Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden
Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden
Developer(s)	Arc System Works
Publisher(s)	Bandai Namco Entertainment
Series	Dragon Ball
Platform(s)	Nintendo 3DS
Release	JP: June 11, 2015; EU: October 16, 2015; AU: October 16, 2015; NA: October 20, 2015;
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player; multiplayer

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden^[1] is a 2D fighting game for the Nintendo 3DS that is based on the Dragon Ball franchise. It is the sixth game in the Butōden sub-series following 2011's Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden. It was developed by Arc System Works, and returns to the using Dragon Ball Z branding.

The game was released on June 11, 2015, in Japan, October 16, 2015, in Europe and Australia and October 20, 2015, in North America.^[2]

Development

The game was first revealed at NintendoEverything.com on February 17, 2015.^[3] On June 13, 2015, a retailer added a poster hinting a possible localization.^[4] The game is the first Butōden game released outside of Japan, France, and Spain.^[5]

Gameplay

Extreme Butōden features a combination of elements from both prior games in the Butōden series and developer Arc System Works prior Dragon Ball game, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2.^[5]

The game is a 1-on-1 fighting game featuring battle and support characters to fight against an enemy team in a match. Featuring over 100 characters.^[6] Like prior Butōden games, the game features a Health bar and a Ki (energy) bar, labeled Spirit Gauge, which allows Special Attacks to be performed. The fighter who manages to deplete the health bar of the opponent wins the bout and becomes the winner of the match. It differs from prior games in removing the split-screen feature, instead featuring both combatants at each other's view at all times. The game also features combo rush attacks and "Z-Assist" support characters like Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2, which can provide assistance in battle via special moves. Destruction Points (DP) from the beforementioned game also return, which serve to rank character strength and allows limiting how many powerful characters can be used.

Release

Various patches were released during the game's lifecycle, which added various new stages and "Z-Assist" characters from Dragon Ball Super, being the first game to do so other than Beerus and Whis from Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z.^[7]^[8]

An additional patch, released in November 2016 in Japan, allows support for local or online multiplayer, crossover cross-play between the game and One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum, which was also developed by Arc System Works.^[9]

Reception

Aggregate score
Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	61/100^[6]

Review scores
Publication	Score
Destructoid	5/10^[10]
Famitsu	29/40^[11]
GameRevolution	^[12]
HobbyConsolas	72%^[13]
IGN	5.6/10^[14]
MeriStation	6/10^[15]
Nintendo Life	^[16]
Nintendo World Report	6/10 ^[17]
3DJuegos	6/10^[18]
Vandal	6/10^[19]

Extreme Butōden received mixed or average reviews from critics, it currently has a score of 61/100 on Metacritic. Praise went to the game's visuals, sprite work, and core gameplay; but its story mode, lack of additional gameplay modes, online play, and overall lack of enough innovation received criticism.^[6]

Destructoid awarded it a score of 5 out of 10, saying "It's a competent fighter with nice sprite work, but it also does very little interesting with narrative presentation, combat mechanics, or gameplay modes."^[20]

The game sold 74,660 copies within its first week of release in Japan.^[21] By the end of the year, it had sold 150,989 copies in Japan.^[22]

References

^ Japanese: ドラゴンボールZ 超究極(エクストリーム)武闘伝, Hepburn: Doragonbōru Zetto Ekusutorīmu Butōden, "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Fighting Legend"
^ "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden officially getting western release on October 20th". Nintendo Everything. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
^ "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Budoten - full, translated scan - Nintendo Everything". Nintendo Everything. 17 February 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
^ "Retailer poster further hints at Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden localization". Nintendo Everything. 14 June 2015. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
^ ^a ^b ""Extreme Butōden" Coming to Europe & America October 2015". Kanzenshuu. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ ""Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden" Receives Patch 1.4.0 in Japan". Kanzenshuu. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
^ ""Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden" Receives Patch 1.5.0 in Japan". Kanzenshuu. Archived from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
^ Romano, Sal (September 12, 2016). "One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum and Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden to add cross-game battles in November". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
^ Dale, Laura Kate (October 15, 2015). "Review: Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden". Destructoid. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Romano, Sal (June 2, 2015). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1383". Gematsu. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Schaller, Kevin (November 9, 2015). "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Quesada, Daniel (October 14, 2015). "Análisis de Dragon Ball Z Extreme Butoden". HobbyConsolas. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Bringas, José Manuel (October 14, 2015). "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden - Análisis". IGN (in Spanish). Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Fernández, Salva (June 1, 2016). "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden, Análisis". MeriStation. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Ramsey, Robert (October 14, 2015). "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden Review (3DS)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Rose, Bryan (November 2, 2015). "Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden (3DS) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on April 29, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Bella, Jesús (October 14, 2015). "Análisis de Dragon Ball Z Extreme Butoden. Deseo no concedido". 3DJuegos. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Leiva, Carlos (October 14, 2015). "Análisis de Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden (Nintendo 3DS)". Vandal. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ "Review: Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden". Destructoid. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-05-21. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
^ "'Rhythm Heaven: The Best+' y 'Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden' debutan por todo lo alto en Japón". Zonared. June 17, 2015. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
^ "Repasamos los 100 juegos más vendidos en Japón durante 2015". Zonared. Archived from the original on 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2019-01-22.