The Dragonball Z series hasn't had any new episodes in a long time, though you can still find reruns on Cartoon Network. However, though there hasn't been any new manga pages or anime episodes for some time, there have been plenty of videogames to keep the spirit of the franchise alive and well. The highly popular Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series is set to hit the PS2 and Wii soon with installment three, and is doing something the series has never done before – bringing the hectic powerhouse fights of the Dragonball Z franchise online. While getting ready for the game we got to ask Donny Clay, producer of DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, some questions to see just what the game is going to have to offer this time around.

Being a big fan of the Dragonball Z franchise and the Budokai Tenkaichi series itself, I was surprised to learn that not only have you taken all 120 fighters from the second game and put them into this one, but you've managed to add 30 new characters as well. Can you go over a listing of the new characters as much as possible?

Sure, I can at least list the characters that have been revealed already. In Budokai Tenkaichi 3 you’ll be seeing not only the 120 fighters from the previous game as you mentioned but also characters like King Vegeta, King Cold, Nail, Babidi, Future Gohan, Dr. Wheelo, and Tambourine to name a few.

For the new characters are we actually looking at completely new characters from the manga and anime never seen in the game before, or are they more reskinnings of other characters. For example, would Krillin with hair be considered a new character?

No, the new characters that you’ll find in Budokai Tenkaichi 3 are actually new characters that haven’t been in previous Budokai Tenkaichi games. In fact, some of them are characters not even seen previously in the anime or manga. For example, Great Ape King Vegeta will be in the game, but his great ape form has never been seen before in either the manga or the anime.

Fans of the franchise are familiar with the fact that if a Saiyan has their tail and sees a full moon they'll change into a giant ape. However, previous games haven't really given players the chance to experience this change. With Budokai Tenkaichi 3 will players be able to transform into the hulking apes, and if so, what will they control like and what will their scale be in relation to their opponent and the environment?

Well first off, the ability of a Saiyan to gaze at a full moon and transform into a giant ape will be present in this game. For the first time, we’re going to include a day/night aspect to the game, where if you’re playing as a Saiyan character with a tail and you stare at the full moon you’ll transform into a giant ape. As far as how the giant apes control, well they’re going to be faster and more agile than the giant ape characters in Budokai Tenkaichi 2. Their scale will remain similar to how it was in Budokai Tenkaichi 2 where the apes were several times larger than other characters, but this time without so much slow and bulky movement.

Have the previous 120 characters been ported over into the third game as is in terms of their combat attacks and special moves, or have certain attacks been changed?

We brought back all the old characters for sure. We added new moves in for all of them and improved some of the old ones visually. If someone had a favorite character from one of the previous games, they can rest assured they will be pleased with our latest version.

Besides any changes to combat moves, what technically has changed from the past game to this one. Are there any new animations, graphical tweaks and tricks, new audio sampling, etc.?

Good question. As a matter of fact there have been some graphical upgrades and tweaks. The animations for all of the special attacks, moves and transformations have been changed. We’ve added shadowing to all characters and movements, and drawn in more lines to make every character and action more detailed. Now there’s definitely a more cinematic presence as you’re playing the game. For example if you play as Goku and transform into a Super Saiyan, the actual transformation process is more detailed and closer to how it looks in the actual anime. The graphics and animations are getting to be so much like the anime that people watching the game will have a hard time distinguishing between the two.

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