Games

Best of 2009 | 08 |07 | 06 | 05
Advanced Search

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3

EMAIL PRINT wii

8.5 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 25 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: Atari

Developer: Namco Bandai Games - Spike

Genre(s): Fighting

Players: 2

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: December 3, 2007

Summary

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 delivers an extreme 3D fighting experience, improving upon last year's game with over 150 playable characters, enhanced fighting techniques, beautifully refined effects and shading techniques, making each character's effects more realistic, and over 20 battle stages. In addition, an improved control system for the Wii will allow players to easily mimic signature moves and execute devastating energy attacks as they are performed in the Dragon Ball Z animated series. In addition to the unprecedented number of characters and improved Wii control system, the environments have also been enhanced to feature day and night stages. The power of the moon in the night stages gives players additional ways to transform their characters and lets fans recreate some of their favorite memories from the show. [Atari]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Nintendojo

Despite a couple of problems, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is definitely a must for Dragon Ball fans and 3D fighting enthusiasts.

Read Full Review >

Official Nintendo Magazine UK

There's no fighting game quite like Dragon Ball Z, and BT3 plays brilliantly. [Feb 2008, p.78]

AceGamez

It has some wonderful graphics and animation, excellent sound effects and enjoyable voices to complement the fun and endlessly playable fighting action.

Read Full Review >

Game Chronicles

All in all, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a pretty solid title. With all the modes there are to do and the added online play I had plenty to keep myself busy.

Read Full Review >

Thunderbolt

Essentially its predecessor with more characters, more challenging content, minor gameplay tweaks, and better controls.

Read Full Review >

IGN

When looking at the core gameplay, and ignoring the titles before it, BT3 is a fast, fun, and amazingly deep experience for fans of the award-winning anime.

Read Full Review >

GameZone

The developers of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 went above and beyond to create this game. The large cast ensemble and various game modes will have players occupied for a long time. The game only gets better since you are able to play online.

Read Full Review >

Boomtown

Really this is the definitive Dragonball Z game, for the fans anyway, there’s not much they can do to improve it, bar maybe a class system and some working net code.

Read Full Review >

GameTrailers

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is candy, and it feels like the developers know it. This isn’t a deep fighting game, and it isn’t meant to be. It’s fan service at its most basic level. And while the Wii controls are a fun diversion at first, the inclusion of classic and GameCube controller support makes the game at least playable, if not spectacular.

Read Full Review >

The Wiire

Tenkaichi 2 and Tenkaichi 3 come out roughly the same. Enough mild improvements with enough losses means an equal experience. This is rather problematic for the consumer, who would probably rather spend less money on a similar game experience with no drastic improvements and minor fixes to problems in the latest version.

Read Full Review >

Game Almighty

But despite what this game has to offer it remains hard to recommend a purchase simply because of all the déjà-vu this will give you. There is almost nothing new here from the previous Tenkaichi titles, besides a ramped up character list and a couple shifts in the story mode.

Read Full Review >

NGamer UK

Putting the controls on the remote was an admirable innovation last year but it's not so clever now. [Feb 2008, p.50]

Zentendo

The best Dragon Ball Z game to date, and though it can be a lot of fun, it feels more like Tenkaichi 2.5 than Tenkaichi 3.

Read Full Review >

DarkStation

In the end, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Nintendo Wii is a good solid fighter that's not going to necessarily change anyone's mind on the series.

Read Full Review >

GamerNode

Think of this like a Madden game. If you are an extreme fan of the series, you are going to buy it, but if you bought the last game, it is probably not worth it. Of course, if you do not have any of the series, this is a great one to start out on.

Read Full Review >

GameSpy

If you've played any of the previous Tenkaichi titles, you know exactly what to expect here -- a relatively shallow button-masher that does a darn fine job of letting you relive the Dragon Ball experience.

Read Full Review >

Games Radar (in-house)

It still looks great on the hardware and accurately represents the popular anime/manga series, but the statute of limitations for similar last-gen sequels expires now - it's time for Atari to take this franchise to next-gen consoles and put some real force behind these extraordinary characters and settings.

Read Full Review >

Video Game Talk

What Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 lacks in innovation it makes up for with quality. This is undoubtedly the best anime fighter available and subtle tweaks have improved it over the previous installments.

Read Full Review >

Gamer.nl

This game is without doubt a very decent beat 'em up that will occupy you for several hours. The small changes in this sequel don't make this the big hit that the Wii could have used this early in the year, but anyone who takes pleasure out of fighting games and anime will have fun with this. Owners of the previous game have got to ask themselves if the online mode and a few new characters are worth the purchase.

Read Full Review >

VideoGamer

The problems playing online are a major let down, and, for us, prevent the game from getting an eight. Ignore that, and, somewhat surprisingly, you've got one of the Wii's most fun fighting games.

Read Full Review >

Gamer 2.0

When it comes down to it, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is certainly a good game that could probably use a fresh, new developer’s perspective on the series since this action fighter is starting to get a bit stale.

Read Full Review >

Cheat Code Central

As an overall package, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the perfect ensemble for all those die hard fans out there. With tons of options and modes, there is just so much for the player to do. Online play furthers the longevity of the title. Unfortunately, from my point of view the quality does not match the quantity. The controls annoyed me too much, and for a game that relies on fast paced action, that just will not do.

Read Full Review >

Games Master UK

The tweaks improve it, but Tenkaichi continues to alienate with its confusing pace. [Apr 2008, p.73]

Play.tm

This is a game (famed for its capturing of a hardcore following) that has been made much less palatable for its key demographic. What's worse is that the changes are entirely unsuccessful in convincing anyone but fans of the show that any of this really matters.

Read Full Review >

GameDaily

While not original, Tenkaichi 3 is a must-buy for hardcore Dragon Ball fanatics.

