This is my first game review ever, so bear with me, as I have a somewhat eccentric method of breaking this stuff down.

I've never anticipated a game as much as I have Budokai 3, and while the final results are mixed, I can definately say a game has never so unsuspectingly let me down. You'll see why if you read further.

My vantage point of anything Dragonball is stemmed from being a fan of Yamcha, and since he's so often either shafted or ignored, I'm more skeptical when it comes to anything having to do with the series, especially when he's thrown in there. The previous two Budokai games have been very respectable to my favorite character, so it seemed only natural the third installment would be more of the same. Hence, the only reason I bought the game.

Anyway, on to gameplay. Dimps/ Atari have made a gameplay experience that resembles the anime better than anything we've seen before. I really enjoyed the improvements in Budokai 2, although aparently I'm the minority, but this one looked to be unbelievable. It's been graphically enhanced and the auras look sooo much better. The action is incredibly fast and all the counters and extra little things will have you blown away...for the first couple hours or so. Around then is when you get down to the substance of the game. Nearly everything is carried over or improved on from the previous games, so I won't go into things like Burst Mode and Capsules.

Dodging:
This is a really cool feature. WIth a simple tap of the Guard button at the right time, you can simply duck or move your head out of the way of an opponent's attacks. With good timing, you can do it over and over to avoid an entire combo and counter attack with your own move. This was a great idea instead of just having the old sidestep move.

Item Capsules:
A new addition, since Physical skills were removed, item capsules basically affect your status, such as defense or ki consumption. They come in pretty handy with the right ones, but I found myself sticking to health restoration-based capsules.

Teleporting/counters:
This was a fantastic addition to the game... in concept. Just like in DBZ, you can teleport behind an opponent to dodge their attack with one of your own, or if you send an opponent flying back, you can repeteadly teleport back and forth and swat them around like a ping pong ball. Naturally, they to can counter being knocked around and send you flying. One can also teleport in the middle of a combo attack, rendering old combos from the previous games and some special moves obsolete. Each teleport uses up a supply of your ki energy.

I love this concept, but sadly, it's very limited. For example, if an opponent sends an attack your way, you can teleport behind them to counter, but they can counter even that. Unfortunately, this is where the series of quick-reflex counter rewards ends, meaning that the attacker gets to slam you regardless. No more counters for the defender. What this means is that the more aggressive characters in the game will dominate in the hands of a skilled player or a very cheap CPU. Count it with me kids... 1 teleport, 2 teleports, 3 teleports, You're screwed.

Dragon Rush:
In the trailers I saw of the game, Dragon Rush looked fantastic. It's basically a series of attacks done in three cutscenes. A player can activate Hyper Mode, which turns them red, and if they knock their opponent back, they can enter Dragon Rush. This is where the irritating part begins.

The first few times you see it, you're wowed by how cool it all looks- as if it were taken right from the TV. After that, it's just endlessly annoying, especially on the receiving end, but an attacker with consistently poor luck is screwed as well. The attacker and defender press a single button during this mode. If they match, the defender blocks the attack and the game returns to normal. If they don't match, the attacker gets a series of hits in. After the third mismatch, the attacker scores serious damage on his victim. Basically, this mode is a game of chance, and as I said before, the consistenly unlucky player, such as myself, will want to scream in frustration because of a highly cheap, aggressive CPU (i.e. Super Buu). Furthermore, as I stated above about counters, you can only defend so much with teleports, and if the attacker is in Hyper Mode when he bitch slaps you into place with the last counter, you'll see just how frustrating Dragon Rush mode can be.

Ultimate Moves:
Every character has an ultimate move which is activated while in Hyper Mode with a simple button press. A cinema begins and both players have a meter appear at the bottom of the screen. They have to time their button presses at the right time to fill 3 of them and whoever has filled it the most wins. If the defender wins, usually he takes less damage from the attack. If the attacker wins, well, he deals intense damage. Now normally, this isn't too bad, as even if the defender wins, the attacker still deals some damage regardless. But as I've said before, I'm a Yamcha fan, and apparently, he's exempt from any form of dignity in this. Read further down for elaboration.

Beam Struggles:
Lots of fans have been wanting this feature for awhile, and I have to say, it's very cool. Just like Burst Mode from the previous two games, players compete to see who can hit the buttons the fastest to overcome one another with massive ki blasts. Although I'm nowhere as fast as I used to be with button mashing, it's still fun and simple.

