Dragon Ball Heroes

Dragon Ball Heroes is a Japanese arcade card-battle game series created by Dimps and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The original Dragon Ball Heroes machine launched in Japan in November 2010, using physical cards with barcodes that players scan to assemble teams from the Dragon Ball universe. Rather than adapting one continuous manga storyline, it presents battles through missions, with players controlling a customizable avatar and selecting up to five cards. Each card supplies a character, transformation, or technique, while timing and button inputs influence attacks, energy charges, and cooperative special moves.

The series expanded into Super Dragon Ball Heroes in 2016, adding characters and settings from Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Xenoverse, and original Heroes arcs. Its story frequently revolves around the Time Patrol, a group that protects history from villains who manipulate eras. One major conflict is the Dark Empire arc, in which the demon Mechikabura and his allies seek to exploit time and the power of the Dragon Balls. Later material introduces Fu, a scientist and manipulator connected to the Prison Planet storyline. These plots deliberately combine characters who would not meet in the main series, including alternate forms such as Super Saiyan 4, Super Saiyan Blue, and game-specific fusions.

The arcade game has received repeated hardware and rule revisions rather than a single final edition. The Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission series began in Japan in 2018, followed by Big Bang Mission in 2020, Ultra God Mission in 2021, and Meteor Mission in 2022. These campaigns added new cards, missions, and story chapters while retaining compatibility with much of the existing card library. Official promotional anime episodes, produced by Toei Animation beginning in 2018, dramatized the arcade game's conflicts and featured battles involving characters such as Goku: Xeno and Vegeta: Xeno.

For audiences outside Japan, the most substantial standalone release is Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission. It launched for Nintendo Switch and Windows in 2019, and uses an original protagonist whose avatar joins the Hero Association. The game's campaign begins when a mysterious version of Goku appears in the real world, prompting the player to enter the Dragon Ball universe and oppose the Dark Empire. World Mission contains a broad cross-continuity character roster, plus a card editor and local or online multiplayer features where available. Its release allowed the card game's mission structure to be experienced without an arcade cabinet.