Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, released as in Japan, is a fighting video game based on the popular anime series Dragon Ball Z. It was developed by Dimps and published by Atari for the PlayStation 2, and released on November 16, 2004, in North America through standard release and a limited edition release, which included a DVD featuring a behind the scenes look on the game's development.
Europe soon saw a release on December 3, 2004, and obtained a new edition in Fall 2005 which included character models not available in the North American release, as well as a few items and the ability to switch the voices over to Japanese. Japan later saw a release from Bandai on February 10, 2005, and also included the extras that the North American release did not have. Soon after, the Greatest Hits version was released in North America and contained the extra features, including the ability to play with the Japanese voices. The game was re-rendered in HD for the 2012 PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection.
==Gameplay==
Budokai 3 is a fighting game with cel-shaded graphics to mirror the look and feel of the combat in the series. Where Dragon Ball Z: Budokai included characters all the way to the Android Saga and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 introduced characters from the Buu Saga, Budokai 3 now has characters from the DBZ films, Dragon Ball GT, and even the original Dragon Ball.
===New mechanics===
*Ki – The Ki system is completely revamped from the past two Budokai games. Each character now has a base Ki level, Ki will increase/decrease slowly until it is at base Ki level. If Ki is higher than the base Ki, then a bonus in attack is acquired (under base Ki level, a defense bonus is gained until you are back at normal defense level). Transformations, now instead of draining Ki slowly, can increase base Ki (this also evens out transformations as having less than base Ki will reduce a character's defense). Additionally, auras have been redone, and now look very close to the auras seen in the anime.
*Transformation – In the previous two games, a transformation gradually drained ki, and being knocked down with less than the ki level needed to transform would revert the transformation. In Budokai 3, a transformation will instead increase the base ki level, and is only reverted if a character is hit with less than one ki gauge, or if they allow hyper mode to run out. Additionally, some transformations (like Cell, Broly and Frieza's) are irreversible.
*Beam Struggle – If two beam attacks collide, instead of cancelling each other out, a beam struggle is activated. The two characters rotate control sticks in order to push the two beams to one character or the other. If the fighters are close to each other and use Energy Wave Blasts on each other, they can damage each other or cause a Double K.O. with low health.
*Fatigue – A new fatigue meter is added to the HUD, it increases during battle. It is most important during an ultimate attack, but if fatigue is maxed out, a character will become exhausted if knocked down with less than one Ki gauge full.
*Dodging – By pressing guard just before being attacked, the character will dodge the attack completely, at the cost of a little ki.
*Teleport Counters – Before any attack connects, a character can teleport behind the attacking character and counterattack at the cost of 3 ki bars. If only 2 ki bars remain, the character cannot teleport anymore; they have to charge up ki in order to teleport again.
*Items – Item capsules can be equipped and used in battle. Items can only be used once and have various effects ranging from increasing health to granting temporary Ki Blast immunity. If a character is interrupted while trying to use an item, the item is lost.
*Hyper Mode – By pressing L2, a character enters Hyper Mode. They turn red, their ki slowly decreases, and they lose the ability to block. In Hyper Mode, a character is immune to most weak melee attacks, if Hyper Mode is allowed to run out, the character is fatigued and loses any applicable transformations. Hyper Mode is necessary to start Dragon Rushes and Ultimate Attacks. Hyper Mode is rather wildly reviled by veteran players due to the constant drain, the fact that the user slows down, and how easy they become to avoid until they are out of Ki and left helpless by fatigue. Hyper Mode does take up time as the fighter will have to turn the analog stick to get out of exhaustion, and the fighter can get attacked by their opponent.
*Dragon Rush – If a character knocks another character away while in Hyper Mode, that character can start a Dragon Rush. A Dragon Rush is a three-part game of chance, where both characters choose one of the four buttons. If the defender can pick the same button as the attacker, the Dragon Rush is ended, however, after each part, the number of buttons is decreased. If all three parts connect, the attacking character launches a powerful finisher.