Dragon Universe:
This was the feature I was really waiting for. Instead of Goku being the primary playable character in the game's story mode, you can select up to 11 different characters and fly around the globe (or globes depending on what character) on their own solo mission from their vantage point within the DBZ mythos. Anyone familiar with the canon story though knows that some characters get far more spotlight than others which means a very limited playing experience with your favorite character if they happen to fall into that category. Regardless, your character gains experience with each battle and you can customize them to your liking in different categories.

The story however, when they fill in dialogue for exploration events when not fighting canon battles, is a lot like really bad fanfiction. For example, when playing as Vegeta when he first arrives on earth, if you run into Bulma he wonders "why his heart is pounding" around her. Anyone worth their salt as a fan of DBZ who's not a romanticizing BulmaxVegeta or an "I love bishie Trunks" fangirl will recognize instantly that this is a tad off. Vegeta was evil, pure and simple, and was even going to kill her when they were on Namek. But I digress. There are other more wonderful story points that resemble bad fanfiction which I'll rant about later on.

Dragon Arena:
Dragon Arena is fighting to build up your customized character, plain and simple. It's nice in that, those characters with limited stories/battles in Dragon Universe can be built up further here. After DU has lost it's savor, this is where most solo players will be spending their time.

::WARNING:: Yamcha-biased Rant!!

Apparently, somewhere between Budokai 2 and 3, there was a change of personnel in the story department. I always thought they liked Yamcha honestly. But personnel change is the only reason I can think of for Yamcha getting shafted so badly in this game.

Once again, on a base gameplay level, I was blown away at first. Then I got access to his Ultimate Attack, the Spirit Ball. Now, as I mentioned above, if the defense wins, they simply take less damage from the attack. But with Yamcha, his attack SMACKS HIM IN THE FACE. The face! Why?! They could have done so many other things, like have the defense block it and deflect it, but still take small damage. Or they could have given him a new one for his Ultimate, like say maybe his Warp Kamehameha that he learned from Goku that he used in battle against the Saibaman.

In Budokai 2, the Spirit Ball was great. The animation of him getting smacked in the face was only if you messed up the button combination to execute it properly, and that was understandable. But this...this is inexcuseable and makes the move entirely obsolete.

Furthermore, after getting my hopes up so much (which is my own fault really), Yamcha still lacks a power up move like every other cast member has, save for Tien. I sincerely believe he should have access to the Kaioken or even a power up called "King Kai Training" or something like that. You may say that he never used that in the show or whatever, but I ask you to take a look at all the dozen other BS capsule powerups that the rest of the cast has (i.e. even Hercule has the High Tension powerup) that "never officially appeared in the show/manga" and then reconsider my case, since he and Tien both trained with King Kai.

And another thing. I understand how in the story, Yamcha dies from a kamikaze Saibaman. That's all fine and dandy in Story mode. But my Level 39 Yamcha should not be dying from that attack with 4 full health bars when a Level 1 Tien, Krillin, or Piccolo just shrug it off. That's total bull$%*#.

Lastly, and most horrendously, is my problem with the story mode. As I stated above, the story plays out in some areas like bad fanfiction. Many of these areas, in nearly all the character scenarios, is the ever-present Yamcha-bashing or jokes at his expense. If you've ever read fanfiction from fangirls who love Trunks, and hence, love his parents, Bulma and Vegeta, then you've read stuff that has Yamcha as a rapist, or a drunk, or just an endless womanizer, all of which drove the "innocent victim", Bulma, to the arms of the "understanding and loving" Vegeta. What-the hell-ever.

Story mode is a lot like that. Yamcha is depicted as a klutz, a horndog flirt, and a worthless person whom all his "friends" have deep-seated and open contempt for. The only saving grace whatsoever is that Yamcha's story mode has a hidden ending where he challenges Vegeta by way of formal letter, and Krillin responds by saying that Yamcha is "so old fashioned". THAT is the Yamcha I know.

So, whoever you are at Dimps/Atari that decided to jump on the fan-based Yamcha-bashing bandwagon, whether it be from personal opinion or message board gripes from little punks who don't like him being respectable in the game, I say screw you. I'll be around to whip you in the nuts with a car antennae.

::End Rant::

Final Thoughts:

I have mixed feelings about this game. Obviously, Budokai 3 was made for Dragonball fans and it shows. Non-DBZ fans will more than likely pass it up for other fighters, but if they try it out, it has its fun moments. But in all honesty, only the really hardcore fans will get hours-or even weeks-out of this game. Even then, it's tough to get past some of the frustrations, especially if you're, say, trying to bring justice to your favorite character. The game as a whole feels like the good cancels out the bad. Things were taken out from the first games that shouldn't have been, and some new features were added that are horrible, and yet many new features are quite good. Dimps/Atari know their audience for the most part though, and the game is sure to be a hit.

Rating: 7 out of 10