Dragon Ball Z: Budokai

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (known as Dragon Ball Z in Japan) is a fighting games series based on the Dragon Ball manga and anime series by Akira Toriyama.

Budokai 1 and Budokai 3 were re-released in the Budokai HD Collection for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, while Budokai 2 is not included because the developers felt it introduced some elements that didn't make it a straight fighting game.

List of video games

 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (2002)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (2003)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (2004)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (2006)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road (2007)
 * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai - HD Collection (2012)

Gameplay
The games are all fighting games, set in a 2D perspective but also features a full three dimensional movement around the arenas, the games include 3 main modes, Story Mode, VS, and World Tournament. Story modes also feature their own gameplay in Budokai 2 it's structured like a board game, while in Budokai 3, it allows the player to freely fly around the world as many characters.

Plot
The first three games all follow the plot of the anime and manga series, with Budokai 2 having some occasional changes, Shin Budokai on the other hand is based on the Fusion Reborn movie, while Shin Budokai 2 has a original story of Future Trunks having revenge against the androids.

Overall

 * 1) The games do a good job at staying faithful to both the manga and anime series, by featuring a lot of memorable characters from the franchise, Recreating lots of iconic moments from the anime, and having a story that keeps being faithful to the franchise.
 * 2) Great graphics that get better and better by each installment, the GameCube version of Budokai 1 improves from the original PS2 version due to using Cel-Shading which would later be carried in all the other DBZ games following it, In addition with its cel-shading, it makes the art style of the games look closer to the anime series.
 * 3) * Shin Budokai and its sequel also look impressive even for a PSP game.
 * 4) The character roster in the games are pretty good, that gets bigger and bigger after each installment, with Budokai 1 features characters from the Saiyan to the Cell Saga, Budokai 2 adding in characters from the Buu Saga and Budokai 3 also includes characters from the movies, and even characters from the Original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT, This includes but not limited to characters like: Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, Cell, Frieza, Majin Buu, Android 18, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and many more.
 * 5) * the first two games also feature what if characters, such as Cell if he absorbed Krillin, Tiencha (a fusion between Tien and Yamcha), and Gokule (a potaro fusion between Goku and Hercule (Mr. Satan in Japan))
 * 6) * With that being said, It also features each characters Transformations, including Super Saiyan forms (For Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks etc), Perfect form for Cell and the Majin form for Vegeta.
 * 7) Gameplay wise, the games do a pretty good job as fighting games, retaining elements from older DBZ fighting games, while also introducing new elements that would also be later carried in other  Dragon Ball Z games these examples include: Transformations, unlike older DBZ fighting games, each form is not treated as it's own character anymore, instead by playing a specific character, you can transform into that form, and you will get stronger (Though your ki meter will drain faster), You can charge you're ki meter, which allows you to fire ki-blasts at you're opponent, and using for special attacks if have enough, and even using ultimate attacks, for higher damage, in addition, in the World Tournament stage, you can ring out you're opponent to win much faster, some stages even feature stage transitions, if you knock your opponent out of the ring, and also featuring stage-specific attacks, for extra damage.
 * 8) * With that being Said Budokai 2 & 3 also have Fusions, 2 types of fusions normal fusions, and Potaro fusions, with normal fusions, you have to press the buttons on the correct order, if you do it in the right order you will fuse to that form, but if you press the wrong button it will be a fusion fail, though you will be in that fusion as long as the timer runs out, with potaro fusions, each player has to press one button, if both players hit a different button, you will be in that potaro fusion, (Though you can't revert to normal form), if both players press the same button, the opponent will break the potaro ring, and you can't fuse, and you're forced to finish the fight with you're normal form.
 * 9) * Budokai 2 and 3 also feature item forms, which are forms for a specific character that can only be activated at a specific time, for example, Frieza's mecha form can be activated after you lose all you're health bars, and after you're transformed you will get all you're health bars back, with Vegeta's Majin form it is activated while you get knocked down with one health bar.
 * 10) The games also feature a capsule system, where you can power up you're character and also add in transformations and they're special/ultimate attacks, though there can be a problem since it's limited to only 6 spaces, though thankfully there's also a breakthrough capsule when it equipped, you have all the special attacks into one capsule powered up, also features the item capsule like the senzu bean, where in Budokai 1 & 2 after being knocked out, you will take a senzu bean, and you will get your health back and continue to fight, while in Budokai 3 you can equip the capsules in the middle of the fight.
