Although the Dragon Ball anime may be long dead, the games are continuing to release and sell. Most recently of course is the latest Wii title, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, which pits all your favourite characters from the long running TV show against each other for some pure anime fighting. How does the game fare on the Wii?

Do you like Dragon Balls?

As with all the Dragon Ball Z games, the game follows the story of the long running anime series. The Dragon History mode has plenty of content to keep the Dragon Ball fans happy. Every single saga, ranging from the original Dragon Ball series right through to Dragon Ball GT, as well as some special "What If" sagas and of course, the movie specials. When compared to the predecessors, this game does do a much better job at telling the story, where games like Budokai Tenkaichi 2 left huge gaps that anyone who had not watched the series on TV wouldn't be able to follow. A good example is the narration and cut scenes during story events. Where the originals were simply beat the hell out of your opponent, this game does help recreate the feel of the anime. Although this game does a better job at telling the story, it is still far from perfect. Some of the sagas lacked a few major story events, for example the fight with Gotenks and Super Buu in the Majin Buu Saga. But with that aside, it's still an improvement.

Saiyan's and Android's and Namek's, oh my!

What kind of review would this be if I didn't mention the over whelming character roster? This game features a whopping 150+ playable characters, all of whom made an appearance somewhere in the Dragon Ball universe, featuring characters new to the game series such as GT Goku and King Vegeta. Although saying there are 150+ individual characters is kind of bending the truth, as this game features different versions of the same character from different seasons of the series. For example, there is Kid Goku from the Dragon Ball series, Young Adult Goku from the end of the Dragon Ball series up to the Dragon Ball Z Saiyan Saga, Mid Goku from the Freiza and Android Saga, End Goku from the Majin Buu Saga and GT Goku from the Dragon Ball GT sagas. The reason for this put simply is because they each have different move sets and character animations from their specific saga. Where End Goku may use a Kamehameha, Mid Goku uses Kaoken Attack as seen in the anime. Also new to the series is the ability to save and view replay data. Although an option to send the videos to Wii Friends was not included, it would have been nice.

KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAAAAAAAAA!!

If that isn't enough to impress the Dragon Ball fanboy, then the controls will. Anyone who played Budokai Tenkaichi 2 on the Wii would have an idea on what the controls are like. Well this game is pretty much the same, but the motions have been updated dramatically. For example the Kamehameha wave. If you were to charge it on Budokai Tenkaichi 2, you'd need to move the controller backwards and forwards quickly and then hold B and Z to charge it. How has this been refined you ask? Well in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, to charge the Kamehameha wave, you'd pull the remote and nunchuck back to charge it, and when it is charged to your liking, you push the controller forward to blow your opponent away, which is oddly satisfying to say the least. The controls aren't the only thing that has been refined for this title either. The special effects and characters look noticeably better than what was seen in the prequels. It's nothing that the PS2 couldn't push obviously, but it is one of the prettier games for the Wii.

Let's FIGHT!

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 on the Wii features an online mode, which allows you to fight against people in your region. The only thing worth asking about this is why the hell did they bother with it? From what I have experienced with this game over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, it is laggy to the point where games are literally unplayable. Atari will really need to fix this issue if they want to keep Wii owners happy with the Wi-Fi access. I guess that also begs the question why I even bothered mentioning it.

Closing Comments.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 does expand upon the series with a larger character roster, tightened up controls and semi-improved graphics. But the lack of new features and an online mode that does the title no justice does suggest that if you already own Budokai Tenkaichi 2, you'd probably be better off sticking with that unless you are a HUGE fan of the show. This game does prove 3rd-party developers can use the Wii controls if they spend time on them.