The game features 64 playable characters in 90 forms and 10 stages for battle. Players can fight across the Earth Wasteland, the Earth Rock Area, Planet Namek, the Islands, the City Ruins, the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, the Cell Games Arena, the Mountain Road, the World Tournament Arena, and Kami's Lookout.
Despite not featuring the original Japanese music, the American release of the game allows for selectable English (Funimation cast) and Japanese voices, while retaining the English-language written dialogue (as adapted from Steven J. Simmons' translation from the original Japanese version's script). However, there are known bugs in the American version of Budokai Tenkaichi that cause pieces of English and Japanese spoken dialogue to cross over into whichever selection the player is using at times, specifically Super Saiyan 4 Goku lacking an English dub audio clip after defeating Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta and Super Saiyan 1 Future Trunks lacking an English audio clip for his super finishing move, Finish Buster, though other examples may also apply.