 * 11) The soundtrack in the games are really good, which features a mixture between Rock, J-Pop, Electronica, and Jazz, the type of music that would also be featured in DBZ games since them, (Despite the fact the music in the original games being plagiarised), in addition in the North American version of Budokai 1, the English theme song Rock the Dragon is featured, in the game's opening, and in the original game, in the end, credits the Japanese theme song, Cha-la Head Cha-la can be heard, and some of the theme music in these games is sung by Hironobu Kageyama himself.
 * 12) The voice acting in these games is also great, retaining the Japanese voice actors like Masako Nozawa as adult Goku in the Japanese language, and the North American release of the first game marks the first time in a Dragon Ball Z game to use the Funimation English voice cast with Sean Schemmel and Cristopher R. Sabat reprising they're roles as Goku and Vegeta respectively.
 * 13) * The HD collection also allows you to change between English and Japanese voices. (Budokai 3 only.)
 * 14) A lot of the iconic attacks and signature moves are also featured, such as the Kamehameha, Vegeta's Galick Gun, Trunks' Burning Attack, and Krillin's Destructo Disk, in addition, the ultimate attacks are really powerful and effective, sometimes even to the point where it can drain the opponents full health regardless of how many health bars they have left, not only that but in Budokai 2 & 3 the ultimate attacks we're also improved.
 * 15) * In Budokai 2, there's a minigame added for an ultimate attack, one being where you have to rotate the analog sticks, as fast as you can to fill the meter, if the meter's full the attacks will be much more stronger and effective, another being similar but where both players control the analog sticks, and if the opponent rotates them faster, they will block the attacker's attack and the last one being pressing the buttons in the right order, similar to fusions.
 * 16) * In Budokai 3, there are 2 ways to perform each ultimate attack by both you need to be in hyper mode first, one is by hitting the opponent by pressing R2 on PS2/PS3 or RT on Xbox 360, then a minigame will show up, where each character has to fill the meter by pressing a button at the right time, depending on the speed, the harder is it to fill the meter, and if the attacker has the meter higher the attack will be successful, the other being in the Dragon Rush mode in order to activate it you must, press the R2 button at the end of a combo, by that there are 3 sections where both players have to press each button if the attacker completes all 3 stages of the rush he will preform an ultimate attack, in that addition, even characters that don't have they're own specific ultimate attack can still preform a powerful attack if they succeed.
 * 17) (except for Shin Budokai) The games feature a world tournament mode, which is a ladder-style combat tournament, all games have 3 tournaments Novice (3 rounds) Adept (4 rounds) and Advanced (5 rounds), if you win the tournament you will earn Zeni (The game's currency), which will be useful to buy capsules at the skill's shop (You can still earn Zeni even when you're a runner up), in Budokai 2 and Budokai 3 you can also play the tournament with more than one player, and Budokai 3 also features the Cell games tournament.
 * 18) * Though while Shin Budokai and Shin Budokai 2 don't have a tournament mode, they still feature an arcade mode, which is in similar concept, though it doesn't have that much unlockables.
 * 19) In Budokai 2 and 3 you can find capsules even in the story mode, by exploring the world, in that addition, unlocking capsules in Budokai 2 and 3 Is easier than in Budokai 1 since you don't just have to do the fights over and over again, With that, the world is accurately recreated, which can be a pleasure to fans of the franchise, despite the fact being more limited in Budokai 2. Also, there are much more enemies to fight like the Saibamans and upon fighting them, you get a lot more unlockables and extra items.
 * 20) * Shin Budokai 2 also has explorations during the story mode, though unlike Budokai 3, it's mostly to fly to your opponent, to fight them for progressing the story, though it still has challenge since if you fight all of them you will get a lot more points and unlockables.
 * 21) The games feature a lot of replay value as well, this is noticable in Budokai 2, 3, and Shin Budokai, in Budokai 2, you can do that by picking a different ally fighter, and fighting a character with that specific fighter, will let you unlock a few extra items, that you didn't unlock before, also with that being said, Budokai 3 has a lot more to offer, since each character has his own story mode divided, and while finishing them all you unlock a special item as well, however you can replay as that character too, take a different path of the story thus creating a different ending path, in Shin Budokai 1 the game lets you choose on the text boxes by which path you'll pick, you can replay that fight immitiedaly to pick both paths, without needing to start the game over, While Budokai 1 doesn't have as much replay value, you can still replay the fights, as each time it will unlock a different capsule, while at the same time unlocking extra story campaigns, that were not previously there.
