The game features the story of the Namek Saga and follows closely the story in the anime to the end of the Frieza Saga, except for the fact that, like in the previous game, Tien Shinhan, Yamcha and Chiaotzu are not dead and only Piccolo is, and they are present in the player's party at the beginning along with Gohan and Krillin (similar to Dragon Ball Z: Goku Gekitōden).

The Mirror spaceship and Fake Namek make brief appearances during the group's journey to Namek in the first chapter of the game, "Emergency! Planet Namek!" Planet Kanassa and Kanassans make a brief appearance in "Exit the universe": during Goku's journey to Namek, he senses there is something wrong on Planet Kanassa. Goku lands on Kanassa and defeats Frieza's soldiers stationed there, freeing the surviving Kanassans from Frieza's rule. A Kanassan thanks him and says he looks a lot like Bardock (Goku's father), who had conquered the planet for Frieza (as shown in the TV special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku). The Kanassan also knows about Bardock's sons, Raditz and Goku, a result of their ability to have visions (an ability that was given to Bardock as punishment in the TV special). Also in this game, unlike the anime, Goku fights all forms of the final boss, Frieza.

This game was "combined" with its predecessor Dragon Ball Z: Kyōshū! Saiyan in 1992 to form the Super Nintendo game Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu. Its sequel is Dragon Ball Z III: Ressen Jinzōningen.