take on--usually just another team of clones--which then completes the map and typically reveals a new piece of the story. Your reward and carrot on the stick to continue playing and participating in the grind is those aforementioned enjoyable cutscenes that deliver an original story regarding a brand new villain made exclusively for the game.

Yikes! Android 17 and 18 make poor Krillin eat some asphalt.

The Nintendo Switch version of Dragon Ball FighterZ is a highly impressive beast of a game. It's an amazing accomplishment how the developer was able to bring the high octane, high powered visuals of the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions and seemingly effortlessly transition them to look almost just as amazing on the Switch. Holding a steady frame-rate in the process is one HFIL of a trick, too! There's seldom any noticeable slow-down and that goes for the stellar online play as well.

A true battle of the baldies--Nappa versus Tien!

The majority of online features presented in the original versions of Dragon Ball FighterZ are present and accounted for in the Switch port. There's the hustling and bustling lobbies where you can challenge other players at will and at your leisure, select from one of many game modes, and feel like you're part of a thriving community, which the Switch version does have in spades, surprisingly. Selecting ranked or casual matches with the ability to filter out other players who have a poor online connection is still here, and matches generally play nice and smoothly when both players sport a satisfactory connection together. 

Also like the other versions, DLC characters like Cooler
must be purchased separately in the Switch version.

Dragon Ball FighterZ on the Nintendo Switch is some kind of a miracle in how well it runs on the little hybrid console that could. Seriously, some must have summoned Shenron and wished for the game to run as great as it does on the Switch. Whether you're in love with the Dragon Ball franchise like so many millions are out there and wish to have battles that are true to the anime in both action and visuals, or if you're like me and have little to no interest in the series at all, as long as you have a love for highly competent, accessible 2D fighters, Dragon Ball FighterZ is a superb pick for your Nintendo Switch library.

[SPC Says: B+]