 * 22) The story modes in the games are very good, with the first 3 games following the plot of the anime series (Albeit Budokai 2 a bit more on its own way), in Budokai 1 in particular (Despite only being based up to the Cell saga) is easily the best, due to re-creating a lot of iconic moments from the original anime series, such as Goku and Raditz being hit by Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon and Gohan finishing off Cell for good, While Budokai 3 may not be as faithful, the story still, for the most part, stays in common with the series, also with a few parts from GT in the story mode.
 * 23) * Shin Budokai on the other hand follows the story from the Fusion Reborn movie, which also for the most part does a pretty good job.
 * 24) * Shin Budokai 2 follows Future Trunks' revenge on the Androids.
 * 25) Each game has its own minigame in the loading screen, which would also be featured in the Xbox 360/PS3 era (Except for Battle of Z and Xenoverse) DBZ games:
 * 26) * In Budokai 1, if you move the analog stick, it will project the Dragon Ball Z logo, on the way you're holding it.
 * 27) * In Budokai 2, if you spin the analog sticks, you will make Master Roshi spin much faster.
 * 28) * In Budokai 3, if you tap the buttons, the more Saibamans will grow on screen.
 * 29) * and in Shin Budokai and its sequel, you can practice combo buttons.
 * 30) Each game also features its own special game mode:
 * 31) * Budokai 1 has Legend of Hercule (Called Legend of Mr. Satan in Europe and Japan), here you play as Hercule and you're goal is to beat the opponents with the final being perfect cell, and you will earn points depending on how good you do, in that addition, it tells the story of how he became a legend.
 * 32) * Budokai 2 has Babidi's Space Ship, where you pick a character, and you have various types of challenges to beat your opponent, In the similar fashion to the legend of Hercule mode in the first game, the better you do the more points you'll receive.
 * 33) * Budokai 3 has Dragon Arena, where with each character, you have to power up, by fighting opponents from tier 1 to the final tier, each opponent each by each gets stronger and harder to beat when you defeat a opponent you get upgrade points to power-up you're character.
 * 34) As expected, in each game you get to collect the 7 Dragon Balls, in the first game you only do that by playing the story mode, but in Budokai 2 & 3 when you find the Dragon Radar in the story mode, it will show you where the next Dragon Ball is after you collect all 7 of them, you can summon Shenron, than you pick what wish you want, which unlock more items, after you get a wish, you can collect them again for more, this is especially useful since some items can only be unlocked by summoning Shenron.
 * 35) The VS. Mode is also improved from the previous games, now you can also play against the CPU, and by the capsule system your opponent will use the same skills you have set in you’re capsule system (Except for Budokai 1 where the Capsule System for the CPU set by the 2nd memory card save file).
 * 36) * Also in the GameCube version of Budokai 2 and Budokai 3 you can set the number of health bars you will have in the VS. Mode.
 * 37) If you have a Budokai 1 save file, you will unlock the Z armor at the beginning of a new save file in Budokai 2  and 3, and if you have both a Budokai 1 & 2  save file, you will automatically unlock Bardock at the beginning of the game in Budokai 3, in that addition you don’t necessarily need to do everything in the Story mode to unlock them.
 * 38) The characters all feel balanced, and depending on what type of character you play as it will be different, Saiyans like Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, etc, can Fly, fire ki-blasts, transform into Saiyan forms, etc, certain human characters like Hercule, on the other hand, can't fly but their combat is more on the ground than anywhere else, and fusion characters combine both characters strength in ones, making them much stronger than what they would normally be and combining both of they're attacks.
 * 39) Though while Budokai 2 and 3 might be the same on this depart, each game's ending in the story mode is exciting, especially with recreating the endings from the anime series, in that addition, finishing each game will unlock you a capsule.
 * 40) With the addition of the playable characters, the games also feature a lot of alternative costumes for every character, with some being the actual outfits that the character did wear in the franchise while others being completely new outfits for a character, in Budokai 1 you can make Goku and Vegeta wear a leather jacket, or give Android 16 a silver armor plate, or in Budokai 3 you can make Goku wear his outfit from GT.
 * 41) The presentations in the menus are also amazing, with Budokai 3 being the best, due to each menu featuring one of the characters talking to the player about the option, with the Save/Load screen featuring Pan, with the Menu screen featuring the majority of the characters with Goku talking to you and with the VS. Mode featuring King Kai, these menu styles would also be carried in the Tenkaichi games.
 * 42) Depending on what character you pick, the characters will actually interact with each other before the fight, sometimes even being references to the anime series, with that addition, it is also featured at the end of the fights.
 * 43) All the game feature struggles when clashing between a attack, where you have to rotate the analog sticks or press the buttons as fast as possible, who does the fastest, will attack the opponent successfully, though this can be quite a pain at times.

