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Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
T3PS2
Developer(s) Spike
Publisher(s) JP/EU Namco Bandai
NA Atari
Series Budokai Tenkaichi series
Release date(s) PlayStation 2

JP October 4, 2007
EU November 9, 2007
NA November 13, 2007

Wii
JP October 4, 2007
NA December 3, 2007
EU February 15, 2008

Genre(s) Versus fighting
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: T
PEGI: 12+
CERO: A
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Wii
Media DVD, Wii Optical Disc
Input DualShock 2, Wii Remote and Nunchuk, Classic Controller, GameCube Controller
Video games Listing - Category

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, originally published in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! METEOR (ドラゴンボールZ Sparking! METEOR) in Japan, is the third installment of the Budokai Tenkaichi series. The game was released for the PlayStation 2 and Wii on October 4, 2007 in Japan (in some regions, the Wii port saw a delay). The PlayStation 2 version was released on November 13, 2007 in North America and on November 9, 2007 in Europe. The Wii version was later released on December 3, 2007 in North America and on February 15, 2008 in Europe.[1]

Like its predecessor, despite being released under the Dragon Ball Z label, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 essentially touches upon all series installments of the Dragon Ball franchise, featuring numerous characters and stages set in Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and numerous film adaptations of Z. The game also features one of Akira Toriyama's original characters, related to Dragon Ball through crossovers, Arale Norimaki from Dr. Slump.

Gameplay[]

Budokai Tenkaichi 3 features 161 characters, the largest character roster in any Dragon Ball Z game, as well as the largest in any fighting game. Ryo Mito once stated that the game would feature never-before-seen characters made exclusively for the game, although the only exclusive characters were the Saiyans' alternate Great Ape forms.[2] Gamestop offered an exclusive version with a bonus DVD containing the top 10 television series battles as voted by fans on the release date.

Bt 3 51

Future Gohan vs Android 17

Several new notable features include: Battle Replay, night and day stages, the Wii's online capability, and Disc Fusion. Battle Replay allows players to capture their favorite fights and save them to an SD card to view later on. Night and day stages allow for more accurate battles in Dragon History, as well as the ability to transform into a Great Ape by using the moon. There are also several other time differences, such as dawn and afternoon. Not all stages provide different times. You can also change the aura of your character. The Wii version features online multiplayer capability, the first game in the series to have such a feature. Players can fight against anyone from around the globe with a ranking system showing the player's current standing compared to anyone else who has played online. As compensation for the lack of online, Spike has added a new "Disc Fusion" system to the PlayStation 2 version. Inserting a Budokai Tenkaichi 1 or 2 disc during play unlocks Ultimate Battle or Ultimate Battle Z, modes featured in the respective games needed to unlock them. The game also supports 480p for both the Wii and the PlayStation 2 versions.

Other features in the game include more combo attacks or character specific combos, the Blast Combos, and the Z Burst Dash. The additional combo attacks will be able to help chain in more attacks for more damage and longer combos. The Blast Combos are normal combos used in the game, however by inputting the another button into the attack will allow you to use a blast attack for extra damage. Depending on the moves of the character you might not be able to use this feat such as Videl or Hercule. The Z Burst Dash is much faster and more evasive version of the Dragon Dash. It allows the user to get behind the opponent at high speeds for either a strike or to avoid a Blast 2 attack. The drawback to this technique is that it will rapidly drain the user of energy unless equipped with certain Z-items.

Game modes[]

  • Dragon History
    • Saiyan Saga
    • Frieza Saga
    • Android Saga
    • Majin Buu Saga
    • Special Saga (Movies)
    • Dragon Ball GT Saga
    • Dragon Ball Saga
    • What If Saga
  • Ultimate Battle
    • Sim Dragon
    • Mission 100
    • Survival
    • Disc Fusion (exclusively on the PlayStation 2 version)
  • Dragon World Tour
    • World Tournament
    • World Martial Arts Big Tournament
    • Cell Games
    • Otherworld Tournament
    • Yamcha Game
  • Duel
    • Single Battle
    • Team Battle
    • DP Battle
    • Battle Options
  • Dragon Net Battle (exclusively on the Wii version)
    • Custom Battle
    • Normal Battle
    • Friend Battle
    • Ranking Battle
    • View Ranking
    • Battle Record
  • Evolution Z
    • Character Customize
    • Item Shop
      • Item Exchange
      • Item List
    • Evolution Z Explanation
  • Ultimate Training
    • Training
    • Battle Training
  • Data Center
    • Password Input Screen
    • Fighter Catalog
    • Replay
  • Character Reference
  • Options
  • Shenron

New gameplay elements[]