*Ultimate Attacks – When in Hyper Mode, characters can launch powerful (and quite cinematic) ultimate attacks. Players use timing to stop a gauge just before it fills up. Depending on the results, the attack can have its power reduced, miss, or be sent back to the attacker. Fusion is also executed in the same way, but the mechanics for fusion are the same as they are in Budokai 2.
*Fusion – While still performed the same way, and still providing infinite Ki, Fusion Dance now instantly ends when the timer runs down to zero (whereas in the previous game, dance fusion was only reverted when your character falls over after the timer runs out). Fusion is also executed in Hyper Mode, just like an ultimate attack. If the opponent presses the same button while throwing the earring during a Potara Fusion, the character will catch it and crush it. After this happens, the player is unable to fuse.
*Super Saiyan 4 – Goku and Vegeta can now transform into Super Saiyan 4, changing their Kamehameha and Galick Gun attacks into 10x Kamehameha and Final Shine Attack respectively. These attacks are also 72% stronger than their basic versions. They can also fuse as Super Saiyan 4's to form Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta.
*"Free Flight" – By holding up or down while doing a backward dash, characters can ascend and descend, where in the past, a player had to be hit into the sky. This is a helpful feature as larger characters have an easier time hitting smaller characters while others simply fight less effectively in the air.
===Skills===
As in Budokai and Budokai 2, each character is able to be customized by using a 7-slot skill tray. Players may choose up to 7 skills and give them to a fighter. Skills can take from one to seven slots (including ones such as Bulma's Armor and items which include things such as Senzu Bean and Vaccine). The throws are in the control system and the attacks where your character blasts ki attacks rapidly at a downed opponent have been incorporated into Dragon Rush.
==Game modes==
===Dragon Universe===
The story mode in Budokai 3 takes place on a world map called Dragon Universe. This mode consists of 11 playable characters traveling around Earth or Namek during the four main sagas of Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga, Frieza Saga, Cell Saga, and Majin Buu Saga, while collecting items such as money, capsules, Dragon Balls or unlocking other characters for use in the other game modes. The various characters are each unlocked by completing a required task within Dragon Universe (for example, Dr. Gero is unlocked by defeating Dr. Gero with Yamcha in the Androids Saga).
The Dragon Universe has a high level of replayability due to events in the game potentially changing from playthrough-to-playthrough. For example, in Goku's first playthrough the majority of the story proceeds as it does according to the anime. However, in the following playthroughs, certain choices can include Goku's fight with Frieza changing into a fight with Cooler instead. These choices can even lead to events such as fighting Broly and Omega Shenron after fighting Super Buu. With eleven characters available for play in Story Mode, and various choices available for each character, Dragon Universe has significantly more replay value than previous Budokai games.
The characters playable in Story Mode are:
*Goku
*Kid Gohan
*Teen Gohan (unlockable)
*Gohan (unlockable)	
*Vegeta (unlockable)
*Piccolo
*Krillin
*Yamcha	
*Tien Shinhan
*Uub (unlockable)
*Broly (unlockable)
thumb|right|One of the many hidden Story Reenactments
In all non-optional battles in Story Mode, the player can unlock a bonus called "Story Reenactment". It's obtainable by doing specific conditions in each battle like performing or finish the opponent with certain technique, defeating the opponent within or after a time limit, using or equipping an item, winning with determined health or win by a ring out victory. Most of these conditions are based in events that actually happened in the manga/anime, although the what-if battles also had them. Taking in account all possible battles for each character in their different playthroughs, there are a total of 111 hidden story reenactments (Goku having 21; Kid Gohan, 8; Teen Gohan, 7; Gohan, 10; Vegeta, 20; Piccolo, 18; Krillin, 7; Yamcha, 4; Tien, 6; Uub, 4; and Broly, 6). However, only 20 story reenactments of the 111 unlock exclusive voice clips, while the rest of them only award the player with more Z-points.
Once the game is completed, if all seven Dragon Balls are collected, the player is able to make a "wish" which lets him/her choose one from three special capsules, which include Breakthrough Capsules (these allow a player to use all of a character's moves and abilities at once), "Memories of... Capsules", and Equipment Capsules.