Budokai 1

 * 1) The What if scenarios for the most part are great, like when what if Cell absorbed Krillin instead of Android 18, Though it was later revealed that it was His nightmare before the cell games began, and what if Vegeta already transformed to Super Saiyan at the end of the Saiyan saga and if he defeated Goku instead of Goku defeating him.
 * 2) In addition the presentation, in the world tournament mode, is also amazing, especially in the pre fights, and after the tournament, having unique animations during them, also the presentation during the arena select screen is also great, though they will not be featured if you have a quick start on.
 * 3) The opening in the North American version is the re-creation of the original anime's opening with the in-game graphics and it looks pretty good, though as mentioned above, it uses the English theme song: Rock the Dragon instead of the original Japanese theme song Cha-La Head Cha-La, but despite that, comparing the game's opening with the anime's opening side by side, you can see the faithfulness.
 * 4) The cutscenes, for the most part, are really well done, featuring the similar pacing and directing to the anime series, especially thanks to a lot of moments from the anime series being recreated, the action being similar to the series, in addition, between each chapter, there's a title card of the chapter, like in the anime featuring the title card for each episode, and after each saga, there's a sneak peek of what will happen in the next saga, though sadly it's the only game in the series to feature actual cutscenes.
 * 5) It is also the only game in the series to feature minigames in the middle of the story mode, though only in the first chapter, and the first extra chapter, the first one being where you have to rotate the analog stick to the right direction for Piccolo to hit Raditz, with the second one being similar but instead using for Piccolo to charge his ki so he can use his Special Beam Cannon.

Budokai 2

 * 1) While it didn't improve much from the first game, there are some improvements introduced, such as now you don't have to perform an ultimate attack at the end of the combo, you just have to move the analog stick to the direction and press Circle or B on the GameCube, in that addition, The combos are much easier to preform.
 * 2) If you have a problem unlocking all the capsules, there’s a cheat code in the PS2 version, you have to hold R2 and keep entering the Skill shop until the meter gets full, however, it can take a long time as the meter doesn’t always go when you enter it and you have to save your progress because if you quit it will reset back, but other than that it comes useful for those who have trouble.
 * 3) While the story mode isn't the best, it still has an interesting turn, by changing a few elements, making it feel like its own story mode while still at the same time following the original plot, though for those unfamiliar it's best to read the manga or watch the anime first before playing the game, but other than that it's still an interesting change of paste.
 * 4) While not the best and has its problems, the Dragon World mode is still challenging, especially considering what character, you pick, you get to can also collect swords and shields, which increase you're damage and defense stats, in the Namek stage Namekians can also increase your health and Mr. Popo can teleport you to a different route, so you can get far away from the enemies, you can also dig holes and you can discover things such as, the Dragon Balls, Zeni, and other collectibles, also despite not being the best, it can be fun for those who like more strategic games, than fighting games.

Budokai 3

 * 1) It improves a lot of the elements from the first two games, with that being said it is easily the best in the entire Budokai series for the following reasons.
 * 2) The Ki meter is improved from the first two games, unlike the first two games you're ki meter doesn't constantly drain, it only drains up to that point, also while you're in Super Saiyan, you don't have to worry about reverting back to you're normal form anymore.
 * 3) Beam struggles are finally in the game, when both fighters use a beam attack at the same time, a beam struggle will commence, each player than has to rotate both analog sticks, and who does the fastest will win the struggle.
 * 4) The story mode Dragon Universe is easily the best, and it improves over the Dragon World from Budokai 2, the story mode allows you to fly over the world, not only that but each character has his own unique story path, what makes it even better, is after each fight you get experience points, where you can level up you're a fighter and improve the stats.
 * 5) You can now also dodge melee attacks, and freely fly up or down while dashing, because of this, Dashing and dodging is much easier than in the first two games, and you don't have to always have perfect reflexes to dodge enemy attacks.
 * 6) The ultimate attacks are more effective than ever, because if you succeed in some of them, the stage will change, in certain stages, to a more deserted area, with a wave effect on earth or a beam shot being shown as a stage transition, this would also be carried into later  DBZ games like Tenkaichi 2, 3 and Fighterz.
 * 7) Saibamen and Cell Jr's are now also playable characters, and it has an amazing little detail, depending on how many health bars you pick, you will have as many of them as you set the health bars, and after you lose health a new one will grow.

