Dragon Ball Z ? Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Review (WII)

Year of the Dragon (Ball Z)

The Wii seems to cater for all tastes, but one type of gamer seems to have been sorely neglected. Fans of the beat em up genre have been left wanting since its launch. The only title I can think of is Dragon Ball Z ? Budokai Tenkaichi 2.

All in all, a solid, if hectic beat em up

As you can guess by the title, the game I am reviewing here is the sequel to this game.
This version is trying to upstage BT2 in every way. It is bigger and better, while still retaining the core gameplay.

Dragon Ball Z ? Budokai Tenkaichi 3, has over 160 unlockable (and playable) characters, beating BT2 by around 30 characters! Control wise you are given the option to use the wii remote & Nunchuck, remote and classic controller, or even the Gamecube controller. Battles take place at about 30 different stages that will be familiar to fans of the Anime show. All the fans will love the stunning cell shaded graphics and the excellent voice acting.

Gameplay is typical fast n furious using the A and B buttons to attack, with the C and Z to fly up and down. The aerial battles make this a unique experience. You can also charge up your Ki and use it to perform a Ki energy blast. Other attacks include a Dragon Dash and characters have the ability to transform. Stages are also split into day and night, which changes your strategies for certain characters.

For the fist time, this Dragon Ball Z game includes online play, via the Nintendo Wi- Fi network, which is very cool, if a little laggy at times. Also this time round, you have the option to replay your crushing victories, using the cunningly titled Battle Replay Mode. When playing single player in Dragon History or Ultimate Battle, you get points when you win, which you can use to customise characters and buy items from the shop.

All in all, a solid, if hectic beat em up. Controls do take a bit of getting used to, but fights are not just won by the player who taps the buttons the fastest!