Due to an easy yet complex fighting system, faithfulness, amazing graphics & sound, Budokai 3 is the best DBZ game e
The battle system of Budokai 3 is awesome. You have the main buttons for punching, kicking, blocking and shooting energy blasts.Of course you can chain combos, pull off death moves such as Kamehameha was four taps of Square and one press of circle. By pressing X at the right time, you can dodge an attack, or by pressing X in your opponents direction you can perform a teleport attack or combo of them. These take up precious ki energy which you need to pull off Transformations and Super moves, which by the way, have never looked so good. By pressing all the shoulder buttons (which can be configured to one shoulder button) you enter Hyper Mode. From here you can press the Hyper Mode button again to lunge at your opponent, if you connect you begin the Ultimate Move, these require you to win a mini-game with a filling gauge. By increasing your opponents fatigue, which you get from hammering them a lot, makes them more succeptable to Ultimate moves. You also perform DragonRushes, which are generic knocking back and forth with combos in pre-scripted cutscene format, you press one of the available buttons and you opponent does as well, if you match, the move is blocked, if not, the attacker overpowers the loser. On the third and final part of the Rush, the character will perform a different Ultimate move, a scripted DragonRush ending attack or a unique ending attack that isn't an Ultimate move. It's easier than it sounds I tell you. The capsule system returns, with the addition of pretty useless item capsules that are handy less than 20% for restoring health or giving an attack boost. Of course, if you have a character like Goku or Vegeta with a lot of moves, you'l be glad to hear Breakthrough has returned. Fusions return once again, and you have to do the minigame-again. This time you instantly revert once times up, not when you fall over. Potaras return, using the button match mini-game from before. All in all, Budokai 3 has a very large and complex batle system that's easy to pick up and master.
The graphics are were Budokai 3 really shines, with gorgeous cell-shaded visuals that fans will drool over. Characters are colourful and the special effects of attacks look amazing. The aura animation is also improved, and Goku Super Saiyan 3 at MAX! ki, or Teen Gohan or Trunks at Super Saiyan 2 MAX! are great to look at with all that power. The opening animation rocks, and looks betetr than ever before. The only two things wrong with the graphics are the lackluster cutscenes, even though the backgrounds and models look great, and the Ultimate move animation is unfairly recycled from Budokai 2 for a lot of moves.
The music is practically flawless, brand new compositions fit in well with the story mode scenes and there are many battles themes. The music may get on your nerves after hearing it a bit, but the music is on the whole very well done. I'm reviewing the voice acting based on the Platinum/Collector's Edition/Greatest Hits version, where there is voice acting in English and Japanese. FUNimation's voice actors still sound great, if not better than they did in the series and still have plenty of spirit. All the series voice actors return and sounds exactly like the show. Like FUNimation's actors, the Japanese cast aren't bored of voicing the chracters either, and give it their all with catchphrases, dialog from story mode and battle cries. There is a lot of value for this game. It'll take ages to unlock all the chracters and their capsules and the Level Up system for Dragon Universe and Dragon Arena allow intense customisation. You can put your custom characters on the net and create tournaments with the characters. After all these years, Budokai 3 password forums are still booming. Overall, Budokai 3 is a game to buy, DBZ fan or not. Of course DBZ fans will get the most out of it, but the graphics, sound and gameplay are all high quality, and with its lastability, Budokai 3 is a game for everyone.