DragonBall Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3

Rating: T

Score: 8.5

Known for its’ extreme fighting, Goku and friends are still brawling on the Playstation 2 and the Nintendo Wii.

Fighting in this game is a blast. Most any move in the anime, is now in this game. Fast teleportation, trading punches and kicks quickly in midair, and of course, what DragonBall Z game would be complete without explosions? Speaking of explosions, in previous games, most big special attacks offered cut scenes of different parts of the world blowing up, but now only big special attacks offer explosions. Most big special attacks offer a view of the attack hitting something; a wall, the ground, an opponent, and exploding into a bright white flash. The game is an extreme change of pace from previous games. There is very fast action in this game, everything from punches to special attacks. Story mode has been changed the most, rejecting the map you used to fly around in for a simple, straight-forward pick-a-stage design. The battle in story mode has been changed too; one thing new is that bystanders will talk during a battle. This does get really annoying after a while, but famous quotes from the anime can be heard, such as the “Over 9000!”quote. In other games, an objective was presented, then it was up to you to complete it. In this game, you are thrown into a battle, to fight until a button appeared onscreen; once pressed, the story moves on. It’s unfitting for the series, because one part of a story has several battles, and dying in one battle forces you to restart all the previous battle won all over again.

There are a lot of “sagas” in this game, from the “Saiyan Saga” to the “Frieza Saga” to the “Android Saga” and so on, all the sagas from Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT. This sounds really complicated; how is an amateur going to figure all this out? Problem solved, with the games’ built in encyclopedia. Find out the answers to questions such as: Why is Goku fighting his brother? Why is Goku known to Vegeta, Nappa and Broly as “Kakarot”? What are “Super Saiyans”? A quick look in the encyclopedia will clear up any confusion, letting you enjoy the game that much more.

Thought far from perfect, this game is what most fighting games fail to be, fun and simple (kind of). Fans of the series will not be disappointed, and new to the series will enjoy a great explosive fighting game. It’s the best DBZ game of its kind, so far.