Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit Review
A Review - By Gaetano Prestia
It’s not very often that a licensed video-game franchise is consistently good. We’ve all seen how bad some movie-to-game titles have been, as well as TV-to-game titles that fail to grasp the basic feel and tone of the license their based on. However, that is completely different for the Dragon Ball Z franchise and the games that are based off it. The popular brand that spans across manga, toys and a cartoon series is making its first appearance on the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 with Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit and once again fans of the franchise will be pleased with its deep combat, accessible controls and honourable presentation.
If you’re new to the story of Dragon Ball Z, like I am, you will probably have absolutely no idea what’s going. The game’s story is a continuation of previous events so if you’re expecting some sort of explanation in reference to what’s going on, forget it. What’s good about this game is that if you know what’s going on with the story, it seems like a game with plenty of back-story and character development, but if you don’t know, the game comes off simply as a solid fighter. I guess it’s difficult to praise a game for failing to appeal to a new group of fans, but it’s not like this game, or any other game in the franchise, is reliant upon its story. Perhaps if it did give some back-story, there would be some new fellowship with the manga, toys and TV series.
The combat is very simple and fun and even if you’re not accustomed to this series or fighting games in general, the gameplay is simple enough to grasp and pull off without much practice. There’s plenty of reward with the basic fast and strong attacks and it’s relatively easy to pull off Ki power, which is a unique ability designed differently for each character. The easier difficulties allow for some practice if you feel like you need a small tutorial, but after a couple of battles you’ll feel inclined to jump into the deep end. While the harder difficulties are a major jump from the easier ones, the combat is solid and accessible enough so as not to make you struggle immensely like you would with a fighter like SoulCalibur.
There are some really great and inventive aspects of the combat that are quite rewarding if pulled off successfully. Using defensive tactics can allow you to perform unique moves - such as teleporting behind an opponent and hitting them from behind – so being able to time your blocks and jumps is crucial to pulling off hard-hitting techniques. This game isn’t your basic button-masher and the characters move and attack very quickly.
The Ki Gauge is important to monitor as it can allow you to use special powers such as an impenetrable block. Entering the “Aura Spark” mode is lots of fun as your character changes form completely into a much stronger fighter. This particular mode lets you teleport and use special and hard-hitting moves that can only be pulled off if you time your button-pressing perfectly. There’s also a unique fatigue system that diminishes after attacks and dodges. If your fatigue meter completely vanishes, your character will remain motionless and still for a certain amount of time, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from your opponent.
While the gameplay stands up strong, the game has little variety elsewhere. The stages are limited and add nothing to the combat, which is disappointing considering the intenseness of the battles. If the arenas were more interactive, that would be probably make up for the small number of them. Unfortunately, they’re nothing more than backdrops. Also, you may as well close your eyes and choose a character randomly as all of them pretty much control identically. I couldn’t notice any major differences in each character, which is strange because their size doesn’t seem to effect how they control.
Online mode is a lot of fun if you can get a match going without lag. Of the 20 or so matches I played, about five had little to no lag. That’s incredibly disappointing, because it was the most fun I’ve ever had with a fighting title online. There’s basic leaderboards but beyond that, there’s nothing else. It’s a basic system that works perfectly and is a thoroughly enjoyable experience without lag.
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is a fighting game with some very accessible gameplay and awesome combat, however the characters hardly differ from one another. It lacks variety in game modes and stages, while the online mode provides a fantastic experience if you can find a lag-free match.
Gameplay
8.0/10
It has an accessible combat system that can be a lot fun once totally mastered. The characters offer no differentiating factors, even with different sizes.
Graphics
7.0/10
It maintains the look and feel of the franchise without outdoing itself.
Sound
7.0/10
It gets the job done with good voice acting and solid sound effects.
Value
7.5/10
The online mode is fun enough to have you playing this for a while.
Overall
7.3/10
A solid fighting game with good gameplay and a strong presentation that fits the tone of the franchise.
Submitted by Gaetano
29/07/2008
87
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