Dragon Ball Z 3/Budokai 3 Turns 10

[Quebaz]

Most of the FGC who don't respect Budokai 3, as far as I'm concerned, are those who didn't take the time to learn how it works (the games don't explain that thoroughly).

Oh but they did, there are tons of people on the FGC that know what cancels are, and were even fans of the Budokai series at some point. Maybe they realized that, when you take the game to a deep level (i.e: cancels, juggles), it actually makes the game even more boring than it really is, maybe they think the meta game of the Budokai series (know which character has the most cancel strings, more damage, then go into the fight and spam those KKKK hoping your oponnent has less energy than you) just isn't that really deep and competitive as people make it out to be. Some of these opinions vary of course, with people leaning towards more IW in terms of a better fighter. (And of course the Tenkaichi fighters are also laughed at, even some of its fans don't threat it as a fighting game but as a "Dragon Ball Simulator")

ON TOPIC:
FUCK YEAH BUDOKAI 3, I remember buying it on release day by pure coincidence, and I was amazed by how much better it looked and played in comparison to Budokai 1 (only got 2 some months later).
I still love the Story Mode, the alternative scenarios, the funny conversations, the way to trigger events, I find it to one of the best things in every DBZ game made. The fighting system was fast and fun and I found the Dragon Rush (at the time) to be one of the WOW factors (along with the GT characters).

Looking back at it now, it has aged kinda poorly, It takes atleast 2 playtroughs of every character in DU to get every capsule, the capsule system is flawed compared to IW and the gameplay feels slow in comparison to IW and the Shin Budokai series.

BUT IT'S STILL A GOOD GAME, something you unfortunatly can't say for a lot of DBZ games that have been released these past years.

[Hellspawn28]

I can see why Mortal Kombat: Deception won since it had an amazing story mode and tons of content but the game is just as simplistic as Budokai 3 in my opinion. If Budokai 3 had a mode similar to konqest mode for every character then it would have been epic.

[DBZAOTA482]

Most of the FGC who don't respect Budokai 3, as far as I'm concerned, are those who didn't take the time to learn how it works (the games don't explain that thoroughly).

Oh but they did, there are tons of people on the FGC that know what cancels are, and were even fans of the Budokai series at some point. Maybe they realized that, when you take the game to a deep level (i.e: cancels, juggles), it actually makes the game even more boring than it really is, maybe they think the meta game of the Budokai series (know which character has the most cancel strings, more damage, then go into the fight and spam those KKKK hoping your oponnent has less energy than you) just isn't that really deep and competitive as people make it out to be. Some of these opinions vary of course, with people leaning towards more IW in terms of a better fighter. (And of course the Tenkaichi fighters are also laughed at, even some of its fans don't threat it as a fighting game but as a "Dragon Ball Simulator")

ON TOPIC:
FUCK YEAH BUDOKAI 3, I remember buying it on release day by pure coincidence, and I was amazed by how much better it looked and played in comparison to Budokai 1 (only got 2 some months later).
I still love the Story Mode, the alternative scenarios, the funny conversations, the way to trigger events, I find it to one of the best things in every DBZ game made. The fighting system was fast and fun and I found the Dragon Rush (at the time) to be one of the WOW factors (along with the GT characters).

Looking back at it now, it has aged kinda poorly, It takes atleast 2 playtroughs of every character in DU to get every capsule, the capsule system is flawed compared to IW and the gameplay feels slow in comparison to IW and the Shin Budokai series.

BUT IT'S STILL A GOOD GAME, something you unfortunatly can't say for a lot of DBZ games that have been released these past years.

Well I did say most not all. All that aside I've always figured it was one of the few DBZ fighting games that the FGC viewed as worth shit competitively. Maybe not Street Fighter or Tekken level but still considered a good fighting in it's own rights.

And yeah, I agree with the combat being faster and more fluid in IW and the Shin Budokai series as well as the customization system being more balanced (IW less so) but they were also very lacking in certain areas that stopped me from enjoying them as much as a whole. I hope Xenoverse can change the tide

[MCDaveG]

I dunno, for me Tekken is boring, I don't like the stiff gameplay and combos. My favorite games are Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat (Injustice) and Blazblue/Guilty Gear.
DBZ games were always the mindless fun and fan service, simulating the DBZ series for me, making what if fights and just having fun.
Only DBZ game being near to the FG genre was the oldschool Super DBZ, and Budokai 1 and 2. I enjoyed the way the combos were made up, before Budokai 3 dumbed it down.
But yeah, then it was more fun

[Lord Beerus]

I dunno, for me Tekken is boring, I don't like the stiff gameplay and combos. My favorite games are Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat (Injustice) and Blazblue/Guilty Gear.
DBZ games were always the mindless fun and fan service, simulating the DBZ series for me, making what if fights and just having fun.
Only DBZ game being near to the FG genre was the oldschool Super DBZ, and Budokai 1 and 2. I enjoyed the way the combos were made up, before Budokai 3 dumbed it down.
But yeah, then it was more fun

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatt?

