Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit

Ah Dragon Ball Z what a show ... what a game? I've play a few Dbz games over the years from snes mega drive ps1 and ps2. Is this game up to scratch? Is it true to the DBZ name?.....Hell yeah.

I've played up to Budikai 3 I've never played a DBZ game since then until now. This game is very true to the anime, the cell shaded graphics are superb and although I may get egged in the street for saying this but the animation in the game actually looks better than the dbz series... mind it is showing its age a bit even though I am a huge fan.

The action in the game is very fast they've made the game easy in terms of pulling off combos, no more left, left, right, right, x square triangle stuff, all you need to do to pull off a big combo is left and circle, or right and circle, or to pull off a super powerful combo is up and circle once you power gage is full. What's better is you can choose you super combo, from kamahama has to final flashes the choice is yours... well as long as it's one of your characters trademarks. To power up and pull off extra super powerful combos is press L1 then quickly press up and circle when your power gage is full. Sounds easy... well maybe it is but god does it add speed to the game you don't have to worry about pressing certain buttons to pull off complicated moves you can just flow through the game.

The story mode only goes up to the cell saga... a bad thing? Depends how you look at it really... on one hand there isn't a load of characters to play or unlock ... on the other hand is that important? Doesn't this mean that we can expect another fantastic game like this in the near future? Just because we only play through about half the series doesn't mean the game is any less fun.

One of the new and best features of the game is the drama pieces. If you complete a certain objective within a fight you are treated to a short cut scene relevant to the story. This adds more to the story and makes you aim high when playing the game just to see what is available and how involved the game can be to the anime.

Sorry but I am a huge fan of both the games and the series (you've seen nothing until you watch the fully uncut Japanese versions by the way) and I love this game, it has fantastic graphics, it true to the series, its fast paced action without having to faff on with loads of buttons. So what there aren't loads of characters just gives us summit to look forward to for the next game. The only problem with the game if any is that it is a bit on the short side. Great game for dbz fans and fighting fans alike

Burst Limit welcomes back the 2D style of the original Budokai and Shin Budokai series, gone is the super repetitive style of Tenkaichi.

The amount of characters has dropped but this doesnt detract from the game too much as its only the huge characters and the generic types that are gone.

The gameplay is lightning paced and the graphics look really good, the sound is good. As its a "2D" fighter,you can also play against a friend without a split screen. There's nothing quite like finishing a friend off with an ultimate technique. This game isnt for everyone, fans of the series and previous games will love it but I urge people to give it at least a rental first. You never know, you might just love it.

After the Budokai games (Which are currently my favourite of the DBZ games) were turned into Budokai Tenkachi in an attampt to make it more like the show by allowing you fly around, Burst Limit goes back to basics in a way, although if your new to the series, you may want to avoid this.

The fighting system is simple and efficiant. Almost working in a Dynasty Warriors style, the Square Button allows you to unleash quick combos against your opponent, while Triangle unleashes a stronger attack that can break through the enemies defence and/or send them flying back.
Circle is reserved for pretty much all your special attacks. A quick tap of the button will let out a small energy blast, but by hitting left, right or up at the same time will allow you to to use one of 3 special attacks for that character.

The fighting system is easy enough to pick up and learn how to attack you opponenet, but there are plenty of other commands to remember, such as; transformation, dodging, teleporting perfect defence and quite a bit more.

The graphics are top notch for its style, using a mix of 3D graphics and cel-shading, the characters have never looked better, and have never looked this close to their cartoon selves.

That said, the story is very lacking. Bandai seem to think everyone knows the story by now, and so they have left out huge chunks. If your new to the series, you will just be dragged from one battle to another with little indication of whats really going on.
This is a little dissapointing, considering that at the end of the second and third saga, your given a little movie that actually shows some in-game cutscenes that would have told you the story if they had been properly used.

Another down-point, is how much the cut-scenes that are in the game are re-used. While there are a few unique scenes before and after a battle, the common scenes, are just the exact same motions used over and over again, just with the character models changed to represent who your playing as and fighing against.

The menu for the story mode itself is very confusing and poorly thought out. While the story is unlocked in a specific order, for some reason, the 'mission select' as it is, is just randomly laid out, the missions will flow in one direction on the screen for a moment, before suddenly going another direction, just leaving you with a mess of icons to look through in order to find the right battle.
Its surprising, considering that the rest of the menus are well done and easy to navigate.

Characters in this game are limited to just over 21, and along with the alot of the story being left out, there are a selection of characters missing, and in one case, a character model is seen, but the character himself in not available.
The characters have a lack of costumes too, while you will see quite a few costumes or variations of a costume in the story mode, everyone seems limited to a single costume, with some pallet swaps.

In all, Burst Limit is a bare-essentials game, while the graphics and the fighting system really work, the game does little to help introduce people to the series, and doesnt have much incentive to keep playing it once you complete what there is of the story mode.
This is definately a fan-only game, and you may have to wait till the sequel for Bandai to add more depth to this, as well and doing the whole series, rather then cutting off at the end of the Cell Saga.

Great dbz game its something new i think its pretty much the dbz budokai of next gen console and this is the starter like budokai 1 was for ps2 because it only goes to the cell saga which is quite short but its great while it lasts just wish there were more character 4/5

Cell shading gets better.
Its hard to explain how graphics that were cell shaded and pretty good to start with can get better but with burst limit they do.
The game looks stunning and plays very quick and smooth as well.
I've been a fan of most of the DBZ series of games on the PS2 (except for the one where you could'nt do transformations)
The demo gives you 2 battles to try out, Goku vs Radditz and Yamcha vs Saibamen. its seems to be more of the same of what we have had in previous DBZ games with lots of button bashing and plenty of flying around. but even the demo keeps me coming back for more and that can only mean the final game will be awesome. If your a DBZ fan then this will be a must.