What if Dimps continued the Budokai series right after 3?

[DBZAOTA482]

With the presence of FighterZ rendering the entire idea redundant and producer Daisuke Uchiyama confirming Budokai 3 as intended to be the last in the series, any chance of a sequel ever happening in the future has effectively been shot down.

It's a shame really because the series had a tremendous amount of depth to its gameplay that a lot of players didn't catch up on. The biggest thing that set apart an average Budokai player and a pro-level player is guard cancel, which enhanced the neutral game as well as giving it near-endless combo potential.

Each game in the series was about improving the formula and taking it as far as it can go. The first Budokai laid the groundwork, the second expanded upon it, and the third is ultimately where they really hit their stride.

Several potential successors (Shin Budokai, Infinite World, etc.) were released over the years further refined the mechanics but they always felt like they were missing something which made I think Dimps never truly perfected the formula.

Now if Budokai 4 ever happened, I don't see it making in any major competitive scenes mainly due to lack of support from Bamco but I could see it being at side tournaments with the momentum they had already gained starting with Budokai 3.

What do you think things would've went down?

[MKCSTEALTH]

Depends when we're talking

If we're talking back after Budokai 3, what more could they have added or done? Tweak Budokai 3, add more movie characters perhaps? I feel like they had no where really to go

Now if they did a Budokai 4 in the present day, you have a lot to add. Super content, more possible what ifs, and newer hardware to really enhance the playstyle of those games

[Jord]

I think the 2nd PSP Budokai game improves upon 3. No Dragonrush or long cutscenes when performing a super are a big plus.

[DBZAOTA482]

I think the 2nd PSP Budokai game improves upon 3. No Dragonrush or long cutscenes when performing a super are a big plus.

I already mentioned it.

[Saimaroimaru]

Wasn't Infinite World pretty much Budokai 4? That is pretty much the best you are gonna get as far as B4 is concerned.

[Jord]

I think the 2nd PSP Budokai game improves upon 3. No Dragonrush or long cutscenes when performing a super are a big plus.

I already mentioned it.

Excuse me for giving my opinion.

[Logania]

Budokai 3 was a bit too stiff. Better than 1 and 2 by a mile, but still relatively too slow. Guard canceling while dealing quite a bit of damage, was relegated to just 2-3 combo chains from a character spammed over and over to keep the juggle going, it got kind of old. That and Hyper Mode from 3 and Infinite World giving characters super armor is the stupidest thing ever that was thrown away with Shin Budokai/Burst Limit (Thank God)

Now Burst Limit is a system that can be continued and tweaked to be quite deep and fun. It had the best of all the series with some fun elements put in. Too bad the game aside from the fun combat was terrible and never got a sequel.

[sunsetshimmer]

Infinite World basically was Budokai 4.
Just like Buu's Fury was Legacy of Goku 3, despite not being called that.

[Quebaz]

Infinite World basically was Budokai 4.
Just like Buu's Fury was Legacy of Goku 3, despite not being called that.

No.

Infinite World is Super Budokai 3, not a Budokai 4. Just compare how each game in the series evolved from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 and then look at Infinite World.

[sunsetshimmer]

Infinite World basically was Budokai 4.
Just like Buu's Fury was Legacy of Goku 3, despite not being called that.

No.

Infinite World is Super Budokai 3, not a Budokai 4. Just compare how each game in the series evolved from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 and then look at Infinite World.

Seriously?
So Buu's fury is "Super Legacy of Goku 2"?
Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is "Super Budokai Tenkaichi 2"?
Because those games also weren't that much different as 1 to 2.

[Quebaz]

It is what it is. You can tell Boo's Fury is a proper sequel because it it continues where LoG2 left off (i.e adapting the Boo arc), it's not a case of it being the same game with more or less stuff, it's overall a different game.

Sparking Meteor while not being a big step up compared to the jump from 1 to 2, it's a step up regardless. Gameplay changes aside there's:

-> New stages
-> Returning stages got day/night versions
-> New characters
-> Returning characters got new animations and costumes
-> Different modes compared to Sparking Neo (with the option to play the ones from Neo)
-> Whole aesthetic change regarding menus and such, and not simply remixing what was there from Neo
-> Being a culmination of what the Sparking series was trying to accomplish

With Infinite World tho?

