Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a great refinement over the other games in the series and feels much more fluid.
Not a lot of things have changed since BT2. You can say that the developers went for a more refined game rather than introducing new features and such. BT2 made a lot of great changes to the series and I am more than happy that BT3 did not change the formula. As usual BT3 has the same modes from before Duels, Tournaments, Ultimate battle and story. Duel mode has stayed the same in all of the games in the series. Simply put, pick your character and your opponent and battle it out. Tournaments have introduced a time system. For example, if it's 2:00Pm in the game this certain tournament will open.
When it's 4:00Pm the other certain tournament will open and so forth. Apart from that nothing vital has changed in the tournament mode. Story mode is trying to be better than the other story modes from the past games in the series but still it feels strange and skips a few battles here and there. It's more dynamic but for a newcomer he will have absolutely no idea what's going on between battles. Also disc fusion has been introduced in the ultimate battle section. What basically disc fusion is, it lets you use ultimate battle modes from the other two games in the series, combines them and gives you two new modes, only if you have the other games. These are a nice addition and can help the longevity of the title.
Gameplay wise the fighting feels much better. It's more complex in a way and feels much more rewarding when punching an opponent into a giant rock followed by a well-executed KAMEHAMHA!!! It feels much more like the epic fighting in the anime and that's a step forward for the series. Also a boost has been introduced. When you execute a signature or finishing move you get a little prompt on the bottom of the screen to press square and a certain direction on the directional pad. This gives the attack a little boost to further damage your enemy. The clashes between rushes or energy attacks now look even more amazing and lead to bigger explosions. All around the combat is very fun and it is still hard to learn for newcomers of the series.
The cell-shaded graphics look even better now. They are more crisp , vibrant and look much more lively in general. In the graphics department BT3 excels at delivering anime like feel. The voice track are just like the anime and also includes the Japanese voice which sound excellent as well. Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a great game that refines on the series and makes it accessible for newcomers while still maintaining enough challenge to please the fans.