===World Tournament===
The World Tournament allows players to compete against the computer or up to 8 players in a Martial Arts Tournament. If more than one human player is present no prize money is available, but with only one human player the following prizes can be won:
*Novice: 10,000 Zeni
*Adept: 30,000 Zeni
*Advance: 50,000 Zeni
*Cell Games: 50,000 Zeni
If a player reaches second place, they will win half the prize money. If a player enters the tournament with a Sparking Capsule and wins, the prize money will be multiplied. The more exclamation marks on Sparking, the more money is earned (for example, Sparking! gives the player a 10% increase while Sparking!!!!!!! gives the player a 400% increase).
===Dueling===
Dueling mode allows a player to fight the computer at a preset skill level, or two human players to fight each other using any custom skills. A player may also watch a fight between two computer fighters.
It is possible to get a double KO during a duel due to attacks or ultimate attacks.
===Edit Skills===
Made up of four sections: the Skill Shop, character editing, instructions, and help. A player may edit skills on either memory card.
Aside from Dragon Universe, the Skill Shop is the place to get your skill capsules. Sometimes Launch sneezes, so she can appear either in her good or bad side. The prices range from 1,500 Zeni to over 120,000 Zeni.
==Playable characters==
===Returning characters===
Name 	Returning Transformations	New Transformations	Costumes Available in all Versions	Available at Start
Android #16 	 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Grey palette swap	No
Android #17 	 	 	
*Black shirt w/ red scarf
*Brown hunting jacket	No
Android #18 	 	 	
*Blue jacket w/ blue skirt
*Black vest w/ pearls
*Denim jacket w/ jeans	No
Android #20 	 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Blue palette swap	No
Captain Ginyu 	 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Orange gi w/ weighted clothes, "Milk" kanji & Power Pole	No
Cell 	
*Imperfect Cell
*#17 absorption
*Perfect form	
*Super Perfect form	
*Traditional appearance
*Blue palette swap	No
Dabura 	
*Base
*Demonic Will 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Green jacket palette swap	No
Frieza 	
*First Form
*Final Form
*100% final form
*Mecha Frieza (*via item*)	
*Second form
*Third form	
*Traditional appearance
*Kuriza color palette	No
Gohan 	
*Base
*Super Saiyan
*Super Saiyan 2
*Elder Kai Unlock Ability	 	
*Purple gi
*Orange gi w/ weighted clothes	No
Goku 	
*Base
*Kaio-ken
*Super Saiyan
*Super Saiyan 2
*Super Saiyan 3
*Fusion: Vegito (w/ Vegeta)	
*Super Saiyan 4
*Fusion: Super Gogeta (w/ Vegeta)
*Fusion: Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta (w/ Vegeta)	
*Orange gi w/ weighted clothing
*Blue gi
*Damaged orange gi w/ weighted clothing	Yes
Goten 	
*Base
*Super Saiyan
*Fusion: Gotenks (w/ Kid Trunks)	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Light blue	No
Gotenks 	
*Base
*Super Saiyan
*Super Saiyan 3
*Fat Gotenks	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Yellow & green palette swap	No
Great Saiyaman	 	 	
*Saiyaman outfit w/ helmet
*Saiyaman outfit w/ bandana & glasses	No
Hercule 	
*Base
*High Tension 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Green palette swap	No
Kid Buu 	 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Dark pink palette swap	No
Kid Gohan 	
*Base
*Unlock Potential 	 	
*Purple gi with long hair and white bandana
*RIT battle armor
*Purple gi with short hair	Yes
Kid Trunks 	
*Base
*Super Saiyan
*Fusion: Gotenks (w/ Goten)	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Black shorts & tank top	No
Krillin 	
*Base
*Unlock Potential 	 	
*Orange Turtle School gi w/ weighted clothes, bald
*Red shirt, w/ hair
*RIT battle armor, bald	Yes
Majin Buu 	 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Dark pink palette swap	No
Nappa 	 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*White & gold full battle armor w/ black jumpsuit	Yes
Piccolo 	
*Base
*Sync with Nail
*Fuse with Kami	 	
*Purple gi
*Nail's outfit
*Purple gi w/ weighted clothes	Yes
Raditz 	 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Blue basic battle armor	Yes
