"Not as good as the last Butouden"

This game was the third and last Butouden of the Dragon Ball fighting game series for the Super Famicom released in 1994. There are some improvements from the previous two, but sadly, they made bad changes in other areas. If you are familiar with the Butouden series, then you know what to expect. The battles make use of a large battle area. You can fly into the sky and move far away from your opponent. There is a split-screen when you and your opponent are far apart. At the top of the screen the characters have a health bar and a ki bar. The health bar is for the damage you can take. The ki bar is for performing special ki attacks (and it needs to be charged up).

Graphics: 9.5/10
This is probably the high point of the game. As this was the last Butouden made, it has the best graphics out of all of them. Characters are done very well and look even more detailed than the previous games. The backgrounds are also much more colorful and bright. However, there seems to be less of a variety of backgrounds. Many of the backgrounds are the same ones reused, except that they are for different times of the day (dawn, afternoon).

Music/Sound: 5/10
In my opinion, the music in this game is average. There are not as many tunes as the Butouden 2 and the music is not as good either. However, some of these themes are actually reused later in some Playstation Dragon Ball games so I guess some people liked them.
The sound is very good. Like the previous Butoudens, this one once again makes the use of voice samples. You can hear the anime characters' voices as you perform attacks. However, since this has already been done before, it is nothing new and is what is expected of this game.

Control: 9/10
The controls in this game are just like Butouden 2. Movement is responsive and all the special attacks are very easy to do. They even made a better change. Charging up your ki to do special ki attacks is now MUCH faster. It takes only a few seconds to attain a full ki bar. Firing your special ki attacks also takes less time. The improved speed is a great improvement for this game.

Gameplay: 7/10
This is an area where this game has some problems. First, there is no story mode in this game. The previous two Butoudens had great story modes, but for some reason, they saw it fit to cut it out of this game. Instead, there is just a Tenkaichi Budoukai (tournament) mode and a regular VS. mode. Without a story mode, this greatly reduces the fun factor in this game.
The selection of characters in this game is very good. They took all the top fighters from Dragon Ball Z's Buu saga. You can choose from Son Goku, Son Gohan, Android 18, Majin Buu, Dabura, Kaioshin, Majin Vegita (that's me), Chibi Trunks, and Goten. Mirai (Future) Trunks is also available as a secret character, though he doesn't fit into this game.

Overall: 8/10
All in all, this is an above-average game. It features good graphics and good battles. However, it has poor music, and the lack of a story mode is a big downfall. This game is good enough for a couple playthroughs, but it will getting boring quick.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/01, Updated 04/02/01