About Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
Dimps developed Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 for the PlayStation 2. Atari published it in North America in November 2004, Bandai released it in Europe the following month, and it reached Japan in February 2005 as Dragon Ball Z3. It’s the third game in the Budokai series of versus fighters, drawn in a cel-shaded style.
Fights mix close-range strings with ki blasts and special moves. Hyper Mode turns a fighter red and drains their ki in exchange for immunity to normal hits and ki blasts, and from there you can start a Dragon Rush, a three-stage guessing game between attacker and defender, or an Ultimate attack settled by a button-tapping contest. When two beams meet, both fighters push until one side wins the clash. The roster has more than 40 entries, covering characters and transformations from across the series.
Character growth runs through capsules. Each fighter has seven capsule slots for skills and upgrades, so the same character can be built in different ways. The story mode, Dragon Universe, lets you pick from a set of characters and travel across maps of Earth and Namek between battles.
How it runs in your browser
Slayoner hosts the PS2 release on dragonballbudokai3.online, using snuri00’s browser runtime, which is built on WebAssembly and WebGPU. Pressing Play opens the site in a new tab. The host loads the game files automatically, so there’s nothing to install and no game file of your own to supply. A current Chrome or Edge is the browser to use. Saving isn’t listed among the host’s features, so Dragon Universe progress and capsule unlocks may not carry over between visits.
For two players, the host has private rooms. Each player uses their own controls, and the game stays in sync between the two browsers, so you can play a friend who isn’t in the same room.
Controls and devices
Keyboard and controller both work. A controller is the closer match to the PS2 original, especially for the button-tapping Ultimate attacks and the quick inputs of a Dragon Rush. Click inside the game picture after it loads so your input reaches it. Phones aren’t listed as supported, so play on a desktop or laptop.
Who it’s for
It’s for Dragon Ball fans who prefer Budokai’s close-range fighting to the free-flying Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and for anyone who wants a quick versus match against a friend in a browser. For more games to play with others, see our multiplayer list.
Is Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 Free, Safe and Official?
Can I play Budokai 3 online with a friend?
Yes. The host has private rooms where each player uses their own controls, and the two browsers are kept in sync.
How is Budokai 3 different from Budokai Tenkaichi 3?
Budokai 3 is a versus fighter built around close-range combos, ki attacks and capsule upgrades. Budokai Tenkaichi 3 belongs to a later series that puts the camera behind your fighter and lets you fly freely around large 3D arenas.
Is this the official game?
No. It’s a fan project by Slayoner running the PS2 version, and it isn’t made or endorsed by Bandai Namco or Toei Animation.
