Kamehameha!
You might be somewhat disappointed by the multiplayer options. You can only fight offline in Duel mode, where you can challenge a buddy or the computer. The fight can be one-on-one, or teams of two to five characters. Considering the wealth of single player modes, the multiplayer options feel severely lacking. The forced vertical split screen while dueling a friend is understandably necessary (as both players can freely move around the large arenas), but your limited range of vision can be irritating. It is nice to be able to save your replay data, however.
The big feature that the Wii version of this game sports over the PS2 version is the ability to fight with people online. In addition to fighting those that you have exchanged Friend Codes with, you can also opt to take on a random challenger. To help keep fights more balanced, you can also choose matches that force you to use the default character settings as opposed to customized characters that have been powered-up. Unfortunately, every online match that we competed in suffered from severe lag and slowdown. On its forums Atari acknowledges this problem, so hopefully it will be fixed in the future. At the moment, however, it's hardly worth playing.
Like the previous Tenkaichi game for Wii, this one takes advantage of the Wii Remote and nunchuk controllers to provide further immersion in the Dragon Ball universe. The four main commands (punch, ki, dash and block) are assigned to standard buttons, leaving the controller shaking to more fitting moves like dashing. The near-role-playing aspects of the controls come into play with the many super moves that are at your disposal. To pull off any special techniques, you must pantomime a very DBZ-esque action. Performing a Kamehameha blast, for instance, requires you to mimic Goku's "pull your arms back then thrust them forward" pose. It sounds a bit corny and you wouldn't want to use this control scheme during "serious" play, but if you're just goofing around, it can be pretty fun. Luckily, the game also supports the Classic and GameCube controllers for when you don't want to look ridiculous.
Whichever controller you use, though, this isn't a terribly complex fighter. The controls are fairly simplistic, and a series of very basic button combinations are used to pull off each character's different moves. Additionally, each character has essentially the same move set, so learning one character's moves means that you know everybody's. Of course, it's highly unlikely that anyone is playing this game and expecting a Virtua Fighter 5 level of technicality. No, what they want is Dragon Ball and plenty of it.
On this front, Tenkaichi 3 doesn't disappoint. In addition to covering just about every saga in Dragon Ball history, the game sports 150 (!) characters to play as. Perhaps the most exciting (and goofiest) new character is Arale Norimaki, the hyperactive robot girl from Akira Toriyama's first manga series, "Dr. Slump." This crossover is still in canon, however, as Arale and her fellow Penguin Village residents had a cameo in the "Dragon Ball" manga and in one of the movies. The game's cel-shaded graphics do a tremendous job of recreating the look of the anime, and the extensive voice work by the original voiceover actions adds even more authenticity. You hardcore fans can relax, too -- there is the option to listen to the original Japanese voices.
If you've played any of the previous Tenkaichi titles, you know exactly what to expect here -- a relatively shallow button-masher that does a darn fine job of letting you relive the Dragon Ball experience. Those looking for anything else will be disappointed, but if you just want another excuse to beat up Frieza, this game will suit you perfectly.