Recoome 	 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Black Ginyu Force jumpsuit	No
Super Buu 	
*Base
*Gotenks absorbed
*Gohan absorbed	
*Piccolo absorbed 	
*Traditional appearance
*Dark pink palette swap	No
Supreme Kai 	
*Base
*Fusion: Kibito Kai	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Green palette swap	No
Teen Gohan 	
*Base
*Super Saiyan
*Super Saiyan 2	 	
*Purple gi
*Bulma's Battle armor 	No
Tien 	 	 	
*Blue tunic, white pants
*Green pants and sash	Yes
Trunks 	
*Base
*Super Saiyan
*Super Saiyan 2	 	
*Black tank-top w/ sword & Capsule Corp jacket
*Black tank-top w/ sword	No
Vegeta 	
*Base
*Super Saiyan
*Super Saiyan 2
*Majin Vegeta (*via item*)
*Fusion: Vegito (w/ Goku)	
*Super Saiyan 4
*Fusion: Super Gogeta (w/ Goku)
*Fusion: Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta (w/ Goku)	
*Blue sleeveless jumpsuit
*Bulma's Battle armor w/ jumpsuit
*Full battle armor w/ Scouter & jumpsuit
*RIT battle armor w/ jumpsuit	No
Vegito 	
*Base
*Super Vegito 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Black pallet swap	No
Videl 	 	 	
*White tank top w/ short hair
*School outfit w/ pigtails	No
Yamcha 	 	 	
*Orange Turtle School gi w/ short hair
*Yellow jacket w/ short hair
*Orange Turtle School gi w/ long hair	Yes
===New characters===
Name 	Transformations	Costumes available in all versions	Available at Start
Bardock 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Light purple palette swap	No
Broly 	
*Super Saiyan
*Legendary Super Saiyan	
*Traditional appearance
*Purple palette swap	No
Cell Jr. 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Red palette swap	No
Cooler 	
*Base form
*Final form
*Meta-Cooler	
*Traditional appearance
*Blue palette swap	No
Gogeta 	
*Super Saiyan
*Super Saiyan 4
*Veku	
*Traditional appearance
*Dark gray palette swap
*Silver hair, red and dark blue vest palette swap (SS4)	No
Kid Goku 	 	
*Purple gi
*Turtle school gi 	No
Omega Shenron	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Dark gray palette swap	No
Saibaman 	 	
*Traditional appearance
*Red palette swap	No
Uub 	 	
*White pants, brown sash
*Blue palette swap	No
===Exclusive costumes===
The following are exclusive alternate costumes only available in certain versions of the game.
Character Name	Costume Name 	Versions Available in
Goku 	Orange gi w/ weighted clothes and Halo 	
*European Collector's Edition
*Japanese version
*American "Greatest Hits" Edition
*HD Collection Version
Piccolo 	Demon King Piccolo (skin) 	
*European Collector's Edition
*Japanese version
*American "Greatest Hits" Edition
*HD Collection version
Trunks 	Bulma's battle armor w/ sword & long hair	
*European Collector's Edition
*Japanese version
*American "Greatest Hits" Edition
*HD Collection Version
Videl 	Bulma skin 	
*Japanese version after 100% completion and via Action Replay device
==Battle Stages==
*World Tournament Stage
*Hyperbolic Time Chamber
*Archipelago
*Urban Area
*Mountains
*Plain
*Grandpa Gohan's House
*Planet Namek
*Cell Ring
*Supreme Kai's World
*Inside Buu
*Red Ribbon Base
==Exclusive versions==
===Japanese version extras===
Just like Dragon Ball Z 2 (the Japanese version of Budokai 2) had a battle damaged outfit for Goku and a full outfit for Piccolo, including cape and turban, as well as featuring Kuriza as an alternate outfit for Frieza, Dragon Ball Z 3 has some new outfits as well: Trunks's 3rd outfit is long hair with Bulma's battle armor and his sword, Piccolo's 4th outfit is his father King Piccolo, and Goku's 4th outfit has a Halo above his head. While the American version of the game only had two movie clips to unlock (the instrumental and vocal openings from Budokai 2), three additional "Baba's Crystal Ball" capsules were added in the Japanese release, two are Japanese commercials for Budokai 2 and Budokai 3 and the third is an extended version of the various scenes shown in the credits, along with the full intro theme song. The only other real "extras" in the Japanese version of the game would be the vocal opening theme (which the original European release of the game had, anyway), and the fact that character mouths actually move on menu screens (which was not in either the original European and American releases of the game).
