DBZ fan or not Budokai 3 is great fun
The core gameplay is similar to the first two Dragon Ball Z games. Basically you have your kick, punch block and ki buttons (ki is another word for energy). Tapping these buttons in different combinations will result in different combo's. Though there isn't an extrmely large amount of depth in the fighting, its the right amount that makes Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 a game that you can pick up and play.
There are a good amount of playable characters in Budokai 3. Some of the characters found in this game are Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha as well as some villains like Freeza, Cell and all 3 forms of Buu. Overall there is just over 15 characters to choose from 12 of which are playable in the story mode (Dragon Universe). Each character has there own move set, but some characters will have some of the same moves, an example would be Goku and Gohan who both have the Kamehameha technique, though each character have a good amount of there own moves.
The story mode that replaces Budokai 2's crummy board game like story mode is called Dragon Universe. Instead of bouncing around on a plain that looks like a board, you'll be flying around some impressive looking environments. There are 12 characters that can be used in Dragon Universe, including one who is a villan from one of the movies. You should be able to plow through each story in no less than 2 hours, but the replay value here is excellent, you'll probably be playing through each story 4 or 5 times, especially if you want to level up your character.
There is a ton of unlockables in Dragon Ball Z:Budokai 3, such as the new Dragon Areana mode. In this mode basically you'll be battling different opponents to gain experience and level up your chatacter. The level up feature is similar to the feature you would find in many of the Final Fantasy and Pokemon game except you'll be battling opponents normally instead of turned based action. The Dragon Areana is a nice feature, it would have been better if they had added maybe another purpose for it, but the way it is right now is fine.
There are three new gameplay mechanics in Budokai 3. The first is the teleport technique. Basically by tapping the X button and the right direction on the D-Pad you'll instantly flash behind your opponent and kcik or punch them, if your a fan of the show you should be very familair with this technique. The second is the Dragon Rush. The Dragon Rush which is essentially a combination of attacks that will end in a energy attack which will cause major damage. To activate the Dragon Rush you must be in Hyper Mode and you have to press O after knocking your opponent in the air.But there is a way your opponent can stop you. Before each of the attack sequences (there are four) you will have to press one of the 4 attack and guard buttons (X, Square, O and Triangle), if your opponent presses the same button, he will eprform a counter and the action will return to normal. The 3rd is the ultimate attack feature. Basically each character has an ultimate attack (e.g Goku has the Spirit Bomb). Basically once your in hyper mode you'll be able to perform this by pressing the R2 button (or Triangle, O, X and Square at the same time) a mini- cut scene will occur and your character sets your opponent up for this huge attack. Then these two metres will appear. You will have to press X when the metre is closest to full, you will have to do this 3 times and the character who was most accurate wins the little battle and the Ultimate attack will either backfire or just cause less damage.
Budokai 3's graphics is essentially an upgrade of last years. The cell shaded models have been cleaned up a bit, which is great because last year the whole game looked a bit sloppy, and all the energy attacks looks absoloutely awsome. Especially when you get into a power struggle with your opponent (which is when you both fire off a special energy atttack at the same time). The ultimate attacks look really cool, the little cut scenes in the middle of them are generally just as fast paced as the action. The Dragon Rush looks incredible. Your character (or who ever is doing the Dragon Rush) will just power up every now and them and then beat the living hell out of there opponents, it looks cooler than it sounds trust me.
The sound is also well done. All of the voices are done by the original american voice actors, the sounds the game makes when your powering up and just generally battling are fine. You will also hear the occasional voice work while the characters are fighting to which is cool. Basically Budokai 3 looks and sounds great, everything about the presesntation is done really well, especially the intro which is really cool.
DBZ fan or not Budokai 3 is great fun, its really easy to forget about the story line and just go and beat the hell out of everyone. In saying that, if your a DBZ fan, or even if you have a mild interest in DBZ your definitely going to wanna check this out. It hasn't got the deepest fighting system but theres definitely enough ehre to keep you coming back, its just a great game all round.