Dragon Ball Z : Budokai Tenkaichi 3

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for PlayStation 2 is Spike's 2007 3D arena fighting game based on Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball universe. Released in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Meteor before arriving in North America on November 13, 2007, it is the third Budokai Tenkaichi game. The PS2 edition lets players stage fast one-on-one clashes that emphasize movement through large arenas, dramatic signature attacks, and the many eras of the Dragon Ball story rather than traditional side-on fighting-game positioning.

Fights use a behind-the-character camera and place both combatants in broad, destructible environments. Players move on the ground or take to the air, close distance with dashes, chain melee strikes, and fire Ki attacks from range. Charging Ki opens the way to stronger Blast techniques, while Blast Stock supports character-specific tactical abilities. Building enough energy can activate Max Power Mode, a temporary boost that also allows access to a character's Ultimate Blast. The system rewards managing those resources as much as landing a single rush of punches.

The PlayStation 2 roster covers Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and material drawn from Dragon Ball films, with characters and transformations represented as distinct selections with their own abilities. The game includes more than 150 selectable fighters and forms, so a match can pair heroes, rivals, villains, fusions, and giant characters from very different points in the franchise. Day and night variations on selected stages matter to the spectacle as well as the roster: certain Saiyan characters can use the conditions needed for Great Ape transformations.

Dragon History is the central single-player route. It revisits battles inspired by the series and presents branching What If scenarios alongside the familiar confrontations, with in-battle events capable of changing the flow of a fight through transformations, dialogue, attacks, or character switches. Outside the story material, players can set up a Free Battle, take part in World Tournament rules including the Cell Games, or use the training options to practice movement, combos, and special techniques. These modes make the game useful both for recreating a favourite matchup and for working through the breadth of its roster.

Budokai Tenkaichi 3 expands its arena combat with techniques such as Blast Combos and the speedy Z Burst Dash. A Blast Combo adds a Ki attack into a melee sequence when the chosen character can perform it, while the Z Burst Dash trades energy for a rapid evasive pass behind an opponent. The PlayStation 2 release supports local battles for one or two players and includes Battle Replay, allowing completed matches to be saved and watched again. Its opponent settings also provide several AI styles, giving solo matches a way to feel different from fight to fight.

The PS2 version has one feature that distinguishes it from the later Wii release: Disc Fusion. By inserting a previous PlayStation 2 Budokai Tenkaichi disc when prompted, owners of the earlier games can unlock the related Ultimate Battle modes. The Wii edition instead added online multiplayer, so that functionality is not part of the PS2 game. Known in Japan by the Sparking! name, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 remains a series entry built around putting a wide range of Dragon Ball characters, forms, locations, and special moves into freely mobile console battles.