Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3

There's no fighting game quite like Dragon Ball Z, and BT3 plays brilliantly. [Feb 2008, p.78]

When looking at the core gameplay, and ignoring the titles before it, BT3 is a fast, fun, and amazingly deep experience for fans of the award-winning anime.

The developers of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 went above and beyond to create this game. The large cast ensemble and various game modes will have players occupied for a long time. The game only gets better since you are able to play online.

All in all, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a pretty solid title. With all the modes there are to do and the added online play I had plenty to keep myself busy.

Essentially its predecessor with more characters, more challenging content, minor gameplay tweaks, and better controls.

It has some wonderful graphics and animation, excellent sound effects and enjoyable voices to complement the fun and endlessly playable fighting action.

Really this is the definitive Dragonball Z game, for the fans anyway, there’s not much they can do to improve it, bar maybe a class system and some working net code.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is candy, and it feels like the developers know it. This isn’t a deep fighting game, and it isn’t meant to be. It’s fan service at its most basic level. And while the Wii controls are a fun diversion at first, the inclusion of classic and GameCube controller support makes the game at least playable, if not spectacular.

Tenkaichi 2 and Tenkaichi 3 come out roughly the same. Enough mild improvements with enough losses means an equal experience. This is rather problematic for the consumer, who would probably rather spend less money on a similar game experience with no drastic improvements and minor fixes to problems in the latest version.

But despite what this game has to offer it remains hard to recommend a purchase simply because of all the déjà-vu this will give you. There is almost nothing new here from the previous Tenkaichi titles, besides a ramped up character list and a couple shifts in the story mode.

If you've played any of the previous Tenkaichi titles, you know exactly what to expect here -- a relatively shallow button-masher that does a darn fine job of letting you relive the Dragon Ball experience.

It still looks great on the hardware and accurately represents the popular anime/manga series, but the statute of limitations for similar last-gen sequels expires now - it's time for Atari to take this franchise to next-gen consoles and put some real force behind these extraordinary characters and settings.

Think of this like a Madden game. If you are an extreme fan of the series, you are going to buy it, but if you bought the last game, it is probably not worth it. Of course, if you do not have any of the series, this is a great one to start out on.

Putting the controls on the remote was an admirable innovation last year but it's not so clever now. [Feb 2008, p.50]

In the end, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Nintendo Wii is a good solid fighter that's not going to necessarily change anyone's mind on the series.

The best Dragon Ball Z game to date, and though it can be a lot of fun, it feels more like Tenkaichi 2.5 than Tenkaichi 3.

What Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 lacks in innovation it makes up for with quality. This is undoubtedly the best anime fighter available and subtle tweaks have improved it over the previous installments.

This game is without doubt a very decent beat 'em up that will occupy you for several hours. The small changes in this sequel don't make this the big hit that the Wii could have used this early in the year, but anyone who takes pleasure out of fighting games and anime will have fun with this. Owners of the previous game have got to ask themselves if the online mode and a few new characters are worth the purchase.

The problems playing online are a major let down, and, for us, prevent the game from getting an eight. Ignore that, and, somewhat surprisingly, you've got one of the Wii's most fun fighting games.

When it comes down to it, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is certainly a good game that could probably use a fresh, new developer’s perspective on the series since this action fighter is starting to get a bit stale.

As an overall package, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the perfect ensemble for all those die hard fans out there. With tons of options and modes, there is just so much for the player to do. Online play furthers the longevity of the title. Unfortunately, from my point of view the quality does not match the quantity. The controls annoyed me too much, and for a game that relies on fast paced action, that just will not do.

This is a game (famed for its capturing of a hardcore following) that has been made much less palatable for its key demographic. What's worse is that the changes are entirely unsuccessful in convincing anyone but fans of the show that any of this really matters.

The tweaks improve it, but Tenkaichi continues to alienate with its confusing pace. [Apr 2008, p.73]

While not original, Tenkaichi 3 is a must-buy for hardcore Dragon Ball fanatics.

In summary, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is fundamentally flawed in its basic execution; in a fighting game, the inability to fight properly is a severe drawback.