Several new features have been added to Budokai Tenkaichi 3. These include:

  • Blast Combo – Players can now kick their opponent into the air and attack them again by quickly teleporting or flying behind them by pressing the A button.
  • Sonic Sway – This technique allows the player to evade the opponent's attacks. Since it takes longer for the attacker to get back into their fighting stance than it does the player dodging the attacks, the attacker is left with an open defense. The one evading can then quickly counter-attack their opponent. However, this feature only applies to physical attacks aimed for the upper part of the body; if the opponent aims for the player's legs, for example, they cannot evade the attacks.
  • Rush Ki Wave – A brand new combo finisher exclusive to some characters that allows them to send their opponent flying away with a charged one-handed beam.
  • Z-Counter – The ability to counter attacks by teleporting behind the enemy. This is a technique seen in the series many times.
  • Z-Burst Dash – An enhanced version of the dash attack from the previous games, this technique allows players to zig and zag as they move at high speed.
DBZBT3 2

The new night system causes Bardock to transform into a Great Ape

  • The addition of a new day and night system allows certain characters to harness the power of the moon to transform into a Great Ape.
  • With the addition of the Battle Replay mode, players can now capture all of their favorite fights and watch them again later on. There are also several camera angles you can use to swap views of the battle.
  • The Wii version does not make use of the Wii's sensor bar. The game instead uses the Wii Remote's accelerometer provides animations demonstrating how to perform techniques (much like previous games provide the button combinations that are required to execute a technique).[3]
  • The game's story mode, called Dragon History, has been completely changed from the previous installments. Some cutscenes take place during the middle of a battle, interrupting the fight for a short time while the two characters talk, while others take place during the battle themselves. During in-game cutscenes, dialogue appears at the bottom of the screen as the player fights, and what each character says depends on how the match is going. The player can also issue one-hit KOs in story mode by dealing the blow used to kill their opponent in the source material. The story mode is also significantly shorter than previous installments.
  • A new Z-Point system replaces the leveling system from Budokai Tenkaichi 2. The more Z-Points a character has, the more Z-Items can be equipped.
  • The Wii port of Budokai Tenkaichi 3 can be played using several different control setups, and is not restricted to the console's Wii Remote and Nunchuk alone. Instead, the player can choose to use the Classic Controller or the GameCube controller, as well. The Classic Controller set up has been best received by critics, whom cite the Wii Remote as a fun method of play for casual gamers, but one that does not always maintain the responsiveness for hardcore gameplay.

Playable characters[]

Bt 3 55

Nail

Each character in the game is based on their anime counterparts, their seiyū and voice actors also partaking in the development of the game whenever possible. Each character has attacks and fighting styles more-or-less derived from the source material, for example Goku's Kamehameha and Vegeta's Galick Gun. Certain fighters also have abilities, or the lack thereof, exclusive only to a small group of characters. Also, certain characters cannot fly in the series, and thus slowly descend back to the ground after taking flight in Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (however, a Flight Z-Item is available for use by these characters, removing this restriction).

The following represents the characters as they are ordered in the Character Select menu. Additional transformations appear in small text directly below the character to which they belong. Some characters are only playable in unabridged transformations, meaning they cannot revert to any preceding forms and are only able to progress in the transformation cycle. For example, Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta, is a character separate from all other incarnations of Vegeta in the game, thus none of these other Vegeta characters can assume the transformation, nor can Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta return to his base form. The character's only transformation option is to progress to Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta. Characters who are only playable in unabridged forms have the title of their transformation listed in parenthesized small text beside their name.

Goku (Early) Kid Gohan Piccolo (Early) Vegeta (Scouter) Krillin Yamcha Trunks (Sword)
Great Ape Vegeta Super Saiyan
Goku (Mid) Teen Gohan Piccolo (End) Vegeta Tien Chiaotzu Trunks
Super Saiyan Super Saiyan Super Saiyan Super Saiyan
Super Saiyan 2 Ascended Super Saiyan Ultra Super Saiyan
Goku (End) Gohan Ultimate Gohan Vegeta (Second form) Majin Vegeta Goten Kid Trunks
Super Saiyan Super Saiyan Super Saiyan Super Saiyan Super Saiyan
Super Saiyan 2 Super Saiyan 2 Super Saiyan 2 Gotenks Gotenks
Super Saiyan 3 Great Saiyaman Vegito Super Saiyan Gotenks Super Saiyan Gotenks
Vegito Super Vegito Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks
Super Vegito Super Gogeta
Super Gogeta
Goku (GT) Future Gohan Videl Hercule Vegeta (Super Saiyan 4) Uub Pan
Super Saiyan Super Saiyan Great Saiyaman 2 Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta Majuub
Super Saiyan 3
Super Saiyan 4
Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta
Master Roshi Yajirobe Nail Supreme Kai Raditz Nappa Saibaman
Max Power Kibitokai Great Ape Raditz Great Ape Nappa
Captain Ginyu Recoome Burter Jeice Guldo Zarbon Dodoria
Post-Transformation
Frieza (1st Form) Mecha Frieza Appule Cui Frieza Soldier King Cold King Vegeta
2nd Form Great Ape King Vegeta
3rd Form
Final Form
Full Power
Cell (1st Form) Cell Jr. Dr. Gero Android #19 Android #18 Android #17 Android #16
2nd Form
Perfect Form
Perfect
Majin Buu Majin Buu (Pure Evil) Super Buu Kid Buu Babidi Spopovich Demon King Dabura
Gotenks Absorbed

