Bloody Roar 3 is a 2000 arcade fighting video game developed by Eighting and Hudson Soft. It is the sequel to Bloody Roar 2 (1998). Build on Namco System 246 hardware, it was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2001, published by Activision in North America and by Virgin Interactive in Europe. Bloody Roar 3 was followed up by Bloody Roar Extreme on other platforms and Bloody Roar 4 on PlayStation 2.

Gameplay

The main feature of Bloody Roar 3 is the ability to transform into beasts, which is involved in all of the Bloody Roar games. Once the character transforms, they regain part of the health they have lost and become much stronger and more powerful than before.

Characters

Audio

The music was composed by Takayuki Negishi and was recorded at MIT Studio with Jun Kajiwara at the guitar, Michio Nagaoka at the bass, Atsuo Okamoto at the drums and Negishi at the synthesizer. The Japanese voice cast includes Hideo Ishikawa as Yugo, Mika Kanai as Alice, Ryōtarō Okiayu as Long, Kazumi Tanaka as Busuzima, Junko Noda as Bakuryu, Marina Ōno as Uriko, Takeshi Aono as Koryu and Eriko Fujimaki as Uranus. The English voice cast features Barry Gjerde as Yugo and a system voice, Kimberly Forsythe as Alice, Dario Toda as Long, Lenne Hardt as Shina, Paul Lucas as Busuzima, Greg Dale as Stun, Samantha Vega as Jenny, Chris Wells as Gado, Bill Sullivan as Shenlong, Michael Naishtut as Bakuryu, Bianca Allen as Uriko and John Nuzzo as Xion.

Reception

The PlayStation 2 version received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Michael "Major Mike" Weigrand said, "The PS2 has been barren of 'A' fighting games since launch, and while Bloody Roar 3 is a refreshing change of pace, it doesn't offer anything that wasn't featured in its first two incarnations. Newcomers will be pleased, but for rabid fans, this is a mute Roar." Eric Bratcher of NextGen said of the Japanese import, "Hunting for the next king of the jungle in 3D fighters? You won't want to mount this one's head on your wall, but it'll keep you warm and well fed until your next big game hunt." In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 29 out of 40. Also in Japan, Game Machine listed the arcade version in their February 15, 2001 issue as the fifth most-successful arcade game of the past year.