Parents' Guide to Dragon Ball Legends

This is a quality role-playing game for mobile devices that's fun to play, even if you aren't a fan of the animated series. The predictably wacky story of Dragon Ball Legends is told in a 2D comics style, but combat is presented in a 3D environment. Fights are lightning-fast but easy to learn (if your reflexes are good, anyway) once you get the hang of the simple card skill system, which controls what abilities you can use and when. Each story mission you fight through provides a series of combat challenges, with lots of rewards if you complete them all. The reward system as a whole is fairly generous, though getting certain rare heroes to summon can be expensive if you try to buy them instead of earning them through play. Still, weekly events offer the chance to broaden your hero collection while taking a break from the story mission/versus play routine.

The single-player story mode gives you 10 free energy points to spend per day, and these take roughly half an hour to burn through. That said, if you want to play for more than half an hour -- and you will -- you'll have to spend some money. Dragon Ball Legends' dynamic combat, character collection, and team-building will entertain teens and younger kids for hours. Add to that its funny, accessible storyline and you've got an app that offers both newbies and Dragon Ball veterans plenty to do in an attractive package that's faithful to the anime series.