Dragonball Z: Burst Limit is the latest in the surprisingly extensive franchise that has been received with mixed emotions from die-hard fans of the series. This game figures to be no exception.
Presentation
Upon first glance, the game looks great. The graphics have been completely re-done with new 3D models while still maintaining the integrity of the original character designs. The cell shading is phenomenal, and the HD animation looks great, even on an old TV like the one I played it on.
For as good as the graphics and character animations are, it’s somewhat surprising that the stages are uninspiring and boring. There is no real variety, and your characters can’t really interact with them at all. Also, the “behind the back” camera angle that was first seen in the Budokai: Tenkaichi franchise is back. However, I’ve spent several hours playing around with the many aspects of this game, and it appears as though most of the camera issues have been fixed. Your character no longer gets in your way as you’re trying to deliver damage to your enemy, and they use a lot more of the standard fighting game camera angles, which really gives it a good mix.
Gameplay
The game play has been significantly simplified in this game, making combos and special moves much easier to execute in the heat of battle. You have only two button sequences to memorize, a vast improvement from the old, clunky 3+ button combos in previous titles. You can also use power-ups and combos to trigger in-fight cinematics designed to give you increased fighting abilities.
The fighting style is extremely fluid and very fast-paced, and it appears as though there are more combos than ever before to send you flying across the map at blazing speeds. The combos are also really cool, and the game tries its best to stay as true to the original anime fighting style as possible. In this endeavor, it succeeds marvelously. The wide variety of moves and techniques can keep even the most A.D.D. of us entertained.
Perhaps this game’s biggest shortcoming is the incomplete story mode. Yes, the rumors you’ve heard are in fact true: the game’s action stops at the completion of the Cell Saga. That is, the entire Majin Buu arc is not present. The uproar about this has been quite significant, and I imagine that will be addressed in the next release.
Characters
Fans of the Tenkaichi trilogy will immediately notice the significant drop off in playable characters this game brings to the table. While Budokai: Tenkaichi 3 gave us one of the largest character lineups of all time with 160-plus playable characters and transformations, Burst Limit has just 36 total variations.
Characters Available:
Goku
Gohan (kid, teen)
Piccolo
Krillin
Vegeta
Future Trunks
Tien
Yamcha
Ginyu
Recoome
Frieza (all forms)
Cell (all forms)
Nappa
Raditz
Saibaman
Broly
Bardock
Android 16
Android 17
Android 18
Other Features
This game is the first in the franchise to boast multi-region online game play. I’ve seen mixed results with it depending on your connection strength. Due to the fast nature of the game, it is imperative that both users have good connections. If not, the game is choppy and very frustrating
Overall
This game is pretty enjoyable, particularly for fans of the series and/or other games in the franchise. If you’re looking for this to be the banner fighting game on the Playstation 3 console, you’re in for a sore disappointment. Nevertheless, this game is definitely worth a try, even if you have never heard of Dragonball Z before.