===European version (Collector's edition)===
The European "Collector's Edition" version of Budokai 3 was released in Fall 2005. Months before, the hype began to build that it would include not only the option to select the Japanese vocal track for the characters in the game, but that the Japanese version's extras would also be available for unlocking. The Platinum Version is identical to the Collector's Edition. The "Baba Crystal Ball Movies" are also available on this version after extensive game play. Several forums have posted the process needed to gain these capsules, which can be bought in the capsule store. However, the content of the movies are simply the original Japanese introduction to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2. One clip is the intro with vocal accompaniment while the second clip is the instrumental version of the intro.
===American version (Greatest Hits)===
The American "Greatest Hits" version of Budokai 3 was released on November 9, 2005. Just like the European Collector's Edition, the game includes the three extra outfits for Goku, Trunks, and Piccolo (which can be unlocked by entering case-sensitive passwords in Dragon Arena), and the option to switch the language to Japanese, making this particular version of Budokai 3 the first North American-released DBZ game to include such feature.
At first, the game didn't actually contain the promised extra features, however. The instruction booklet and the back of the case claimed the game had the original Japanese voice cast but was deprived of such features. It also tended to corrupt saved data from the original version of Budokai 3. Essentially, it was the original game disc repackaged again.
Atari has released a correct version of the game but has made no effort to distinguish it from the incorrect version (aside from the shrinkwrap method mentioned below). Atari is now offering to replace incorrect versions of the game with the correct one.
It has been reported by some that the most recent shipment with the correct disc may be distinguished by the type of shrinkwrap it is packaged in. Atari apparently re-opened the packages to replace the defective discs and re-wrapped them. These copies are wrapped in the same manner as a retailer would shrinkwrap, sealed around the edges and slightly loose as opposed to tight-fitting and folded at the corners.
The "correct" version is basically a direct port of the European Collector's Edition, only differing in aspects such as the non-vocal opening, "Hercule City" spelling in Dragon Universe, and a new memory card data image.
===Limited Edition===
The Limited Edition Box Set includes the standard game, an exclusive glow-in-the-dark chibi figure of Broly wearing his in-game alternate costume, and a DVD containing a documentary titled "Behind the Screams", which features the U.S. voice actors going over the game's development, as well as the "Budokai 3 Super Trailer". The DVD also contains a URL linked to a webpage containing a sneak peek of upcoming Dragon Ball Z games.
==Voice cast==
Character Name 	Voice Actor (Japanese) 	V.A. (U.S. English)
Goku 	Masako Nozawa 	Sean Schemmel
Kid Goku 	Masako Nozawa 	Stephanie Nadolny