Shin Budokai

 * 1) It features an interesting minigame in the main menu, dragon clicker, when you press R on the main menu then you tap L, as fast as you can to get a score.
 * 2) Not only does it properly follow the fusion reborn movie but do to the story having different paths, it will make you interested, at playing the game in all its paths, to see the difference in the story, also when you do it, you can also get a lot more unlockables.
 * 3) The ultimate attacks can now be enhanced for a much more stronger damage, this is by pressing the circle button at the correct time, and if you the ultimate attack will be much much powerful than the original.

Shin Budokai 2

 * 1) In relation to the overall reason 12, what makes it stand out is that it has it’s completely new story mode instead of following the anime or one of the movies. (Though it might be confusing for those who are unfamiliar with the franchise).
 * 2) While it doesn't freely let you explore in the story mode, the locations from the anime are still accurately re-created in the game, with that addition, the cutscenes also have accurate art-style to the anime series.

Budokai HD Collection

 * 1) Budokai 3 now allows you to change between English and Japanese voices, this can be useful for those who prefer using Japanese voices rather than English.
 * 2) * Though Budokai 1 is the same as the original.
 * 3) The Textures are improved from the original games, with much higher quality appearance, the shadows are more detailed, and the shading looks much more advanced.
 * 4) The framerate is also improved, the games now constantly run at 60FPS, in the original PS2 version though it ran at 60FPS the cutscenes we’re only at 30FPS, while the GameCube version as a whole only ran at 30FPS. Though the Xbox 360 version has some occasional frame drops.
 * 5) In all addition, it is a great way for those to play both games, who never got a chance to play these games when they came out, even know Budokai 2 is not included, if they have a backwards compatible PS3, they can play it like that.

Overall

 * 1) While the characters all feel balanced, some of them can be overpowered. Their ultimate attacks are usually too powerful and it can create unfair difficulty.
 * 2) While the North American version of Budokai 1, The PS2 and North American GameCube Version of Budokai 2, and both the American and European versions Budokai 3 feature the Funimation English voice cast, the European version of Budokai 1, and the European GameCube version of Budokai 2 use the Japanese voices instead. Though this might not be bad for some people who prefer Japanese voices rather than English voices, this is still strange. It’s also the case with the HD collection with Budokai 1, though Budokai 3 in the HD collection added an option between English and Japanese voices for English releases.
 * 3) While Budokai 1 has actual cutscenes in the story mode, Budokai 2, Budokai 3 and Shin Budokai's cutscenes are still frames with text boxes, which is off-putting.
 * 4) Also while the character roster gets bigger, for some reason Dodoria and Zarbon are only playable in Budokai 1 and not in the other games, though thankfully the Budokai Tenkaichi games don't suffer from this issue.
 * 5) While not bad, the music was plagiarised to the point where it sounds similar to other actual songs (for example, Move Forward Fearlessly, Challengers and Warrior from an Unknown Land sound similar to Glory of the World, Hunting High and Low and Infinity by Stratovarius). After Toei Animation fired Kenji Yamayoto, the Budokai HD Collection on the other hand uses the music from Budokai Tenkaichi 2, 3, Raging Blast, Tenkaichi Tag Team and Ultimate Tenkaichi. (At the same time, the music in later prints of Raging Blast 2 and Dragon Ball Z Kai we're met with the same treatment).

Budokai 1

 * 1) While the graphics are good, especially for the time, the original PS2 version hasn't aged as well, due to not using cel-shading, making most of the players look like clay models. Also, while it improves it, the HD collection for some reason doesn't use the cel-shading that was featured in the GameCube version.
 * 2) While it has the best story mode of the entire series, it is also really short and it can be completed in only a day.
 * 3) Unlike other Budokai games, you can only perform ultimate attacks at the end of a combo.
 * 4) For some odd reason, Frieza and Cell can transform back to their previous forms after they get knocked down with lower ki. It’s nonsensical because this would not be impossible. (Not to mention in Budokai 2 Frieza is already in his Final Form while Cell is already in his perfect form).
 * 5) (With exception of Cell) The Kamehameha for some reason is Yellow and not blue, also it's sprite looks nothing like in the manga or anime. Thankfully this is fixed in other games.