Read Full Review >

Worth Playing

In summary, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is fundamentally flawed in its basic execution; in a fighting game, the inability to fight properly is a severe drawback.

Read Full Review >

Eurogamer

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 does feature an impressive roster of fighters and range of options, and the fighting system works well. Plus you get to do flying. But there's nothing much new here apart from the online mode, and that's rubbish.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Danny M. gave it an8:
The controls have a very steep learning curve, but once you get practiced with them (be prepared to spend hours doing just that) then combat becomes visceral and clever, more than a simple rock, paper, scissors mechanic. The difficulty ranges from incredibly easy to downright impossible, varying almost arbitrarily (defeating Vegeta is much harder than defeating Frieza, for example), making the story mode very infuriating. The scripting is a good inclusion. but is marred by the fact it prohibits the game in terms of storytelling and needs polishing. The core fighting experience is superb and very replayable, it's just a shame that many other parts of the game seem to be half-baked. Most of the negative user reviews on Metacritic are based on false experiences but there's still plenty against the game. Really, they've had enough chance to polish the experience. Rather than replacing how all the non-fighting stuff works, they should follow the example of the combat system and polish what is already there as opposed to scraping the old modes.

Jerome G. gave it a10:
Yes the game needs improvements a couple of things that I can just list off the top of my head....but the game is real fun and the best yet and I wish I could tell em everything that need to be improved I got a lot of good ideas.

Tom L. gave it a10:
For a Dragon Ball fan such as myself, this newest installment in the Dragon Ball games is the best one yet. The controlls are extremely easier to learn than any of the other games but not only that, you actually get to do the motions of attacks such as Majin Buu's Chocolate Beam, Vegeta's Final Flash, and the oh so famous Kame-hame-ha attack! Could it get any better?! YES! If any of you have played BT2 then you know that in BT3 all the characters abilities and base skill levels: speed, attack, special... are all based out of the series. So no more of yamcha kicking Broly's @$$, unless you really dont know how to play. Transformations are even cooler than before and in this version you can't be an epuip item monger. Basically everyone has an even playing ground in single player, two player and even online. This is the best fighter game for the Wii hands down. And for those of you who gave it less than 9, you must not know how to play, otherwise you would love the game!

Ivan P. gave it a9:
This game is amazing, and if you hear people say that you always have to fight the same way and same buttons its not true. you can change your fighting styles even try to change your comand styles in option mode.theres so many charecters and cool modes.Like sim dragon where you train for 10 days and fight someone in the 10th day. then you keep going until day 70.However it gets really hard so get really good if you ever want to try it. so i really recomend this game its the best fighting on the wii.

Matt P. gave it a4:
I really liked the last installment of this game (I've only played it on the Wii), in fact, i play it quite a lot. After hearing so much about the improved controls in Tenkaichi 3, I went out and spent a little XMas money on this game after stalling until the end of finals. So far, I'm hugely disappointed, and eve that sounds like an understatement. I really liked the story mode in Tenkaichi 2 but heard that "History" had been altered a bit in the latest outing. "Altered" doesn't even begin to describe how horribly the story mode is implemented. The fights are heavily scripted... scripted fights in a fighting game-- am I the only one who feels that this is a crime against gamers? Odds are stacked against you, the first fights are nearly impossible (and I have an easy time with Tenkaichi 2) (Raditz, for example, can't be knocked back or phased by normal attacks so he can grab and throw you whenever he wants). Once Vegeta returned to full energy after turning into a monkey, I just put the controller down and turned off the Wii. This is *not fun.* It's like they tried to find ways to sap all of the fun out of the game by jacking with the control scheme (am I the only one who doesn't enjoy flying around the arena out of control and unable to stop? Yeah, that's fun). In brief, they've taken a tip from modern RPGs and have replaced gameplay with sitting and watching pointless dialog and scripted scenes. It's boring, it's frustrating, and, most importantly, it's not fun. I haven't enjoyed this game for a second.

Don F. gave it a1:
Game does not work on Wii controllers. You have to use the old gamecube controllers for it to work, thus I took it back since I don't have any old gamecube controllers. I thought is was just a problem with the game disc so I returned for a new one and it does some thing. My other Wii games all work fine with Wii controller, this one doesn't. I wouldn't recommend it unless you like to use old controllers.

Li R. gave it a10:
Don't listen to the other guy, obviously didn't play it much. First let's get this out of the way: the controls are changed from how they handled in DBZ:BT2 in a GOOD way. More motions are used for certain things but using your powers and doing combos feels more intuitive and it tons more visceral than before. Now you actually have to hod your hands back to charge a Kamehameha and push forward to release, and the other motions are much more varied. The annoying cursor is GONE, and the game handles a lot faster, slowdown is barely ever noticeable as opposed to the previous games, animations and attacks are flashier and overall just look better. More characters are unlocked from the start but tons more can be unlocked. Story mode is a lot more interesting this time around as conversations happen as you battle and you can either follow the scripted story scenes and switch between characters or just beat em dead if you can. This mode is nice, challenging and not a boring and long series of fights where sometimes you actually had to lose. Here you sometimes even get to be the bad guy. There's a ton of new modes and options as well as a new character customization system (all characters now are pretty good on their normal setting unlike before where you needed to level them up to be decent). Training actually lets you know how to perform moves with whichever control scheme you want and even the menus adapt so that you always know how to do your moves from the incredibly detailed skills menu. Online play is the only downside at the moment as it's a bit laggy but that's mostly my own problem as my Wii's been having problems connecting properly with online. DBZ fans MUST own this game, and evne non-fans will have a blast if they take a little bit of time to adjust to the controls. Play it!

Games

Sony

Microsoft

Nintendo

Other Platforms

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases