Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Review
When it comes to fighting games we always need to think about anime characters ever since Street Fighter 2 or Capcom’s hits. The world of Dragon Ball Z is one that has so many fans that it would have been stupid not to have a game that would be based on it and trying to bring in the feeling of the series into a combat video game. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the sequel to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, of course, one game that I have played for such a long time with friends and had a hell of a time, even more than with Tekken but less when compared to Mortal Kombat Armageddon, which was a lot of fun because of the sheer number of characters you could have chosen to fight as. Now, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is one game that did receive a lot of high marks in reviews from all of the specialists out there and you need to agree with them. This new game from the series does bring in a lot of improvements but it also features some downsides that should be known.
The entire series can be compared to EA’s sports games because there is little improvement from year to year and we do seem to get one Dragon Ball Z fighting game each year, probably due to the popularity it enjoys. A lot of faithful players of the series might have decided not to purchase Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and not because it is not a great game to play. The real problem stands in the fact that it basically feels exactly as the game before it. We have 161 fighters and the levels where you play do look better with extra elements and such things but after you get used to that (30 minutes) you will notice that you will obtain the same feeling as in Dragon Ball Z:Budokai Tenkaichi 2. A lot of reviews leave this out but it should be mentioned as it is important. The overall feeling you get from a fighting game stands in the actual fighting and if it is all similar to before, why bother?
The story mode is probably the one that will feel disappointing. In Budokai Tenkaichi 2 we had so many fights that it was very hard to complete them and a storyline that took advantage of the entire Dragon Ball Z saga, or as far as I have seen it. Budokai Tenkaichi 3 goes for cinematics. This storyline does not feel right as you basically see only 2 characters on the screen at the same time and you hear the other voices from off screen. That does not look or sound right.
The battles are highly entertaining and they do seem better when compared with the predecessor. There are some modifications in the way you fight, not much but you can feel it. We can say that balance is better in this game, both in attack, defense and overall feeling in story mode and online mode.
On the whole we can say that Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a very good game but if you already own BT2 you should probably skip this title. On the other hand, if you want to get your hand on a game in the series as you did not play BT2 you should go after BT3. It is a lot of fun and will keep you having fun for days, maybe even weeks (we are talking about in game play). The actual fighting is an improvement in BT3 and the storyline is acceptable although the one in BT2 is more fun.