Budokai 1 and 2 were barebones when it came to combo variations. In Budokai 3, every character had specific types of combos. Even scrubs like Uub, Videl and even Mr Satan had a unique play style.

I've never understand the cult like status Super Dragon Ball Z has gotten over the years. To me it's just another cookie cutter 2.5D Dragon Ball beat-em-up. I mean just because it looks like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Tekken, doesn't mean it plays like it.

[VegettoEX]

I mean just because it looks like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Tekken, doesn't mean it plays like it.

No, it plays like itself completely independent of those games, and it's a wonderful game in and of itself separate from (and simultaneously complemented by) the fact that it was developed by a team with a long history in creating some of the best fighting games ever made.

[goku the krump dancer]

Most of the FGC who don't respect Budokai 3, as far as I'm concerned, are those who didn't take the time to learn how it works (the games don't explain that thoroughly).

Oh but they did, there are tons of people on the FGC that know what cancels are, and were even fans of the Budokai series at some point. Maybe they realized that, when you take the game to a deep level (i.e: cancels, juggles), it actually makes the game even more boring than it really is, maybe they think the meta game of the Budokai series (know which character has the most cancel strings, more damage, then go into the fight and spam those KKKK hoping your oponnent has less energy than you) just isn't that really deep and competitive as people make it out to be. Some of these opinions vary of course, with people leaning towards more IW in terms of a better fighter. (And of course the Tenkaichi fighters are also laughed at, even some of its fans don't threat it as a fighting game but as a "Dragon Ball Simulator")

Thank you, Thank you and Thank you again. Finally seems like someone on here besides myself feels this way or rather know this to be true.

I mean just because it looks like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Tekken, doesn't mean it plays like it.

No, it plays like itself completely independent of those games, and it's a wonderful game in and of itself separate from (and simultaneously complemented by) the fact that it was developed by a team with a long history in creating some of the best fighting games ever made.

And thank you as well, I feel like this is the perfect way to describe Super DBZ and the other DBZ fighters in general.. They're their own thing. The only similarity between this game and many other 2D fighters is the quarter circle motions for special attacks.. thats it. The raw hand to hand combat is definitely of its own breed.

[Quebaz]

I've never understand the cult like status Super Dragon Ball Z has gotten over the years. To me it's just another cookie cutter 2.5D Dragon Ball beat-em-up. I mean just because it looks like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Tekken, doesn't mean it plays like it.

And it doesn't to play like Street Fighter or Tekken. It has to be good, which ultimately is what Super DBZ is, a great DBZ game that happens to share some of its mechanics (2D-fighters motions in a 3D field) with other more popular fighting games.

[DBZAOTA482]

I've never understand the cult like status Super Dragon Ball Z has gotten over the years. To me it's just another cookie cutter 2.5D Dragon Ball beat-em-up. I mean just because it looks like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Tekken, doesn't mean it plays like it.

And it doesn't to play like Street Fighter or Tekken. It has to be good, which ultimately is what Super DBZ is, a great DBZ game that happens to share some of its mechanics (2D-fighters motions in a 3D field) with other more popular fighting games.

I dunno if I'd call it a great DBZ game. It's definitely a good fighter though.

[Lord Beerus]

I mean just because it looks like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Tekken, doesn't mean it plays like it.

No, it plays like itself completely independent of those games, and it's a wonderful game in and of itself separate from (and simultaneously complemented by) the fact that it was developed by a team with a long history in creating some of the best fighting games ever made.

Okay, let me rephrase what I said.

Super Dragon Ball Z is a good 2.5D/3D fighter but it's not the magnum opus that many claim it to be. It's a very decent game for what it is, originally being a port of an arcade beat-em-up, but I've seen that kind of Dragon Ball game done better. Much better. Budokai 3 and Burst Limit are prime examples. And in my opinion Budokai 3 remains the best Dragon Ball fighting game ever and the best Dragon Ball game ever released, with Tenkaichi 3 being a very close second. I mean Budokai 3 is like Modern Warfare is to Call Of Duty or like what Grand The Auto 3 was for Grand Theft Auto or like what Ocarina of Time was for Legend Of Zelda or like what Super Mario 64 was The Mario Bros. It was just so groundbreaking within the context of the franchise. Budokai 3 introduced mechanics which had never before been seen in Dragon ball games and to this day are still being used in Dragon Ball games.

But for what it's worth, Super Dragon Ball Z is in my top ten of favorite Dragon Ball games. It's just not the best.

[MCDaveG]

Yeah, you said it. It was grounbdreaking in the context of the franchise and that's it.
Budokai played almost the same as Saint Seiya games on PS2 from Dimps. It wasn't challenging at all, it was just fun.
But the game, when you really have to master combos and timing is Super DBZ. It was classic arcade fighter and I do understand how lots of people are probably put down by the lack of content.
If I wasn't a fan of Dragon Ball series, I would never play Budokai as a fighter, it's just not fun and worth of play without the franchise's context.