Kid Gohan 	Masako Nozawa 	Stephanie Nadolny
Teen Gohan 	Masako Nozawa 	Stephanie Nadolny
Gohan 	Masako Nozawa 	Kyle Hebert
Great Saiyaman 	Masako Nozawa 	Kyle Hebert
Goten 	Masako Nozawa 	Kara Edwards
Vegeta 	Ryō Horikawa 	Christopher Sabat
Piccolo 	Toshio Furukawa 	Christopher Sabat
Trunks 	Takeshi Kusao 	Eric Vale
Kid Trunks 	Takeshi Kusao 	Laura Bailey
Krillin 	Mayumi Tanaka 	Sonny Strait
Yamcha 	Tōru Furuya 	Christopher Sabat
Tien Shinhan 	Hirotaka Suzuoki 	John Burgmeier
Bulma 	Hiromi Tsuru 	Tiffany Vollmer
Chi-Chi 	Naoko Watanabe 	Cynthia Cranz
Master Roshi 	Hiroshi Masuoka 	Mike McFarland
Oolong 	Naoki Tatsuta 	Bradford Jackson
Puar 	Naoko Watanabe 	Monika Antonelli
Chiaotzu 	Hiroko Emori 	Monika Antonelli
Launch 	Mami Koyama 	Meredith McCoy
Yajirobe 	Mayumi Tanaka 	Mike McFarland
Korin 	Ichirō Nagai 	Christopher Sabat
Kami 	Takeshi Aono 	Christopher Sabat
Mr. Popo 	Dai Matsumoto 	Christopher Sabat
King Kai 	Jōji Yanami 	Sean Schemmel
Bubbles 	Naoki Tatsuta 	Christopher Sabat
Fortuneteller Baba 	Junpei Takiguchi 	Linda Young
Guru 	Junpei Takiguchi 	Christopher Sabat
Nail 	Katsuji Mori 	Sean Schemmel
Hercule 	Daisuke Gōri 	Chris Rager
Videl 	Yūko Minaguchi 	Kara Edwards
Shin 	Yūji Mitsuya 	Kent Williams
Kibito 	Shin Aomori 	Chuck Huber
Old Kai 	Isamu Tanonaka 	Kent Williams
Raditz 	Shigeru Chiba 	Justin Cook
Nappa 	Shōzō Iizuka 	Phil Parsons
Bardock 	Masako Nozawa 	Sonny Strait
Broly 	Bin Shimada 	Vic Mignogna
Frieza 	Ryūsei Nakao 	Linda Young
Captain Ginyu 	Hideyuki Hori 	Brice Armstrong
Recoome 	Kenji Utsumi 	Christopher Sabat
Cooler 	Ryūsei Nakao 	Andrew Chandler
Dr. Gero 	Kōji Yada 	Kent Williams
Android 16 	Hikaru Midorikawa 	Jeremy Inman
Android 17 	Shigeru Nakahara 	Chuck Huber
Android 18 	Miki Itō 	Meredith McCoy
Cell 	Norio Wakamoto 	Dameon Clarke
Majin Buu 	Kōzō Shioya 	Josh Martin
Super Buu 	Kōzō Shioya 	Justin Cook
Kid Buu 	Kōzō Shioya 	Josh Martin
Babidi 	Jōji Yanami 	Duncan Brannan
Dabura 	Ryūzaburō Ōtomo 	Rick Robertson
Uub 	Megumi Urawa 	Sean Michael Teague
Pan 	Yūko Minaguchi 	Elise Baughman
Giru 	Shinobu Satouchi 	Sonny Strait
Bee 	 	Christopher Bevins
Commander Red 	Kenji Utsumi 	Josh Martin
Omega Shenron 	Hidekatsu Shibata 	Christopher Sabat
Vegito 	Masako NozawaRyō Horikawa 	Sean SchemmelChristopher Sabat
Gogeta 	Masako NozawaRyō Horikawa 	Sean SchemmelChristopher Sabat
Gotenks 	Masako NozawaTakeshi Kusao	Kara EdwardsLaura Bailey
Supreme Kai 	Yūji Mitsuya 	Kent Williams
Saibamen 	Yūsuke Numata 	John Burgmeier
Cell Juniors 	Hirotaka Suzuoki 	Justin Cook
Shenron 	Kenji Utsumi 	Christopher Sabat
World Tournament Announcer	Hirotaka Suzuoki 	Eric Vale
Narrator 	Jōji Yanami 	Kyle Hebert
==Reception==
Publication 	Score 	
IGN 	8.0 of 10 	
GameZone 	8.1 of 10 	
GameSpot 	8.2 of 10 	
1UP 	B+ 	
Review compilations	Review compilations 	Review compilations
Game Rankings 	76.3% (based on 37 reviews)	
Metacritic 	77% (based on 32 reviews) 	
The game was given much higher reviews than its predecessors Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (75% on Game Rankings). This can be attested to the fact that many critics felt that the game did more to improve its gameplay rather than just its graphics and presentation.
