"A great DBZ game that keeps all the good parts of the previous 2 games, but still isn't perfected."

Hey boys and girls! Are you searching for the perfect way to make your own DBZ storylines? Are you a rabid DBZ fan who collects all their merchandise? Or do you just want a game that has a power of maximum? Well, then this game is for you!

Gameplay - The gameplay in it's own is a 3D fighter. Not Soul Calibur 3 3D, but more like a free-roam fighting game esque gameplay. The most overall change was made in this category, be it good or bad. The AI is harder, which is something that everyone wanted in the last 2 games, and yes, it WILL take you some time to adapt to it. The basic B1 (blast 1), B2 (Blast 2) and UB (Ultimate blast) mechanics have been perfected. Instead of taking the time to charge, some attacks have the ability to be "boosted" by pressing Square and any of the directional buttons based on what's on screen. The only bad thing is that this will become commonplace, and there really isn't any reason not to do it. To me, it's like giving someone a false sense of interaction. If you don't like that, then some attacks still require charging. Many Characters have been altered as well, for better or for worse. Take Cell as an example. He now has Full power Death beam (Imagine Freeza's death beam, but bigger) Ultimate Combo (rush attack) and for his UB... he finally got that damn Solar Kamehameha. Now you can have your dream clash with Father Son Kamehameha, and Solar Kamehameha. Speaking of Father-son Kamehameha, there is a new type of attack, deemed "blast rush". It's just what it seems like, a UB (UBs are the only attacks that have this property) that when comes in contact with your opponent, switches to a rush-like move. The resulting attack usually completely annihilates the opponent, reducing them to dust. Same goes for other UB rush attacks when they finish the foe off.

The greatest downfall this game took was it's customization. Not only can you no longer customize from the vs. screen, but it's borderline impossible to make a character worth using without spending hours of your time gathering Z-points, which can be obtained from completing missions and tournaments. You might just want to stick to passwords for this one.

Story - Not much to say here. It's the bare bones of the DBZ storyline. I guess the saving grace is the interactive cutscenes. By pressing "R3" when prompted, you advance in the storyline. Sometimes you even automatically use attacks, which most of the time immediately kill the opponent, but the same also goes for the opponent. The interactive scenes are accurate to the storyline, and the story mode is actually improved from the previous games.
Still too short though.

Graphics/Sound - Awesome, to say the least. The graphics are the epitome of cell shading, almost perfectly detailed with few if any errors in sight. Honestly, the cell shading couldn't get any better and still be accurate to DBZ. Think about it: Okami style cell-shading wouldn't be very DBZ like, now would it? X3

The music is great as well. Although some die-hard Japanese fans may not like it, by American standards the music isn't half bad. It really fits the mood of this fast-paced game. In fact, the music is in perfect rhythm with the punches and kicks you hear while you are flying towards your opponent. 1 word: Epic. As far as the voice acting goes, some voices have been changed from the anime.

Play Time/Replayability - It shouldn't take you more then 10 hours to unlock all of the story mode characters, but then there's the tedious task of collecting the dragonballs. This bumps it up to about 15 hours for unlocking all of the characters, 20 for stages, and up to 30 for all of the Potaras (used for customization, not for character unlocking anymore). As far as replayability goes, you can reenact your own storyline a lot better then the story mode can. As far as the what-if stories go, they suck. Simple as that. Make up your own storylines.

Final Recommendation - If you are a fan of DBZ, even a small one, buy this game. You will get too addicted to it to just rent it. Even non-DBZ fans should buy this. Hell, you should rent this game even if you hate DBZ. Trust me, you WILL like it. And if you are a parent, buy this for your kids if they like anime. You wont regret it, and they WILL thank you. Even if they hate DBZ, ask them a week later and see if they don't like this game. Overall, this is one of the best DBZ games ever made, but it still has it's weaknesses, although only a few of them.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/07, Updated 06/29/08

Game Release: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (US, 11/13/07)