-> No new stages
-> You can't select destroyed versions of stages from the stage select anymore
-> New characters at the expense of some from Budokai 3 (for no reason)
-> Menus are the exact same as Budokai 3 with a new coat of paint
-> Loss of Tournament mode with nothing to replace it


It doesn't feel like a true sequel, it's more a streamlined of Budokai 3, with none of the bells and whistles that the Shin Budokai games implemented years prior.

[Saimaroimaru]

Well at this point, the devs have moved on. From Infinite World, to Burst Limit, the Budokai series is a thing of the past. Your best bet at this point is playing Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The best you can hope for is them deciding to port over the Dragon Ball Heroes franchise but those games just use Budokai's graphical style.

[mute_proxy]

Infinite World basically was Budokai 4.
Just like Buu's Fury was Legacy of Goku 3, despite not being called that.

No.

Infinite World is Super Budokai 3, not a Budokai 4. Just compare how each game in the series evolved from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 and then look at Infinite World.

It continued the story. Budokai 3 covered all of Z, Infinite World covered Z, GT and the movies. That determines that it's a sequel. It also added new interactive features - searching for dragonballs, running on snake way, escaping nameks destruction and so on. Also cinematic moments from the series. Also, new characters. They removed things they thought were redundant, regardless if you agree with their decisions, and added new things. It is a sequel regardless of how you "feel" about it.

[Saimaroimaru]

Not to mention technological limits that they faced by the time they were developing Infinite World, so of course B3->IW seems less of a jump. PS2 is a console, not a wish machine.

[Captain-Sora]

It continued the story. Budokai 3 covered all of Z, Infinite World covered Z, GT and the movies. That determines that it's a sequel.

Budokai 3 introduced the OG DB, GT, and movie (ignoring the Coola skin from that special version of B2) content. Infinite World just added a bit to them.

Not to mention technological limits that they faced by the time they were developing Infinite World, so of course B3->IW seems less of a jump. PS2 is a console, not a wish machine.

It was more of a time constraint sort of thing. Infinite World was meant to be just a quick thing for players that had not switched over to the new consoles yet, so they basically reused all the B3 assets without as much significant overhauling as B2 and B3 received, and quickly whipped up something they could pump out later the same year Burst Limit was released.

[Saimaroimaru]

Switch over to the console? Uh Infinite World came out in 2008 for the PS2. The PS3 came out in 2006, if their main goal was to get people to switch consoles, IW would of came out for the PS3 which was nearly 2 years old by this point(Ps3: November 17, 2006, IW: November 4, 2008 for NA). IW was more of a wrap up of an series than an attempt to be an "killer app". By the time it came out, the they went up against a console that was now old & up against it's tech limits. By that point they tried to move on to the 360/PS3 with Burst Limit, but considering that series died with the first game, it was a flop. So they did the next best thing and made their back up series, the Dragon Ball Z: Data Carddass series, their main focus that eventually paid off(in 2010) in the form of Dragon Ball Heroes which was the sixth entry in that series. Meanwhile, Spike killed themselves off with the spiritual successor to the Tenkaichi series, the Raging Blast series, giving them an opening after Ultimate Tenkaichi was received poorly.

[Captain-Sora]

I never implied it was to get people to move to the newer consoles. What I said was that it was a quick bone throw to those who couldn't experience Burst Limit at the time because they didn't jump ship to the PS3/360 just yet. Something released so they wouldn't feel left out.

[Saimaroimaru]

It was more of a cash out than "grease the wheels thing", considering after IW, they pretty much left the Budokai series alone. It was more like a goodbye more than anything. Upon looking, IW was the last game under Atari, with Namco now having the license, so that could be another reason why there are no Budokai games beyond IW.

[linkdude20002001]

You're right. Infinite World does feel like a fare-well to the Budokai series. I can't remember what about it exactly makes me feel that way, tho. I don't own it, so I didn't get to play it too much, and that was a long while ago...

[Hellspawn28]

Infinite World is pretty much a bargain bin title since it was made in a short amount of time and was release for a cheap price. I don't consider it to be a Budokai 4, but a cheaper version of Budokai 3 with some new stuff added into it.