To sum up this game: Bittersweet symphony

Summary
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The Dragonball Z franchise hails from a time where the US of A didn't even know Dragonball Z existed. When Toonami and the geeks over at Funimation made DBZ's debut it became practically an overnight hit, the greatest success since Bandai’s Power Rangers. With its phenomenal success and marketing being the way it is, inevitably DBZ video games made their market.



The Playstation 2 finally filled the void since a long cultured standing of Japanese DBZ fighting games. The first establishment was the nicely presented but lackluster Dragonball Z Budokai, with a nicely done story mode and a unique battle system. Its game engine was pretty simple and could really only appeal to prepubescent teenage boys. It was apparent that Funimation and Infogrames (The companies involved with Dragonball Z Budokai's creation) were not entirely ready to create a fufilling DBZ game. A sequel eventually followed DBZ Budokai's footsteps which turned out to be a jacked up version of it's predecessor. The game featured some new game play mechanics and a story mode that was downgraded into a cheesy board game. Not too much had changed.



However the latest installment, Budokai 3 clearly moved the frontier forward and broke some new barriers with it's fighting engine. The first time you pick up the controller and give it a go it really does feel epic just like the television series that birthed it. You have controls for punching, kicking, energy blasts and guarding, as well as button combinations that allow you to charge your energy up to execute special attacks, energy blasts and transformations. The object of this fighting game isn’t anything new, you subject your opponent to your attacks in hope of whitiling his vitality until he is subjected to unconciousness. Pretty standard but it’s application isn’t.



A new and interesting mechanic added to the game is the cinematic "DragonRush" attack, which basically is an attack that lasts in phases, and it's success and damage rate purely determined by the players in this button tug-of-war. If the players button inputs match up then the Dragonrush ends. I will tell you that it looks breathtaking and mind-blowing for a while, but the zeal eventually runs of the coin and loses its spark. The finishing moves of the game look impressive and true to the series. It's all here folks, Kamehameha waves, Special Beam Cannons, Big Bang Attacks and Death Balls. All of the characters signature attacks are here and leave their mark in fine style, and depending on the success of the attack, (Yes there is a little mini game here too!) will actually show a cutscene of the planet getting ravaged, (Enough environmental damage here to give the Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore a run for their money!)



Despite the fast paced action, resplendent visuals, signature attacks, and a few dazzling mechanics, the game remains the same at the core, a button masher that any other non-dbz fan would probably abandon with enough plays. This game has some serious strengths but also some unresolved weaknesses that remain. A new concept in this Budokai 3 is the baseline ki energy system, which is to say the characters energy bar will remain at the same level during a match and will gradually fall or rise if powered beyond or under its typical level. Each character has his or her own baseline level, the bigger the better. This mechanic spells problems as far as game balance goes. DBZ fans beware that there is little chance, even on a whim and a prayer, that a character such as Frieza, Cell, or even Broli will be able to match to a character with an absurd baseline level such as Omega Shenron or Kid Buu, simply because at the start of the match the energy levels are so high you will easily be beat down the tournament ring and out teleported each time before suffering tons of damage and being able to fight back or charge your ki, and don't even think about getting a perfect victory!


Overall despite this games shortcomings this is still a fun game that is definitely worth checking out if you are a DBZ fan and non dbz fans may come to enjoy this as well!


Gameplay
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3.8/5

Why? - I enjoyed the spectacle and the dazzling graphics and action but there are some definite problems and game balance issues.


Sound and Music
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3/5

Why? - The music works acceptably for the game and some of the soundtracks are killer, as far as the majority I found the japanese score to capture a rich enthralling essence that I will never abandon.


Control
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3.5/5

Why? - The game occassionally has moments of stalling where the synchronization of the character I am using and my actual timing do not match up quite right.


Story
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2.8/5

Why? - Budokai 3 takes you from the beginnings of DBZ up until GT but honestly the comic still frame characters with dialog bubbles walking us through the story just doesn't work quite as well as the original Budokai's method of storytelling.



Visuals
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4.5/5


Why? - The graphics are explosive, colorful, rich and epic, a round of applause in this category.


Replayability
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3.8/5


Why? - Some aspects of this game could be much better, however this is definitely an enjoyable game with many entertaining modes and hours of enjoyment to be had.


Overall
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4/5


A good DBZ game, a rare fufilling occurence!!!