Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (2004)

Developer: Dimps
Publisher: Bandai, Atari, Inc.
Platforms: PlayStation 2
Genres: Fighting
Rating: 4.0 of 5, 139 player ratings
Main story: about 10 hours
Completionist: about 15 hours

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A high-energy anime brawler that feels like reliving iconic Dragon Ball Z moments, with satisfying combo chains, teleports, and flashy special moves as you power up and unlock a massive roster of familiar fighters.

fast-pacedflashycompetitiveenergeticaccessiblerewardingcombativearcade-style

About

The third installment in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series begins another tournament of champions where only one fighter can prevail. As one of the characters from the Dragon Ball Z animated series, you can master an all-new fighting system that lets you teleport, juggle opponents, fly, and attack in a variety of ways. As you progress through the tournament, you can unlock up to 40 bonus characters from the DBZ universe. You can also post and retrieve character profiles from the Internet.

What players say

An approachable, spectacle-driven anime fighter whose simple inputs and viscerally fast brawling let casual fans recreate the show, widely seen as the gold-standard classic DBZ game despite a divisive rock-paper-scissors Dragon Rush mechanic that competitive players dislike.

Screenshots

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This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.