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Another worthy addition to the Tenkaichi library

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 23 / 24
Date: December 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3

The world of Dragon Ball games has always been a hit and miss one. Many games based on the series have been dismal failures, dragging the already lackluster world of anime gaming down a notch. The only good games based on the series were the fighting games, and even these didn't truly capture the high-flying, butt-kicking excitement of the anime. This was remedied by the arrival of the Budokai Tenkaichi series, which gave DBZ gamers the action they had always dreamed of in a video game. The second installment improved greatly upon the first. And now we arrive at number three.

As a whole, Tenkaichi 3 is a great game, which makes some modest improvements over its predecessor. Sadly though, it isn't the leaps-and-bounds improvement I'm sure plenty of DBZ gamers were hoping for. Despite an improvement here and there, this feels more like what BT2 should have been, more like an expansion pack to BT2 than a full-blown sequel. Let's take a look at where the game succeeds and where it falters.

THE GOOD:

-Massive character roster.
Every character/character state that appeared in the previous installment appears here. But it doesn't stop there! Roughly twenty or so new characters, not seen before in a Budokai Tenkaichi game, are playable as well. Amongst them are King Vegeta, King Cold, Spopovich, Devil Man, Nail, Nova Shenron, and even Arale from Akira Toriyama's other series, Dr. Slump! New versions of old characters have been added as well, namely Goku and Piccolo. In addition, the game also features the characters that were exclusive to the Japanese Wii version of BT2.

-Combat engine remains the same, but gets its share of refinement.
One of the biggest complaints that people had about the second installment of Tenkaichi was that it was far too easy to kill or be killed by spamming the opponent to death with the same special attack, over and over again - or even just melee attacking them to death from behind. This has been remedied. Combos now fade into a teleporting attack, preventing combo spamming. Other little refinements have been made in a number of areas, and they help to prevent these spamming issues the first game had. In addition to all this, you can hit a button combo after launching your attack to improve its power. As a whole the engine in this game feels a bit more "free form" than the last game - even if you're locked on to your enemy, you can still move around freely. It's tougher to find your opponent, which adds to the challenge. Blast 1 usage is also more well-thought than in earlier games.

-Improved computer AI.
If you don't have a human opponent to play with, rejoice! The AI has been given a revamp, and now it plays far better than it has before. Even on normal difficulty, I have lost several fights to the computer - which should say plenty about the fine-tuning.

-The characters are a bit more balanced than the last game.
Some of the so-called "weaker" characters from the last game have been tuned up a bit for this installment. Alternatively, some of the more powerful ones have been toned down a bit, to make the battles a little more fair and even.

-Excellent graphics.
The graphics were one of the best parts of the previous Tenkaichi title. And they're no less excellent here. These graphics aren't going to win any awards or anything, but they're good for what they are. It's tough to bring a 2D anime into 3D, but it's done so well here.

-Online play.
This one pretty much speaks for itself. Something the world of DBZ gaming has needed for a long time.

-Multiple gameplay modes.
In addition to the obvious story and tournament modes, this game adds in its share of new modes as well. Amongst these are a mode in which you must win a fight under certain criteria, and several new different tournaments, each with its own way of doing things. The level-up/customization mode has also gotten somewhat of an overhaul. It's good to see they didn't just leave off at the standard, obligatory stuff.

-Story mode has been rethought.
Another big complaint about the story mode in the second Tenkaichi was that you, essentially, had to win every fight, regardless of whether or not it happened in the series that way. Gamers complained about winning these fights in the story mode, only to have their character die in the ensuing cutscene. Fortunately, the mode has been completely redone here. There are multiple phases to a battle, usually employing multiple characters. This results in battles more akin to those of the series. There's even a "what if" mode that presents some new, interesting fights, and a special mode that covers fights from the movies.

-Characters have more individuality than before.
In the previous game, lots of the characters had the same attacks, and nothing set them apart - apart from the way the characters doing them looked. Here, the attacks (in many cases) are made more individual. For instance, with Frieza Form One's rushing attack, he whacks the enemy in the face with his back turned to them, and then smirks. Little touches like this add a lot to the experience.

-More character outfits than ever before!
There are plenty of cool outfits here that weren't in the previous game, including the Toei-miscolored Vegeta from before he arrived on earth, and even Yamcha's old desert bandit attire!

THE BAD:
-Still some key characters missing from the roster.
Why no Garlic Jr. henchmen? Why no Cooler Armored Squadron (other than Salza?) Pui Pui and Yakon appear as parts of Babidi's attacks, but are not playable on their own! Why only two of the evil dragons from GT? What about GT Trunks and GT Vegeta (the unpossessed version?) I was glad to see this game put in a lot more characters, not only from Z but also the classic series and GT, but they missed some key ones.