Budokai 2

 * 1) The story mode (Dragon World) is pretty poor, as it is structured like a board game with all the models (except for Goku) looking like generic board game pieces. This is one of the reasons why Budokai 2 was not included in the HD collection.
 * 2) * Speaking of that there are a lot of strange deliveries in the story mode such as Nappa and Raditz arriving at the same time, while in the anime it Raditz came first then Nappa landed with Vegeta a year later, and Babidi somehow taking control of both Frieza and Cell, while in the anime it was only Vegeta and Buu.
 * 3) While Super Saiyan 1 and 3 for Goku can be unlocked in the Story mode for some reason the Super Saiyan 2 form can only be bought in the skill shop.

Budokai 3

 * 1) Despite improving a lot from the previous games, the Fusions are worsened compared to Budokai 2, as unlike Budokai 2 while your meter is low you will stay in that form as long as you don't get knocked out, but in Budokai 3, right after the fusion meter drains you will quickly revert back to your normal form.
 * 2) The Dragon Rush mode, although powerful, is pretty infamous due it being difficult to execute, though thankfully you don't necessarily need to use it in order to win, aside from a few sections of the story mode.
 * 3) There's a cheap tactic for victory: if you use Saibamen' Saibaman bomb attack on Yamcha, you will defeat him instantly, no matter how many health bars he has. Though this is most likely a reference to the anime and manga, it’s still a low blow.

Shin Budokai

 * 1) You can’t transform to any form you want, you can only transform up to the form you selected in the character select screen, though if you hold R you will start the fights in that form.
 * 2) The VS. mode is not featured, possibly due to the limit of UMD discs. In addition, the character roster is smaller compared to Budokai 3, though still bigger than Budokai 1

Shin Budokai 2

 * 1) It’s not that big of an improvement from the first game.
 * 2) Compare to other Budokai games, the difficulty can get insanely unfair, especially in the story mode due to not having enough time to move around freely. Unless you’re really good at the game, you're forced to fight all the opponents instantly.

Budokai HD Collection

 * 1) The audio at times sounds like it’s been compressed.
 * 2) Strange censorship, such as Broly’s ultimate attack being censored, as at one point the screen becomes white. (Though Goku and Raditz being hit by the special beam cannon wouldn’t count because it looks the same as it did in the PAL version).
 * 3) Due to Budokai 2 not being featured, unlocking the Z-armor and Bardock at a new save file at the beginning is impossible and you are forced to play the story mode to unlock them.

Reception
Though they mainly received mixed reviews from critics, they we're positively received by Dragon Ball fans and even fans of fighting games. with Shin Budokai holding a 70/100 Shin Budokai 2 holding a 65/100 and Budokai Hd Collection holding a 64 on PS3 and a 63 on Xbox 360 on Metacritic.

Budokai 3 on the other hand received positive reviews from both fans and critics alike, holding a 77/100 on Metacritic.

Sells wise, the games also sold pretty well, but however, Budokai 2 and 3 didn't sell as well as the original with Budokai 3 being the lowest.

Videos
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Game Tips

 * In Budokai 2, during the Android section, make sure you pick Krillin and use him to beat Android 18, as you will unlock her as a playable character.
 * In Budokai 3, don't constantly always go to the next fight, you must also do the extra fights in order to level up, as the opponents can often be really strong.
 * In Budokai 1, before you do the World Tournament mode, finish the main story, then the extra What if Scenarios, as you will earn extra capsules, in order to be better at the tournaments.

Trivia

 * Although the North American release of Budokai 1 was the first DBZ game to feature the English voice cast, it was actually the second Dragon Ball game to use English voice acting, with the first being the North American release of Dragon Ball GT Final Bout (Known as Dragon Ball: Final Bout in Japan and Europe), but because it was released before Funimation owned the rights to Dragon Ball, that game featured different voice actors.
 * Budokai 2 had a special aedition released exclusively in Japan titled Dragon Ball Z 2V, It was given away to readers of the V-Jump magazine, and it features cooler as an alternate skin for Frieza.
 * Bulma was considered to be a playable character for Budokai 3, with her voice lines being recorded. However she was instead put as an alternate skin for Android 18 in the Japanese version, and was featured in the tutorial mode.