The one and only anime that I’ve ever really liked is Dragon Ball. I’ve watched Goku from start to finish and he’s one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time. Needless to say I was excited for the arrival of Kakarot, on the Nintendo Switch.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot revisits the Z Saga. Taking you through the story of the Sayains, Goku’s true identity, and the rise of his son; the young, but powerful Gohan. It’s a great homage to fans of the series. Filled with plenty of easter eggs, side quests, and epic fights. Not to mention the Switch version comes with a good amount of the previous DLC for free. Including three awesome storylines; Battle of the Gods, Resurrection F, and a cool side story featuring future Trunks and his battle with the Androids.

I was able to play and beat Kakarot when it was first released on PlayStation 4 last year. I can tell you from personal experience there are no noticeable differences between the two. Unless you’re really focused on the graphics. Both games play the same and look almost identical. Of course, the PS4 version is going to be a bit more polished, but it’s not enough to choose one over the other. Not for me anyway. I thought the game looked and played great in handheld mode on the Switch as well.

As far as the story goes, if I’m being realistic we all know how this plays out. Any fan of the Dragon Ball series knows the Z saga from front to back. It was a huge thing when I was a kid. I remember coming home from school and my brothers and I sitting around the TV, episode after episode, waiting for Goku to finally kill Frieza. Ah, the good ole days… Even though the game looked awesome, I found myself skipping a few of the cutscenes, just because I had seen it all before and knew the outcome.

Regardless of knowing what would happen, I still enjoyed playing Kakarot on the Switch. The player progresses through the story in chapters. Each chapter usually involves a couple of fights including a boss (or bosses) and a side mission or two. In between those chapters you can explore the world of Dragon Ball. Which is actually pretty vast, just a little barren at times. As you fly around You can collect orbs to spend on upgrading your skill tree. This allows you to have more powerful attacks and abilities that make fighting much more interesting. You can also find items lying around the map, like cooking ingredients and health potions. Goku can hunt animals

For me, the fights were the best part of the game. Some of them were pretty intense and a little frustrating, but it was always satisfying to land that final blow. There are also a lot of challenges scattered around the map that allow you to test your skills against your allies in order to learn new techniques and earn cool items along the way. Cooking is also another (minor) part of DBZ Kakarot. You can give ingredients to Chi Chi and learn new recipes that will boost attack power or defense for a limited time. These can really help you out during some of the more challenging fights, but it’s not really necessary and feels like more of an optional side quest for completionists.

DBZ Kakarot also does a great job of making you feel like you’re in the anime, and that’s one of the reasons I love it. From the graphics to the music and the gameplay, it’s definitely something fans will want to playthrough. Especially if they haven’t experienced it yet, the Switch version is a great choice. Having access to the DLC and being able to play anywhere is a big plus. If you’re a fan of the anime, I highly recommend checking out Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.