Gohan Absorbed

Bardock Fasha Garlic Jr. Dr. Wheelo Turles Lord Slug Salza
Great Ape Bardock Great Ape Fasha Super Garlic Jr. Great Ape Turles Giant
Cooler Meta-Cooler Android 13 Broly Zangya Bojack Janemba
Final Form Fusion Super Saiyan Full Power Super Janemba
Legendary Super Saiyan
Pikkon Tapion Hirudegarn Baby Vegeta Super 17 Nuova Shenron Syn Shenron
Super Baby 1 Omega Shenron
Super Baby 2
Golden Great Ape Baby
Demon King Piccolo Tambourine Pilaf Machine Devilman General Blue General Tao Cyborg Tao
Fusion Pilaf Machine
Kid Goku Chi-Chi Grandpa Gohan Nam Android #8 Arale Code characters
Great Ape

Reception[]

The PlayStation port of the game received a 32 out of 40 from the game magazine Famitsu, while The Magic Box ranked the Wii version 33 out of 40.[4] IGN awarded both versions of the game an 8 out of 10, their only complaints being the comparatively underwhelming story mode (in comparison to Budokai Tenkaichi 2), gimmicky Disc Fusion function and the lag experienced while playing online through the Wii's Wi-Fi connection.

Voice actors[]

English version

Music[]

The opening to the game is "Super Survivor" by Hironobu Kageyama in the Japanese and European versions. The American version uses an instrumental version.

Dragon Ball Z: Sparking Meteor features remixed music from the anime, while Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 has music from Atari.

List of Background Music[]

  1. The Meteor
  2. Vital Burner
  3. Innocent World - Used in the Shop
  4. After The Fire - Used in the World Tournament selection screen
  5. Sweet Vibration
  6. Survive
  7. Heat Capacity
  8. Overture
  9. Shine
  10. Power Scale
  11. Edge of Spirit
  12. Caution!
  13. Menace
  14. Hot Soul
  15. High and Scream
  16. Shootout in Meteor
  17. Dynamite Battle
  18. Burnin' Up
  19. Wild Rush
  20. Evolution

Trivia[]

