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Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Review for the Nintendo Wii

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Review for the Nintendo Wii

A Dragon Ball Z Fans Dream

Being new to the series and having not seen the cartoon in several years, I was hardly prepared for the smorgasbord of content I was about to encounter. This game is a dedicated fan’s prize piece, the crème de la crème of all things Dragon Ball. There is a ton of content to unlock, game modes to smash your way through, and above all, characters to choose from. With over 150 combatants in which to wage war, one will hardly grow tired of gawking at the same fighter over and over.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 screenshot

The sheer amount of substance is the best aspect of the game, especially the way it presents it all. Not only does it provide fans with all the great options, but it utilizes the Dragon Ball Z license to the fullest by having all the voices from the show. It showcases a lot of the things that even I remember from way back. Well, we already know that this game is loaded with goodies sure to satisfy, but will the depth of content sway all those unfamiliar with it?

Just getting started can be a little intimidating; there are so many modes to choose from. For beginners, such as myself, I definitely recommend the training because this is not your ordinary fighting game. It is a fast-paced and insane shootout that mimics the battles from the program perfectly. The first time you play it can be a bit jarring. I am used to the more methodical fighting games where the fighting takes place with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Here, the battles can be waged anywhere, whether it’s the skies, the ground or even underwater. On my first play through, the game came off as kind of a button masher, but the more I played, the more I realized that it was much more than that. A lot of the game requires quick timing, and above all the player must utilize his blast moves (powerful projectiles and other special moves) to the fullest. One game online is all it took me to figure out how good someone could get at this game. Believe me; it was not pretty. Although the game was deeper than I originally thought, it still lacks something. Often times battles can take too long, and some, especially in Dragon History, can be extremely frustrating. The controls only maximize this frustration, but I will address that later. The gameplay had its ups and downs, but the mass amount of options laid out can never be questioned.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 screenshot

Dragon History would probably serve as the main option, as it lets players fight through several of the memorable battles in the shows story arc. Beginning with the Saiyan Saga and weaving your way through history, many will remember much of what takes place. Although some of the struggles have been omitted, as you know certain Sagas were painfully long on the show, it is still a neat way to relive the experience. A nice bonus is that each battle begins with a short narration of what is taking place. There are also tournaments to enter, online play, a place to unlock items and customize your favorite characters, training mode, and a few others. The Tournament mode contains many of the classic contests fans will automatically recognize from episodes throughout the show’s run. Whichever mode you choose, it is good to see that the developers did not just leave you with the choice of either story mode or two player combat. The fights in Dragon History can be particularly tough, and sometimes you need a break from them. The added bonus of online matches is hindered by the amount of slowdown that will occur, although that did allow me to catch my breath as some guy pounded me mercilessly.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 screenshot

As for the rest of the game, we will start with the graphics. The characters look great, much like they did in the cartoon. Their movements and special attacks flow seamlessly on screen. The drawback here is the plain backgrounds. The environment does not congeal well with the look of the fighters. They are drab, dreary, and only mildly destructible. Although there are hills and small mountains scattered, they really never come into play or affect the combat in any way whatsoever. With that in mind, the fact that there are 30 different arenas is not nearly as big a deal as the amount of characters to choose from.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 screenshot

The sound is sure to put a smile on any fan’s face. They use all the voices from the show, and each mode is narrated by a character. The presentation is just fabulous. Often times licensed games forget what brought them to the table, but you will find no such oversights here. With the sizeable sum of dialogue used in the game, it is impressive that they did not choose to go the text rout. It really comes in handy in Dragon History, serving as the perfect refresher course for those who have been out of the loop for awhile.

Lastly, the controls, which are far from perfect, are really the reason this game is not as fun as it could be. It seems that even after three games in this series (two on the Wii), they still have not perfected them. Although with the all out action this game serves up, I am not exactly sure how one would go about doing that. Too often it feels like you are flailing your arms this way and that with no real affect. Trying to pull off a really sweet move in crunch time is unresponsive and will always result in you paying for it. It can be quite annoying waving your arm around like an idiot, as your player simply won’t execute the desired move. It does give you the option to use either a classic controller or GameCube controller though.

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. I definitely recommend it for all those who love and miss the show, as for everyone else it’s certainly worth a look.

Features:

  • Online fighting on the Wii platform
  • 10 Game modes
  • Over 150 characters
  • Over 30 battle stages
  • More than 10 types of A.I. balancing for your opponents
  • 1-2 players
  • New Dragon History lets fans select their favorite battle scenes
  • New Battle Replay mode lets you save and replay your favorite battles

    RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.7 Graphics
    Characters looks great, but the last gen feel is far too apparent when you look at the surroundings. 2.5 Control
    This game asks too much out of the Wii-mote and Nunchuk. 4.7 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
    All the voices are here, and sound great. 5.0

    Play Value
    There is a ton of stuff to be had here.

    3.3 Overall Rating – Fair
    Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

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