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Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 PlayStation 2
  • Publisher: Atari
  • Release Date: Nov 16, 2004
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 Image
Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.0 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 55 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: Pulverize opponents with the Saiyan Overdrive Fighting System, including: Teleportation Counter – Recreate the lightening speed of DBZ; Teleportation Tornado Combo – Pinball opponents in the air; Dragon Rush Attack – Experience explosive, cinematic new attack moves; Bukujutsu Flight Mode – Go airborne at any time in the game. Unlock up to 40 bonus characters from Dragon Ball Z, DBZ movies, and Dragon Ball GT. Customize your DBZ warriors and build the ultimate fighter. Post and retrieve character profiles from the Internet. [Atari]… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 32
  3. Negative: 2 out of 32
  1. AceGamez
    90
    Oozes superiority, quality, class and eminence; it's a cut above the rest, taking the fighting genre and painting it red.
  2. My Gamer
    74
    After all is said and done this is the best Budokai to date however there are still two or three major flaws preventing Budokai 3 from being a truly great game.
  3. GamerFeed
    40
    You can only ride on the license for so long before things get stale, and that's exactly what's happened here. If you loved the first two, you'll still probably love this one, but when do fighting game fans get to have fun with a DBZ game?

See all 32 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 26
  3. Negative: 1 out of 26
  1. CurtisS.
    10
    The game was the sh.t and is the coolest.
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. SaiyanZ
    10
    Let me start off by saying that Dragon Ball is my favorite anime/manga, and for that matter fictitious series of all time. So when a new DBZ game is announced you can be sure I would check it out. And as expected, this doesn't disappoint. The improved setups into juggles (the main meat of the combos) coupled with canceling charged attacks (non-Capsule and Capsule alike) unlocks a myriad of ways to keep you opponent of the ground. The ability to sway and teleport for defensive purposes is also a nice introduction and keeps the battle fast-paced and entertaining. The new abilities of Dragon Rush and Hyper Mode are easy to use and very pleasing to the eye and awesome. The visuals when doling out an Ultimate or a Dragon Rush is nothing short of amazing. All in all, gameplay is vastly improved. Story Mode this time, known as Dragon Universe, is different from the previous 2 entries, in that you follow a character's "life" so to speak throughout their entire journey in Dragon Ball Z. You choose a character from the start and fight all the battles he fought during Z while traversing the Dragon Ball world (looking for Zeni, Capsules, and POI's). The burst flying during world travel is especially cool (in particular, when you do Vegeta's DU and are in control of Majin Vegeta). However, the fights are not sequential since you only control one character. If I choose Goku, and win my fight with Captain Ginyu, I am jumping straight to Goku's next fight against Frieza. I wouldn't have the opportunity to fight Frieza as either Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin or Gohan. Their fights are accessible in their respective DU's though. As you play through the DU, you gain EXP points to spend on attributes like health, ki, special arts etc. all which increase. For each EXP, you go one level up; this continues until Lvl 99. Other than that, the standard World Tournament and Vs. modes return to occupy one. All in all, one of my favorite games ever.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. BillB.
    1
    Looks okay, but it's not a deep game at all.
    • 0 of 3 users said yes

See all 26 User Reviews