  • If Piccolo enters a tournament, his screen name will be MaJunior, as it originally was in the series. In a similar fashion, the screen name will be Shin if one enters the tournament as Supreme Kai.
  • When the game is loading and it shows Gohan pulling Z Swords, he will keep pulling until there are none left, then he starts over. Similarly, Vegeta will do push-ups until 999, then he starts over from zero.
  • If one waits a while at the menu screen of the story mode, various characters will occasionally show up and engage in a conversation with Goku, such as Piccolo and Krillin.
  • When Super Saiyan 4 Goku powers up against Baby Vegeta in story mode, he will sound like Kid Goku (GT).
  • If you wait for a while in Duel Mode, Nappa will ask Vegeta: "Hey uh... Think if I went Super Saiyan, my goatee would grow?".
  • Saiyan characters that can become Great Apes by creating a Power Ball do so even in stages that have a full moon.
    • Bardock is one of the characters that has to use a full moon to turn into a Great Ape, which goes against the Ocean dub of DBZ in which Vegeta says that Bardock invented the Power Ball technique, this was however a major dub mistake that has long since been abandoned.
    • Vegeta (Scouter)'s second and third attires have no tail, but he can still transform into a Great Ape.
  • Each Ginyu Force member has their own special dialogue when facing another Ginyu Force member. For example, Burter states that if he wins, the opponent will owe him a space soda.
  • Like in Budokai Tenkaichi 1 and 2, Cell in any form uses his "Imperfect form" pain sounds when hit.
  • When Future Trunks fights Imperfect Cell in the Android Saga, Cell calls out during battle and says "I have all the data I needon you". It should be "I have all the data I need on you."
  • When Super Perfect Cell uses the Full Power Death Beam, he yells the Japanese "Dodonpa".
  • While playing as Future Gohan in Duel mode he notes the real Gohan as an alternate timeline version of him. He also notes that Goten is a brother in an alternate timeline.
  • If Zangya beats Krillin, General Blue, Master Roshi, or Nam, she says "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was tough like me? Don't cha?" based on the song by the Pussycat Dolls and Busta Rhymes.
  • If one fights with Android 18 against Zangya, Zangya will tell Android 18 "your man is kinda cute", a reference to Krillin.
  • If one fires Android 18's Destructo Disk at Krillin and he uses his as soon as 18's disks are about to make contact, Krillin will summon pink disks instead of his yellow ones.
  • If you battle final form Frieza vs Super Perfect Cell, Frieza will ask Cell if he wants to practice fighting, and Cell will comment "Fine. I was getting bored, anyway!"
  • Goku's profile says that he fought Pikkon in his Super Saiyan 2 transformation.
  • Gohan is the only character to decrease in Destruction Points when he transforms. This happens when he goes from his normal form to Great Saiyaman.
  • If Kid Trunks fights Yamcha, Trunks will ask if it is true Yamcha used to date his mom. This is a reference to how Bulma used to date Yamcha, before marrying Vegeta.
  • In the Majin Buu Saga, the Destined Battle: Goku Vs. Vegeta, the description says "puroposely" instead of "purposely", even when the voice says "purposely" correctly.
  • Majin Buu's "Character Introduction" ends with "In Dragon Ball GT, Buu fights against" and ends there, leaving that info missing.
  • Janemba loses health when he transforms. He is the only character to do so (he is also the only one to shrink in size when transforming).
  • Gogeta (Super Saiyan 4) Character Introduction reads "He is a warrior without peer, and demonstrates this by performing this by performing his ultimate move the "Big Bang Kamehameha", repeating the "this by performing".
  • When Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks is swapped for another character in Team Battle Mode, he says "Peanut Butter Jelly Time!", which is a reference to a popular song.
  • When on the character selection, Vegito is spelled with an "I", but on the transformation options for Vegeta (Second Form) and Goku (End), it is spelled "Vegeto".
  • Kid Buu makes Super Buu's pain noises when hit.
  • For some strange reason, sometimes when Ultimate Shenron is about to grant a wish, he will say "That is a wish I cannot grant." Yet, he still grants it.
  • In the Wii version of the game, Giru is referred to as both Gill and Giru.
  • When Goku (GT) uses the Solar Flare, he says it as it is said in Japanese: "Taiyoken".
  • When Goku (GT) uses the Spirit Bomb, it is mistakenly called Spirit Ball, possibly mistranslated due to its original name in Japanese, Genkidama, whose translation is the latter.
  • When Baby Vegeta (Super Baby 2) uses the Final Flash, he yells "Big Bang Attack" (like in the anime).
  • Golden Great Ape Baby will say "It's time for this monkey to spank you" if you start the match with him, which is a joke about the term "Spanking the monkey", which means male masturbation.
  • Nuova Shenron is spelled two ways. On the character selection it is spelled Nuova Shenron, but in the GT saga, the subtitles for Goku spell it Nova Shenron.
  • When GT Kid Goku turns Super Saiyan 4 against Nuova Shenron in Story Mode, Goku's voice will still be a kid in the in-game cutscene.
  • If Super Saiyan 4 Goku fights Omega Shenron, he will refer to him as "Syn Shenron".
  • When Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta fights Syn/Omega Shenron and wins, he says: "Your time has come. Goodbye, Shenron."
  • If Kid Chi-Chi battles Goku GT, Chi-Chi's dialogue will leave one to believe that she is the GT Chi-Chi also made young by the Black Star Dragon Balls. Thus, the way she is unlocked makes sense since the player wishes her from Ultimate Shenron, who made Goku young.
  • If Master Roshi battles Chi-Chi, he will reveal that he "Never liked Ox-King".
  • In Dragon History, during the fight with Nam, Mr. Satan is shown on the signs and blimps even though he was not the champion yet.
  • Some of Android 8's attacks seem to come from Dragon Ball: The Path to Power. His second costume even resembles the coloration from the film.
  • If Mercenary Tao battles General Blue, Tao will make a comment about how he could kill him "With his tongue", which is a nod to the anime, as well as the movie Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure, in both of which Tao does just that. Further, one of his attacks implies he is attacking with his tongue.
  • In the story mode, Kid Goku fights Mercenary Tao and then General Blue. This is different from the actual manga, wherein General Blue was fought first.
  • If one plays as Grandpa Gohan in duel mode and loses, Grandpa Gohan would say "I've fallen and I can't get up", as in reference to the senior emergency system "Life Alert" slogan.
  • In the What-If Saga, before you engage in battle with Arale, Kibito Kai will say he was a fan of hers.
  • In the What-If Saga, before the fight between Devilman and Mecha Frieza, Kibito Kai refers to Mecha Frieza as "Metal Frieza".
  • In the Italian translation of the game, if you use Goku/Vegeta (Super Saiyan 4) and browse the Technique List, the word "Fusion" is badly replaced with "Potara". A similar mistake is notable during the intro of the "Dragon Fist Explosion! If Goku doesn't, who will?", at the line "Goku explodes with a new attack special attack to stop Hirudegarn...", Hirudegarn is instead replaced with Majin Buu.
  • Whenever a Great Ape throws a rock, it is spelled "Gigant" instead of "Gigantic". However, in Budokai Tenkaichi 1 and Budokai Tenkaichi 2, it is spelled correctly.
  • When Goku (Mid) uses the 20x Kaio-ken Kamehameha, the technique's name appears spelled "20x Kaiken Kamehameha" on the screen.
  • In informations about characters, Chi-Chi says about Grandpa Gohan that she would like to have met him. It is an unusual statement because she already met him in the last episodes of Dragon Ball. However, the last episode of Dragon Ball was a filler, so it may have been going by the manga and not the anime.
  • One of Frieza's moves has a typo; it should be called "You Might Die This Time", but is mistakenly called "I May Die This Time".
  • Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta's 2nd "colour" turns his hair silver, which looks similar to the fan-made Super Saiyan 5. This also works in Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi.

