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The anime and video game fandoms have a ton of overlap, so naturally, there are countless video games based on anime and manga. Here are some of my favorites from our collection.

A quick rundown of Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail for newbies: Lucy Heartfilia is the newest member of Fairy Tail, a wizard’s guild notorious for its rowdy behavior and destructive tendencies. Lucy and her new best friend, Natsu Dragneel—one of Fairy Tail’s most infamous members—go on adventures with other colorful characters while trying to raise the stature of their guild.

The video game adaptation comes from Gust, the in-house developer at Koei Tecmo known for the Atelier series as well as Blue Reflection: Second Light. Like those games, Fairy Tail uses a turn-based combat system but with some interesting twists. Enemies are lined up in a 3×3 grid, and different attacks will strike different squares on the grid. Magical attacks use MP, while physical attacks use up HP. The player is rewarded for defeating the enemy team quickly and efficiently.

The game takes place mainly during the Grand Magic Games and Tartarus arcs of the anime, so your playable characters include the core members of Team Natsu at that time—Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza and Wendy—plus fan favorites like Gajeel and Juvia. Putting these characters on the battlefield together unlocks interactions between them, and these moments are the star of the show, in my opinion. Pairings like Natsu and Juvia or Gajeel and Erza didn’t get a lot of chances to interact during the series, so these little vignettes allow Fairy Tail fans to see new dynamics play out.

Another big selling point for fans is the faithful recreation of Magnolia Town—the city the titular Fairy Tail Guild is based out of—as well as the capital city in which the Grand Magic Games take place. There are lots of little side-quests and other things to explore throughout the two cities, all of which fit the tone and humor of the original series perfectly.

This is an immensely faithful adaptation of the Fairy Tail anime and its world while also being a solid turn-based RPG in its own right. That makes this game a must-play for fans of the anime. Those not familiar with the series will still find something to enjoy here, but keep in mind that you’re going to get thrown into the story five or six story arcs deep. The game does a decent job of catching you up on who’s who and what’s what, so you can jump right in. But if you do want to get caught up on the series first, we’ve got the anime and manga in our collection, too!

A breakdown of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Z for the uninitiated: The sequel to the original Dragon Ball, protagonist Son Goku discovers his alien heritage when his estranged brother Raditz arrives and kidnaps Goku’s son, Gohan. Challenging Raditz and his fellow Saiyans results in many losses, forcing our heroes to seek the wish-granting Dragon Balls of another planet to restore their friends to life. But there are others after the Dragon Balls for less pure motives: the Prince of Saiyans, Vegeta and the Saiyans’ former master, the intergalactic tyrant Lord Frieza!

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is another stunningly faithful adaptation, covering the entirety of DBZ from the Saiyan Saga to the Buu Saga. This is an action RPG from developer CyberConnect2, which is predominantly known for the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm games. As such, the combat is very similar, with the camera taking on an over-the-shoulder perspective as you punch, kick and shoot energy blasts at your enemy.

This game is fairly light on the numbers aspect of role-playing games since your characters naturally level up during their off-screen training between story beats. However, it embraces the “role-play” aspect of role-playing games, putting you firmly in the role of the playable characters, in particular Goku and Gohan. You’re not just flying around and punching things as Goku. Scripted scenarios and side-quests have you acting as a father to Gohan, a husband to Chichi and a friend to Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha and the others.

The developers’ appreciation for Dragon Ball as a series and Goku as a character goes well beyond an adoration of how cool and strong he is. There’s a clear love for the depth of Goku’s character and his relationship with others, especially his awkward but loving relationship with his son, Gohan. Goku doesn’t “get” Gohan, and as a consequence, Gohan gets hurt. And since Goku and his friends are constantly dealing with world-ending threats, that “hurt” can be quite extreme. But Goku’s doing his best, and it’s never in doubt that he loves his son.

DBZ may be famous for being the anime where characters scream for fifteen minutes and then punch each other for the last five of a twenty-minute episode, but there’s emotion and depth to the story and characters that even hardcore fans don’t always appreciate. It’s a story about punching bad guys, sure, but it’s also about fatherhood and rejecting toxic forms of masculinity. DBZ: Kakarot understands and demonstrates what made DBZ resonate with people across the globe.