-Story mode has issues.
I admire the programmers for making a story mode closer to the actual fights in the anime, but because of this, the mode itself is far shorter. I cruised through the good majority of it the day I bought the game! It's not helped by the fact that only the most major battles of the series are covered, and even a few key ones are missing, including Trunks against Cyborg Frieza and King Cold. My last issue with the story mode is that, due to the fights being so long, you can lose in a later part of the fight - and have to repeat the entire fight as a result. It doesn't help things any that some parts of the mode result in instant death. My last complaint is that it doesn't feature the "world map" styling that the previous game had, so you can't go on subquests to get extra items and money (but you can earn these in other modes of gameplay.)

-Characters play too much like they did in the previous game.
Budokai Tenkaichi 2 owners will be disappointed to find that the characters here who were in the last game (over nine tenths of the roster) play pretty much like they did the last time around. Some of them have received no new refinements or special attacks whatsoever.

-Feels more like a Budokai Tenkaichi 2 expansion pack than a full-blown sequel.
There are some new modes and characters here, but it just doesn't feel like a totally new game. Rather, it feels like everything that BT2 should have been to begin with. This doesn't detract from my overall good opinion of the game though.

-Seems like it was rushed out for the holiday season.
There are lots of little production flaws that are noticeable, revealing that the programmers most likely rushed, not refining their work. There are plenty of spelling errors in the game, and some characters don't even talk in the right voice - Super Saiyan 4 Goku talks in the voice of the Kid Goku form he transforms from, for instance. While a good game, it needed more refining.

-Still not enough customization/creation elements.
When is a DBZ game going to give us a "create a fighter" mode? And while we're at it, how about a mode that allows the gamer to customize character outfits and the like? Simply being able to customize a character's stats isn't that interesting.

OVERALL:
Overall, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a solid addition to the DBZ game library, which needs every good game it can get. It's not a full-blown, world-scale improvement over the previous game, but it's a nice addition to the series that does surpass its predecessor in most respects. If you liked the previous game, you'll definitely like the latest installment. It stays true to the previous games, but improves just enough elements to stay interesting.

Thumbs up.

Dragon Ball Z fans will be happy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Pros
1. Good controls. I have played with both the classic controller and wiimote. The classic controller gives you greater control but isn't as fun as using the wiimote. The wiimote controls are not just tacked on. They put a lot of time in making wiimote work with this game. The one problem is some moves are really hard to do with the wiimote but once you get the timing down you'll be ok. Oh yeah even though some moves are harder on the wiimote others are a lot easier but with that said no moves are hard using the classic controller.

2. The graphics. I know this looks bad compared to the stuff you see on PS3 or xbox but I still like the look of this game. It basically looks like the cartoon and I want to feel like I'm fighting in the cartoon.

3. The game itself. Yeah this thing is not easy. You might want to play this on easy. I like it this way but a lot of little kids are going to want this game and it will be way beyond them.

4. Sound. You can pick English or Japanese and both sound like the cartoon.

5. Options. There are many options in this game and people to unlock.

Cons
1. Dragon History. This is the story mode. I don't like the way it was done. I wanted to play from the start of the anime to the end. The way they do it is you fight in some of the key battles of the anime.

2. Online games lag. I'm not sure if it is distance between me and the person I'm fighting or something wrong with nintendo.

All in all this is a great DBZ game. I consider it one of the top 10 wii games out right now.

Online LAG!!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you do not plan on playing this game online then I would say go for it! The controls are much improved over the last version and there are tons of new characters and transformations to play with.

If you are buying this because of the online game play then DO NOT PURCHASE!!! Online barely works on this game. It is incredibly laggy for everyone who tries to use it and a fix has not been released yet even though Nintendo and Atari are both aware of the problem.

My son loves this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This was one birthday gift that keeps on giving as it is played so often.

Awesome Game! Great Gift Idea!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My husband loved this game. The Wii controller takes some time to get used to it with this game but he is getting the hang of it now.

Great Game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Overall this is a great and fun fighting game for the wii. Its inovative. and sure gives ya a great workout too and i wasnt even looking for a workout lol. but other than that. This is one of the better games for the wii.

Wow, Best Dragonball Z (game ever especially on the Wii)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

What can I say?
This is an awesome game.
It has tons of characters, better graphics, fun Wii controls, team battles in story, night and day stages, play as bad guys on story, better customizing system allowing you to ad flight ability to Dragonball characters who can't fly, Better character selection screen with better drawings, and better music. Put all of these things together you get a great game that you know that once you beat it you'll come back again and again.

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