Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3

Your correspondent wants to be upfront from the outset: he knows nothing about Dragon Ball Z, other than the fact it's patently Japanese and exceedingly popular with children, man-children, and other fans of bright colors and loud sounds. That said, a lack of any prior knowledge of the series or where the game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 fits within its canon will not unfairly bias the appraisal that follows. Even when reviewing Budokai Tenkaichi 3 not as the spawn of a monumental marketing force but rather as a generic fighting game, it still emerges as a must-purchase for versus-fighter fans. Even if you know nothing about the series, the game's specs speak for themselves. Most notably, there 150 playable characters in the game, a record for a fighting game that has yet to be broken, and probably never will be. Seventy-two of these beautifully drawn characters are available right out of the package, ranging from jagged-haired anime brats to viridescent aliens to boldfaced MegaMan clones, their sheer variety enough to make even the Milestone Comics lineup look like it has diversity issues. On top of that epic roster add twenty-odd stages, all of which are lush, sprawling and ecologically diverse. You can fight in forests, in deserts, in outer space, and even underwater. In essence, the available permutations and combinations of scenarios are endless, making BT3 nothing short of candy for the imagination of the fighting-game fan. The gameplay isn't that bad either, as it consists of a little bit of hand-to-hand combat and a lot more throwing of various projectiles (could these be the eponymous dragon testes?) from near or far, more often the latter given the size of the confines. Heedless of gravity, you traverse the nooks and crannies of these massive environments from a dramatic, behind-the-back view, making the game feel like the magisterial Power Stone but in a tight third-person. Anyone who fancies themselves a fan of fighters should track down BT3 without hesitation and bask in its inexhaustible potentialities. But for god's sake, if you're aged thirty or above, don't start watching the show!