Cover to DBZ Budokai 3

If you're a Dragonball Z fan, and you like video games, but don't own this game, I'm disappointed in you. This game is so good that people who aren't even fans of Dragonball Z would enjoy it. In fact, it was playing this game that re-solidified my place in the Dragonball Z fanbase!

This is the third in a series of games in the Dragonball Z: Budokai series. When the first came out it was a landmark in DBZ game history, since the last good Dragonball game to come out was for Super Nintendo and those games weren't ever released in North America. The only North American DBZ games to come out before it, pretty much sucked. Now, we have Budokai 3, a worthy addition to the series, and the most complete.

You'll start off with an already decent myriad of your favorite Dragonball characters. Selectable off the bat are no-brainers like Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo, and as the game unfolds you will unlock some obvious selections; Freeza and Vegeta come to mind, but you will also unlock some surprises. Android 20, Saibamen, Nappa, Raditz, in fact, there are around 40 characters to choose from when you've got them all unlocked. As far as game length and completion, this game will grab onto you for a while until you suck the life out of it.

The graphics will appeal to a Dragonball fan for sure. Cell shaded 3D renderings of the characters give them the Anime look. Sometimes when the game is paused, it looks just like a screenshot from the anime itself! Very realistic if you love the series.

I have to give the battle system credit. Being a competitive player of Super Smash Bros. Melee (An incredibly advanced skill based fighting system when you get into the competition rungs), I wasn't expecting this game to have quite the same "advanced" feel and learning curve, but I was wrong. Here's how it works. In standard fighting game tradition, two players will square off. You both have life bars and try to reduce your opponents to zero using moves, some special and some not so special. And that's where the similarities end. First of all, depending which mode you're playing, all the characters might not have the same amount of life. But some might have higher defense. This is because the game features an RPG-style mode where you level up your character and choose which stats to upgrade. You can even save your home-made character to your memory card and battle your friend's personalized characters. In standard duel and tournament modes however, these stats don't apply. In addition to your Health bars there is a Ki Bar, which can be raised by simply holding X and tapping away from your opponent twice, to charge up. You need this KI for any attack using the Energy button, and also for each character's Ultimate. The normal fighting is standard fighting fare, with a punch and kick button to create combos. Press R1 and your character will charge up a "smash" that sends your opponent flying. If you press Circle directly after smashing your opponent away, you teleport behind them and hit them again, and if you press circle directly after THAT you do it again, and again, and again, as long as you have the KI for it. This is particularly effective at the end of a long combo that smashes them at the end of it. There's also a teleport-cancel system. Whenever ANY attack the opponent sends is just about to hit you, tap forward and X at the same time and you will teleport behind them and hit them (This can also be followed up by circle). Think that's enough? There's more. There's even a Fatigue meter. This determines how succesful an Ultimate Attack will be. As if that wasn't enough, we're not nearly done yet.

There's Hyper Mode, which puts you in a state of massive tension, although your Ki steadily drains until it's gone, at which point you will be stunned for a moment. If you're in hyper mode and your opponent is not, you will be impervious to being stunned by enemy attacks except for the powerful smashes and special waves like Kamehameha. If you do a teleport-follow-up on a smash attack while in hyper mode, you execute Dragon Rush, which basically executes a massive, cinematic combo based on luck. Of course there are the ultimates. As you probably guessed, they are pretty ultimate. They are usually each character's "Signature Move". Goku's is the spirit bomb. Vegeta's is Big Bang. Freeza's is Death Ball. There are some flaws in the gameplay.. for example, Krillin is going to have a pretty tough time beating Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta (Yes, he's in this game.), and even if he does beat him, it doesn't make sense, because in the series Gogeta could probably kill Krillin by flicking him into outer space. But that wouldn't be fair. For the most part it's pretty balanced though, if you choose your capsules right , although some characters are far and away better then others. Cell, Piccolo, and Bardock are three extremely good characters with very useful moves, however Uub just can't compete if you're going at it seriously. (Capsules explained later).

If all that sounds like a little too much, it's really not. There is a great hands-on tutorial in the game that teaches you all the basics, and even all the advanced. In addition to all these features, though, there's also the unique Capsule system. You will find and purchase items called Capsules. The majority of which are fighting capsules. How it works is that whenever you play duel you may use Custom mode. You have 7 capsule slots and may customize your character with Techniques, Equipment, and Items. For example, Goku's Kamehameha attack uses 1 capsule slot. Equip it twice, and you get a more powerful wave, but it takes 2 slots. Only some moves may be equipped twice. A mystical vest will take 4 of Goku's slots, but provides him with 40% damage reduction. It's all up to you, do you want a character with all his moves? Or do you want super strong defense. Would you rather have the character's Ultimate attack, or sacrifice it for a stronger Kamehameha? Lots of depth here.

And I haven't even mentioned Dragon Arena mode. Once you've completed the entire Dragon Universe mode, which will take you long enough, you're given Dragon Arena. You pick any of the 40-ish characters, and level him up by picking your opponent and squaring off. Some capsules can only be gotten by playing through Dragon Arena mode, so you're going to have to if you want 100%.

Really adding to the completeness factor of this game is the awesome soundtrack. And not just the music, which is awesome, but the sound effects department really kicks ass too. The teleporting, flying, and beams all sound perfectly like they do in the show. The voices of all the characters are voiced by their original voice actors from the show. Now this can actually get pretty annoying, because I'm just sick of hearing Cell say "FEEL MY REAL POWER" in the exact same annoying tone every time he goes into hyper mode, but kudos for having the voices in the game anyway! If you were lucky enough to get a Greatest Hits copy, the game also includes a Japanese Voice mode where they are voiced by their Japanese voiceactors.

If you're looking for the best fighting game ever made, this isn't it. But it IS the best Dragonball Z Fighting game ever made, and it belongs in any Dragonball fan's collection.