Maybe if you find it in the garbage it's okay.
The last DBZ game I played before this one was Budokai 3, and that game I enjoyed almost to no end. I only played as vegeta most of the time, true, but that's only because I never got good enough at the game to make it past "Average" with any character that couldn't increase his set ki above three bars. But enough about that, you're here for Tenkaichi 3.
I hate it. Yes, that's right, plain and simple. Now on to my reasons. But first, any and all blindingly forgiving fanboys, I suggest you leave. Biased people might want to leave too. This review is truly and honestly how I feel about the game, and I know that some of you will try to defend the s=game by insulting my skills as a player. My skills are fine. If I can make it past a game, I'm not "incompetent," "suck at playing," or my favorite, "stupid."
Now. After playing Budokai 3, I was very exited to check out the Tenkaichi series, especially after I heard that you could start a battle already in a transformation. And over 150 characters? Who wouldn't be drawn to that? (Curses that I didn't learn my lesson from Mortal Kombat Armageddon.)
When I first started playing the game I was completely overwhelmed by all the different moves, button presses and combinations that could, and needed to be done in order to win, or just survive, a fight. I'm still overwhelmed in fact, but take into account that I did not have Tenkaichi 1 or 2 to already be used to this.
Like anytime I have a new game, I was too exited to see flaws right away, and for a while I really did enjoy going through story mode and such. But I find that even after all this time the vast majority of moves that can be pulled off are far too difficult for me to pull off. Things like teleport dodges require ridiculously tuned reflexes, and I for one do not have the patience to spend hours working at it to get any more enjoyment out of the game.
Another thing is beam struggles and those seemingly random clashes. The speed at which you need to rotate the analog stick is simply ridiculous. Even on the easiest difficulty it's more of a chore that you hope never happens. While we're on the concept of ridiculous, whose bright idea was it to repeatedly press the circle button to stop yourself flying across the sky? It's so ineffective and you almost always have so little time to do it that you're better off taking all the hits and saving your energy.
150 characters? HA! Transformations are NOT different characters. And why include such useless and unneeded fighters as Frieza's henchmen? WTF?!
The battle tuorial is completely useless, Videl in that white shirt being the most entertaining thing (and probably the only reason I made it past).
The special Saga is devoid of any quality and felt like more of a chore. But I finished all the episodes just to get the most I could out of this game, even if the what-if saga didn't get the same treatment.
All the characters play mostly alike as far as I can tell, and I was sort of welcoming the fact that this was the case because it meant I wouldn't have to get used to a ton of different playing styles. But it's no good, everything is too bland and once you're caught in a combo, it's pretty difficult to break out with the frustratingly small amounts of time you have to teleport dodge out of them. And even if you do, you'll probably be so surprised you'll get caught in another combo before you realize what happened. The only way I've been able to make it through all the episodes is by fighting in the easiest difficulty, running a lot, and attacking with tons of special attacks. Not no mention finishing a battle as soon as possible without pressing R3, lest you risk more chance of being beaten and having to start over and hear that annoying little music.
The music. There's one tone that is EVERYWHERE, the main screen, the select screen, the BATTLE. GAH! None of the music is redeeming in any way and sticks in your head whether you want it to or not.
Now the loading screens. I'd heard there were three different ones in the game, and thought it was neat. All three of them work by pressing the X button repeatedly. Let me ask, WHAT IS THE POINT of three different screens, if they all work the same way anyway?! GAH!
I'm sure that true DBZ fans think this game is nothing short of perfect. The action of the show is recreated almost exactly as you see it. But to someone who may just be arriving into the whole thing (and it doesn't matter where you start, all the games have the same storyline anyway), the game is simply flat-out disappointing. Not even worth a rent. Maybe if you find it in the garbage it's okay. No money wasted.