The game sold 642,000 in Japan according to Famitsu's 2005 end of year charts making it the most successful Dragon Ball Z game on the PS2 in that region.Famitsu 2005 video game sales on VGSales Wiki In the United States it sold 1.14 million copies.http://www.the-magicbox.com/Chart-USPlatinum.shtml
==Unused Content==
Bulma was rumored to have been planned as a playable character. This is supported by the fact that a full model for her exists in the game (it can be seen in the 11th stage in Training Mode), and there are World Tournament callouts for her in both English and Japanese (additionally, the Limited Edition DVD shows her voice actress recording fight lines for her). It's possible to choose Bulma as an alternate costume for Videl using Action Replay codes in the Japanese version, though she is glitchy and cannot have skills equipped.
An unused model of Frieza in his hoverchair also exists. Presumably, it would have been used during exploration in his Dragon Universe.
World Tournament callouts also exist for Zarbon, Dodoria and Android 19 (who were only in the first Budokai game), suggesting they were planned to return in this game. A call-out for "Shin" also exists, though it presumably would have been used for Supreme Kai. Unused dialogue in the dragon universe story has character interactions for Baby Vegeta, Janemba and Super 17 suggest that they were planning to be on the main roster.
Also in game data: Burter, Jeice, Guldo were set to appear in game to complete the whole Ginyu Force, but only Recoome and Ginyu made the final cut (The Budokai models of those 3, actually apeared in Dragon Ball Heroes). In addition Gokule, Tiencha and Super Buu (Vegeta, Freeza, Yamcha & Tien, Cell absorptions) from Budokai 2 were also planned to return as well.
Additionally, unused dialogue suggests that every character was planned to have a Dragon Universe story mode, but time constraints prevented that from happening. In the final game, only Goku, Kid Gohan, Teen Gohan, Gohan, Vegeta, Krillin, Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, Uub and Broly have Dragon Universe stories. The unused dialogue also suggests the possibility of a lot of "what-if" stories.
==Trivia==
*This is the first Budokai game that allows players to fire volleys of ki blasts.
*This is the first game in the Budokai series to feature characters from outside the main story, which include Bardock, Cooler, Broly and Gogeta from the Dragon Ball Z films, Pan, Giru, Omega Shenron and the Super Saiyan 4 transformations from Dragon Ball GT, and Kid Goku, Launch, Commander Red and Demon King Piccolo (only a skin for Piccolo, which is unlockable in some versions of the game) from Dragon Ball.
*In this Budokai series, Trunks model has slightly changed compared to early release.
*This is the first game in which the story of Dragon Ball GT​​​​​ is retold during the events of Z. In the context of the game, it can be assumed that the GT portion of the story takes place a few months after Kid Buu's defeat.
**In addition, the GT versions of Goku and Vegeta are not present in the game, and instead they are replaced with their Z counterparts to become Super Saiyan 4.
*Despite being replaced by Mayumi Tanaka and Masaharu Satō for the roles of Fortuneteller Baba and Grand Elder Guru respectively in the anime, Junpei Takiguchi resumed these roles for this game. Takiguchi continued to voice Fortuneteller Baba until Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo.
*The cover art for Dragon Ball FighterZ is somewhat similar to the original North American cover art for Budokai 3.
*Broly and Gogeta's battle in Dragon Ball Super: Broly could be an homage to Budokai 3's intro, where his Z counterpart is seen fighting Gogeta.
**Interestingly, Gogeta used the Super Kamehameha as his last move against both versions.
**Both versions forced Goku and Vegeta to fuse into Gogeta to defeat them.
*This is the first Dragon Ball Z game that includes an alternate color scheme for Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta that closely resembles the fan-made Super Saiyan 5 from the unofficial Dragon Ball AF.
*There is an easter egg that lets Yamcha be instantly defeated by a Saibaman's Saibaman Bomb, since this is how he died the first time in the anime.
*When the Babidi's Mind Control capsule is equipped to Vegeta, any of his armor becomes battle damaged when transformed.
*When Gotenks uses Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack as a Super Saiyan 3, the ghosts that appear mimic his Super Saiyan 3 hair, which is absent in Budokai 2.
==Gallery==
===Scans===
===Screenshots===
==References==
==External links==
*Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 Official page from PlayStation website
*Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 at IGN
*Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 at Game Rankings
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