For the first time since it’s near ten year inception in November 2010 Super Dragon Ball Heroes comes to the West and with it’s arrival may very well change Dragon Ball for Western audiences as we currently know it. Featuring a heavy focus on “what if” and fan service scenarios within the Dragon Ball mythos, Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission mostly translates the arcade cabinet/TCG game to modern hardware quite well.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is a 2019 card strategy game, it is developed by Dimps and published by Bandai Namco, it is available on PC & Nintendo Switch.

Editor’s Note: A review copy of Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission was provided by Bandai Namco in support of this review. An Amazon Affiliates link will be provided in this review. 

No you’re not seeing things that’s an unmodded Super Saiyan 3 Vegito in a Dragon Ball game.

Everyone within the Western Dragon Ball community wanted the impossible dream of Dragon Ball Heroes coming their way and for nearly ten years it remained impossible, but the Dragon Balls finally granted our wish and we have an entry of the Dragon Ball Heroes sub-franchise here in the states, UK, etc. While it’s not exactly the arcade cabinets and card game we were hoping for, Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission coming to the West is important for a number of reasons, mainly it’s storylines and content crossing over to other titles like Xenoverse, Dokkan Battle (Global), Legends, and perhaps even the canonical Dragon Ball anime & manga.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is a Dragon Ball fan’s wet dream come to life.

THE GOOD: Super Dragon Ball Heroes boasts a roster of over 350 cards featuring nearly every Dragon Ball character from old, to new, to original to the Heroes franchise. There are several different card types such as Hero Type, Berserker Type, etc and every one has their own advantages in battle. In addition to type advantages some cards also have special abilities such as extra attack and defense boosts during a fight. A few cards even have certain mode attacks which have you joggling the analog stick or swiping across the Switch touch screen to unleash a powerful attack for an edge against your opponent.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission’s game map.

There are several different game modes to play around with in ‘World Mission’ including Story. Arcade, Online, Creation, and Hero Stadium. I’m not going to run down every mode in particular, but just to give the basic idea; Story: includes the original story for Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission featuring Beat, Note, and Great Saiyaman 3, Arcade: has every canonical & non-canonical Dragon Ball story, Network Battle: can face off against friends and other online players around the world, Hero Stadium: a tournament mode, and Creation Mode: allows players to create custom cards to use in-game. There are a few other modes, but they’re pretty self-explanatory. It should be noted that while Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is a gacha game like Dokkan Battle, the difference between the two is the fact that ‘World Mission’s’ cards are earned 100% in-game with currency called gacha tickets and they come in two varieties; normal and rare.  Normal tickets provides players a chance to earn lower-tier and high-tier cards, while rare almost always provides a high-tier card. Each ticket is earned in battle or through certain game modes. There’s also an opportunity to collect Dragon Balls in ‘World Mission’ through story mode for wishes.

Every card in SBDH: World Mission is earned 100% through in-game currency.

THE BAD: Graphically Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is a bit dated, but it should be noted that the game is attempting to emulate it’s arcade big brother visually. The story mode isn’t that great compared to previous titles, especially the aforementioned Xenoverse which has raised the bar a bit for writing in Dragon Ball video games. It’s a bit nonsensical and you can get lost in the ongoing dialogue to the point where you’ll have your finger at the ready on the skip button.

Don’t let Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission’s arcade look deter you from giving it a try if even on a rental. There’s a lot being offered in this game.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: While not the prettiest looking Dragon Ball game, especially by modern standards Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is still an important first step into bringing the Dragon Ball Heroes franchise to the west. With unique techniques and card abilities that make a ton of use of the Switch’s control scheme it’ll provide some solid fun for Dragon Ball fans of all kinds.