In just a few weeks Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is going to arrive in North America. I played a bit of it back at E3 and I was plesently surprised how motion control was implemented in the game. Then I found out it had online play and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 really got my attention. Since it’s coming out soon we spoke with Donny Clay, the producer of the game over at Atari, to get the scoop on what to expect.
Who is your favorite new character to play as?
DC: Probably King Vegeta just because I’ve wanted to see him in a game for quite a while. I mean we’ve all had lots of fun playing as Vegeta and his different forms over the years, but for the first time ever we get to play as Vegeta’s dad, I mean come on!
Are there any gameplay tweaks to the fighting system?
Yes definitely! We’ve added more combos and new moves for starters. Combos are now easier to pull off and on the flipside, escaping them is easier as well. All in all everything is faster and smoother than ever before. You won’t be using the pointing cursor that was featured in Budokai Tenkaichi 2 on the Wii, this time around all moves are controlled by the motion sensors in the Wii remote and the nunchuk, making the fights more fluid and realistic than ever before. Well, as realistic as flying around and shooting fireballs from your hands can get :).
Is Atari leaving an optional Japanese language track in?
Yes indeed. For you hardcore fans out there that cringe when hearing American Goku or the mondo cool American Krillin, you can switch to the Japanese language track and hear your favorite characters in their original Japanese voices.
A few months ago when I played the Wii version, I noticed the movements were more intuitive than the first game. How many different special motions are there?
I would say around 10 unique special motions for the Wii, much more than last time. And this time around, since we scratched the pointing cursor, all of these moves will be more interactive and rely on your body movements. For example, you won’t have to worry about moving the cursor off the screen to block or pull of special moves anymore. Just move your body in the motions necessary to pull off a Masenko, Kamehameha or Spirit Bomb and your character will perform the move, it’s that easy!
Fans are excited about online play, but what about lag issues. How is Atari addressing this?
Well the code is fine tuned and the Wifi network is definitely solid. I haven’t had any issues with it as long both players are on solid connections you shouldn’t have any problems either.
Will online play for the Wii version work between regions? For example, can a gamer in say Germany duke it out with someone in North America?
At this point No, but that isn’t set in stone.
How come online play wasn't added for the PlayStation 2 version?
The PS2 didn’t have a robust enough online component for us to work with when we started making this title, so we focused more on the online component for the Wii version. Also, the Wii is a new system with a growing online gaming presence, and we wanted Budokai Tenkaichi 3 to get in on the ground floor so to speak. We’re happy to say that Budokai Tenkaichi 3 will be one of the first online fighting games for the Wii, and one of the more solid online titles as well.
However, the PS2 version has its own bonus, the disc fusion system. Can you tell us how this works?
Sure enough, if you have the previous Tenkaichi Discs you can throw them in and unlock some PS2 exclusive modes including the option to play through the story modes of past Budokai Tenkaichi games from the PS2 library.
Speaking of different versions how come Atari isn't porting the game over to the Xbox 360? Online play through live and higher resolution graphics would make 360 owners very happy.
I’m a big 360 fan as well and believe me, nobody is more excited about the prospect of the DBZ franchise coming to systems like the Xbox 360. We are working on some next-gen stuff right now but unfortunately, I can’t go into anymore detail than that. I can tell you to keep your eyes peeled in the coming months for more information though…