[TheMajinRedComet]

I was just going to make a tropic about the line from B3 when Goku says that the spirit bomb is fading and then uses dragonfist instead. The attack is obvousily a reference to both movie 7 and 13 but where did they come up with that line. Does anyone know what Goku said in the japanese version of the game or is a one to one translation? Anyways B3 is a great game I played for probably 3 or 4 years straight. It was a college staple. It was even responsible for creating a dbz fan out of one of my best friends. I ended up re-watching the entire series with him.

[FortuneSSJ]

Happy Birthday Budokai 3. Best DBZ game ever.

[TheSaiyanjin2]

Only DBZ game being near to the FG genre was the oldschool Super DBZ, and Budokai 1 and 2. I enjoyed the way the combos were made up, before Budokai 3 dumbed it down.

Well it was really fun to read.

Budokai played almost the same as Saint Seiya games on PS2 from Dimps.

Ok so now I know that you do not possess any clues about these games my friend.

[MCDaveG]

Only DBZ game being near to the FG genre was the oldschool Super DBZ, and Budokai 1 and 2. I enjoyed the way the combos were made up, before Budokai 3 dumbed it down.

Well it was really fun to read.

Budokai played almost the same as Saint Seiya games on PS2 from Dimps.

Ok so now I know that you do not possess any clues about these games my friend.

Before, you had to go with KKKK+E and build others similarily with punches, kicks and direction arrows.
This was left in B3, but also, second mechanic was added with doing the signature energy attacks by arrow and E, Ultimate attack with arrow and up.
This was introduced for fusion also. For me, the older system of attack inputs was more fun.

Maybe not, but still I do live a happy and enjoyable life
That's my feel about it. Seiya too wasn't much complex battler, with easy combo moves.
Only difference were cosmo build-ups for different attacks in the first game. The last Seiya game from Dimps is simmilar visually to how Xenoverse looks in gameplay, tough you don't fly.

[TheSaiyanjin2]

Before, you had to go with KKKK+E and build others similarily with punches, kicks and direction arrows. This was left in B3, but also, second mechanic was added with doing the signature energy attacks by arrow and E, Ultimate attack with arrow and up. This was introduced for fusion also. For me, the older system of attack inputs was more fun.

Wake up! In B1 and B2 you could technically make nothing man, it was not even possible to make a single RBD, that thing which makes B3/IW devilish technical and interesting to play.

Maybe not, but still I do live a happy and enjoyable life. That's my feel about it. Seiya too wasn't much complex battler, with easy combo moves.

I know perfectly the gameplay of the Saint Seiya episodes on PS2, and there is none similarities with that of the Budokai's franchise (moveset / cancel / connection / sidestep / zoning etc).

The last Seiya game from Dimps is simmilar visually to how Xenoverse looks in gameplay, tough you don't fly.

On this point I completely agree, the gameplay of DVXV is very close to that of the SSBS, what is a shame by considering the quality of the previous DBZ games that Dimps has been able to develop. Unfortunately it is BNGI the decision-maker and they sucks since 2009.

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

Haha, wow. This video brought back a lot of memories:
http://teamfourstar.com/video/tfs-plays ... dokai-3-4/
It's not a short one, so I'd recommend grabbing a drink and some snacks. Worth sitting through just for the pay-off at the end, though. Really embodies everything I both love and hate about this game. Some fights you just get stuck on for ages, but it's so addicting that you keep on trying and when you finally win it's ridiculously satisfying. The fights are just so fast and intense. Sometimes you feel like you have absolutely no chance of winning and other times they're so agonizingly tight.

[DBZAOTA482]

Speaking of the devil, I managed to get everything for the game via HD Collection. Literally everything.

I got all the capsules (breakthroughs, characters, equipment, items etc.) and all of the story reenactments. I might get around to clearing through the ranks of Dragon Arena some time soon.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

No, it plays like itself completely independent of those games, and it's a wonderful game in and of itself separate from (and simultaneously complemented by) the fact that it was developed by a team with a long history in creating some of the best fighting games ever made.

Despite the confusing sequels (seriously someone has to explain this to me), Street Fighter is as good as its rep. However, I feel like this little aside here is a roundabout way of saying "look what else these guys have done; therefore, this is a good game", which is a nice little narrative that works well in reviews but says absolutely nothing about the game itself and shouldn't be used as evidence for the game's merits.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

Before, you had to go with KKKK+E and build others similarily with punches, kicks and direction arrows.
This was left in B3, but also, second mechanic was added with doing the signature energy attacks by arrow and E, Ultimate attack with arrow and up.

I know you were talking about Saint Seiya games, but E>,< to launch death moves was a Budokai 2 introduction, as a part of that game's overall mission of taking the mess of the first game and making it into something competent. Budokai 3's job was showing how little a competent Budokai 1 was actually worth by giving actual momentum to the fights with spot dodges and teleports that the first two games largely never had, at least on the casual level.