This game is fun to play, absolutely. The combat is solid, and there are lots of minigames and side-quests to engage with. But the thing that made me love this game is that it understands what’s so great about Dragon Ball Z beyond the big hair and muscles. That makes it one of my favorite tie-ins to the Dragon Ball franchise. I can’t recommend this one enough. Even if this is your first time experiencing the story of DBZ, this game is a great way to go about it.

We’ve got another Koei Tecmo game, this time coming from their Omega Force division. Omega Force is famous for the Dynasty Warriors games, in which you play powerful warriors who mow down entire armies in seconds. This premise is almost the exact opposite of Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan, in which the last remnants of humanity struggle to survive against massive humanoid monsters.

The story mode covers the first two seasons of the anime with the player taking on the role of an original, player-created character who works side-by-side with anime protagonist Eren Yeager. Your character comes from the same town as Eren, which was destroyed when Wall Maria was breached by the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan. Eren seeks revenge on the Colossal Titan, while you have your eyes on the Armored Titan after it killed your parents.

A sizable portion of the anime cast is playable, and the differences between them are slight, so you can feel free to choose your favorite. Stats and play style are mostly determined by what weapons you opt to use, which range from the iconic boxcutter-like swords of the anime to the heavier but immensely powerful thunder spears.

Getting used to the game’s aerial combat can be a little tricky, but you have options to make the game more or less challenging. Cutting down Titans piece by piece until you go for the killing blow on the nape of their neck is highly satisfying, and there are big special attacks that make for some cool set pieces. You also get to play as Titan Shifters like Eren and Annie, so you get the chance to turn into a Titan yourself and wail on the other, smaller Titans.

The game feels great to play, and it has a solid interpretation of the anime’s storyline. It’s a good pick whether you’re a fan or if you want to use this as your entry point into the franchise.

This collection of games is based on the original Yu-Gi-Oh! by the late great Kazuki Takahashi. To recap: Yugi Mutou is a young gaming enthusiast who was frequently bullied in school until he completed the mysterious Millennium Puzzle, an item owned by a legendary, unnamed pharaoh. The spirit of the puzzle inhabits Yugi and takes revenge upon Yugi’s bullies using the mystical Shadow Games—games that expose the evils of those who play them. Yugi and the spirit of the puzzle encounter other Millennium Item users and become embroiled in a millennia-old conflict between the forces of light and darkness.

The game we’re discussing today is a massive collection of 14 Yu-Gi-Oh! games that were released on the Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. Many of these games have never had an official release in English until now! The bulk of these games are digitized or prototype versions of the real-life trading card game, while others include unique games from the manga and anime like Monster Capsule and Dungeon Dice Monsters.

Included in this collection is the Duel Monsters series of games, the first of which predates the real-life trading card game. As such, the rules and card abilities in these games are substantially different from their real-life counterparts, drawing heavily from the Duelist Kingdom story arc of the anime as you play through the events of that story. This trend continues into The Sacred Cards and Reshef of Destruction, both of which have the player joining Yugi, Joey and the others in the Battle City Arc of the anime and manga.

Over the years, the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise has moved on to new characters, new game mechanics and new storylines, many of which are truly amazing in their own right. I’m personally a huge Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D fan! But none of the spin-offs feel quite the same as Yugi and his pals’ adventures. It felt wonderful to spend some time with these characters again.

This collection also gave me a chance to try out games I missed out on when I was a kid, whether that was because I couldn’t afford it or because the game was only released in Japan back in the day. Dungeon Dice Monsters is a game I’ve wanted to play for decades! It was a bit confusing at first, but it’s a unique and enjoyable experience once you get the hang of it.

This game is a deeply nostalgic experience for me as someone old enough to have watched the premiere of the anime on Kids’ WB. And yet Yu-Gi-Oh! has such a timeless appeal that I don’t doubt for a second that younger players will enjoy this retro collection just as much.

This collection is an awesome piece of anime and video game history, bringing together a ton of old-school Game Boy games from the 1990s and 2000s. Check out this collection if you’re a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan, or if you’ve ever been curious about the series.