"Your Wish Has Been Granted"

Just the fact that it has the "sonic sway" built into the game, made this game more of a Dragon Ball Z like experience than Budokai Tenkaichi 2 was. Not to diminish Budokai Tenkaichi 2 as a game, but there are certain things in this game that will make you not want to go back to playing BT2. (Similar to the drastic difference from BT1 to BT2).

Graphics: Believe it or not, these were one of the things that were marginally improved. (As if it could get any better.) They seemed to bring back the flash on the screen from when you were hit by a big attack, except, they made it better. The more powerful attacks, such as the 10X Kamehameha, have an extra added effect, which results in impressive display on the screen. Some of the newer stages, such as the King's Castle, and Outer Space, were also very pleasing on the eyes. Aura's were very pretty, and not all characters had the same power-up stance.

Gameplay: There were a couple of new mechanics added into the battle system of BT3. One of these is the sonic sway. In the middle of blocking a basic melee combo, your character can proceed to sway left, right, back, and under all of your opponent's punching and kicking. There is also the Z counter, which is another way to break melee combos. However, the battle system now relies heavily on countering, the most integral one being the teleport counter. To teleport counter, you press the guard button just when a powerful physical attack, or beam attack is just about to hit you.

Another change to the battle system is now, not all characters fight exactly the same way. Not all characters can do the same physical moves, making for more variety, when playing with the many different characters. Story mode also seems to do a better job of immersing you into the Dragon Ball Z legend. While you fight, you can hear the characters talking in the background.

Not only that, but you can press R3, which will allow you to follow the story, almost exactly like the TV show. For example, during the last fight in the Cell games, which is, SSj2 Teen Gohan vs. Super Perfect Cell, during the last couple minutes of the fight, you can press R3, and a short cut-scene will start. Cell and Gohan will be talking, and then Gohan will proceed to do the Father-Son Kamehameha. Cell will also do is ultimate move, which is called the Solar Kamehameha, an equally huge Kamehameha.

Both Kamehameha's would hit, resulting in a huge beam clash, just like in the TV show, and you have to rotate the analog sticks in your controller. If you when, the beam hits Cell, and the same scene from the end of the Cell games in the anime ensues, and Cell is obliterated completely. It was a nice touch, and DBZ fans will love it.

Ultimate battle mode was also much better this time around, with a mode similar to a small RPG, called Sim Dragon. You would have a set amount of days to train your character up for the battle ahead, and you could also explore the land, and various other events could happen. Wii version had Online mode, which was so-so, while PS2 had Disc Fusion, which also wasn't a big deal. All disc fusion is, is loading the Ultimate Battle modes from BT3's predecessor.

Another thing that Spike also did was eliminate the whole thing with the Kid Buu infinite. For those of you that didn't know, in BT2, if you play on the ruined Earth stage, and you perform Kid Buu's Mystic Rush, then the opponent will be rocketed into the air. While they are rocketed into the air, you can begin charging your Ki, and your opponent will not be able to recover to stop you, since he or she is still flying through the air. Before your opponent can hit the floor of the stage, and recover at all, you can perform the rush again. Rinse, repeat.

But that's not the case anymore! Now, instead of your opponent flying into the air (like they should) they only pop up into the air a little, and fall back down. While in the TV show, the opponent really did fly that high in the air (for rush moves that sent you flying that high in BT2), this is better for the game itself.

Sound: Not much can be said about the sound here, other than all of the DBZ sound effects seem to be present. The explosions were loud, and the sound was clear. I was playing it on high quality speakers, complete with sub-woofer. So if the sound wasn't clear, then it would easily be heard.

Overall: Yeah, this game is a buy. There's a lot to do, and you can always play it with friends. For those of you who like to beat the crap out of the computer repeatedly, then definitely buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/12/07

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