Over the past few weeks, I’ve been playing a lot of Dragon Ball FighterZ with a focus on writing a review. That should be up soon, but having to work through the story mode and try out a number of the other game’s features has put a lot of my own team-building work on the back-burner. As I transition into playing the game more competitively, I’m going to try my hand at building at least a base understanding of the whole roster before making hard choices about which characters will make my A-team.
Not sure if I’m going to do a write-up for every character, but I’ll cover characters I play as if they’re fun to write about. First up, let’s look at the franchise poster boy, Goku!
Goku
The franchise protagonist serves as the go-to starter character of the game. He has a lot of straightforward tools and it’s fairly easy to string together solid combos. If you want to keep your distance, well-timed Kamehameha blasts can keep pesky foes out. You can kind of play him however you want.
Kamehameha
Input: 236S
Goku’s signature ki blast is a solid beam of destruction. It’s a great projectile in that it comes out fairly quickly, has pretty good durability, and it’s easy to incorporate into your offense, as you ca shoot it at different angles from the air or ground. It’s not a bad tool for extending combos, either, as you can easily combo into a Kamehameha, or extend a combo after one with a Vanish or super move.
The Kamehameha also serves as Goku’s assist attack. It seems to be a great tool in almost any situation, as the beam can help keep foes away, act as a combo extender, or act as cover while the point character rushes in.
Dragon Flash Fist
Input: 236Attack (L, M, or H)
In a short burst of speed, Goku lunges forward and punches his foes face first into the ground. The light version causes a soft knockdown. Medium causes a hard knockdown. Hard causes a hard knockdown and teleports Goku from wherever he is on the screen to directly in front of his foe. I found this one to be a weird move in terms of utility, as it’s not particularly easy to combo into. That said, I have found it to be an okay combo extender after a vanish. If covered by an assist, I guess it’s not bad for a makeshift instant overhead, either. Nonetheless, I don’t think it’s a move I would use much at this point in my understanding of the character.
Rapid Kick Rush
Input: 214Attack (L, M, or H)
Goku’s equivalent of Ryu’s Hurricane Kick, he launches himself forward with a series of spinning kicks. This is my most used special move, as it makes for a great combo extender while pushing opponents to the corner.
Super Kamehameha
Input: 236LM
Costs 1 Ki gauge
A powered-up version of his regular Kamehameha, Goku can also perform this one while in the air or on the ground, as well as angle it in different directions. This makes it a versatile combo ender for solid damage.
Instant Transmission Kamehameha
Input: 236HS
Costs 1 Ki gauge
What appears to be a traditional Super Kamehameha turns out to be something slightly different, as Goku appears behind his opponent before launching his beam upwards. The temptation is strong to use it as a cheeky counter attack, but I find it to be most effective as a combo ender from an air smash. Right after smacking your opponent to the ground, perform this super to blast them before they hit the floor.
Meteor Smash
Input: 214LM or HS
Costs 3 Ki gauges
Similar to the Instant Transmission super, Goku kicks into high gear before teleporting behind his opponent and smacking them with a short combo before laying the Kamehameha icing on the cake real thick. While it is a very stylish finisher, be advised that you’ll actually score more damage by performing back-to-back-to-back level 1 supers rather than one level 3. Yes, it can be used as cheeky counter, but I’d rather burn three meters for guaranteed damage most of the time.
My Initial Thoughts
For the time being, Goku is going to be on my team. Besides having the lowest learning curve, I have a lot of practice with him due to how much he’s used in the story mode. Assuming there aren’t significant balance changes ahead, I think he has the tools to hang with anybody. My concern with him going forward is that his popularity may push the meta to a place where everyone knows how to fight against him. On top of that, he may be outclassed by the other Goku variants in the game. As of writing, he’s my main man!
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