See also[]

  • List of items in Budokai Tenkaichi 3
  • List of playable characters in the Budokai Tenkaichi series
  • List of stages in Budokai Tenkaichi 3

References[]

Dragon Ball video games
Action-adventure games
Origins series OriginsOrigins 2
Super Gokuden series Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-HenSuper Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen
The Legacy of Goku series The Legacy of GokuThe Legacy of Goku IIBuu's FuryGT: Transformation
Other Dragon DaihikyouShenron no NazoAdvanced AdventureSagasRevenge of King Piccolo
Role-playing games
Gokuden series Daimaō Fukkatsu3: Gokuden (Dragon Ball on WonderSwan Color)Kyōshū! SaiyanII: Gekishin FreezaSuper Saiya DensetsuIII: Ressen JinzōningenGaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku
Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans series Shin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku: Chikyū-HenShin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku: Uchū-Hen
Other Goku HishōdenGoku GekitōdenLegendary Super WarriorsCollectible Card GameHarukanaru DensetsuAttack of the SaiyansDragon Ball Online
Fighting games
DBZ Arcade series Dragon Ball ZV.R.V.S.DBZ 2: Super Battle
Butōden series 'Super ButōdenSuper Butōden 2Buyū RetsudenSuper Butōden 3Ultimate Battle 22Shin ButōdenHyper DimensionFinal BoutUltimate Butōden
Budokai series BudokaiBudokai 2 (Dragon Ball Z 2 V)Budokai 3Shin BudokaiShin Budokai: Another RoadBurst LimitInfinite WorldDragonball EvolutionBudokai HD Collection
Budokai Tenkaichi series Budokai TenkaichiBudokai Tenkaichi 2Budokai Tenkaichi 3Raging BlastTenkaichi Tag TeamRaging Blast 2Zenkai Battle RoyaleUltimate TenkaichiDragon Ball Z For Kinect
Data Carddass series Data Carddass Dragon Ball ZData Carddass Dragon Ball Z 2Bakuretsu ImpactW Bakuretsu ImpactDragon BattlersDragon Ball Heroes
Let's! TV Play games Battle Taikan KamehamehaBattle Taikan Kamehameha 2Scouter Battle Taikan KamehamehaDragon Ball Z × One Piece
Supersonic Warriors series Supersonic WarriorsSupersonic Warriors 2
Other Gekitō Tenkaichi BudōkaiIdainaru Son Goku DensetsuThe LegendTaiketsuSuper Dragon Ball ZDragon Ball Z: Trilogy
Related
Shonen Jump games Famicom JumpFamicom Jump IIJump Super StarsJump Ultimate StarsBattle Stadium D.O.NDr. Slump: Arale-ChanJumpland
Other Atsumare! Gokū WārudoAnime Designer: Dragon Ball ZDragon Ball Z TV GamesDragon Ball Handheld GamesManga KasettoTaisen Kata Game KasettoDragonradar MobileDragon Ball Z Quizz
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