Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 is a fighting game similar to the Super Butōden sub-series. Players fight against other characters in one-on-one matches, and the fighter who manages to deplete the opponent's health bar wins the bout and becomes the winner of the match. The game features five modes of play, a roster of 22 playable characters and their respective transformations with five additional characters being unlockable via cheat code.The title is notable for using actual cel drawings from the animators as character sprites and cutscenes before the fights,  which were a novelty at the time of its original release in Japan but theses cutscenes were removed on the European and North American releases. Ultimate Battle 22 uses a customizable six-button control scheme.  Special moves are present in conventional format, with most commands consisting of button combinations. Characters can also dash back and forth by pressing L1 and R1 respectively.[1] Players can also charge their Ki gauge by holding the X and square buttons to unleash a special attack. Unlike the Super Butōden entries and Buyū Retsuden, the split-screen mechanic was omitted, and both fighters are now shown in a single screen.