Game: Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limited
Genre: Fighting
Platforms: PS3/Xbox360 reviewed on Xbox 360
SCORE: 8 out of 10
The Dragon Ball series has come a long way since it first appeared on the pages of the weekly Japanese comic strip Shonen Jump back in 1984. Since then the comic has been adapted into numerous entities: animated series, movies, playing cards, and pretty much anything else you could adhere the letters DBZ to. The credit for much of the success of Dragon Ball lies in the hands of one man. More of a one-man army than an actual man, the creator, Akira Toriyama spearheaded the comic and actually wrote, and illustrated the Dragon Ball manga series, by himself. From its humble beginnings on the pages of a comic that I couldnt even begin to read, the series definitely came a long way and has now become the epitome of Japanese animation. Through the spectacular comic styling of Toriyama, Dragon Ball captured the hearts and imaginations of the young and old alike, transforming it into some sort of household name like Cheerios, or Pepsi.
Having been a fan of Dragon Ball since my teenage years back in the late eighties I was excited to see what DBZ had to offer on a next-gen console. After checking out some screenshots and trailers from the deepest reaches of the web, I decided the game looked good enough to go ahead and make the purchase.
I had no idea what I was in for when I slid the game gently into my console. Would this be a fighting/adventure game: where I would help Goku and his friends acquire Dragon Balls? Or would I be pitted in an epic battle for the survival of the universe? I had no idea, but I was ready. Long story short there arent any Dragon Balls to be found, and there isnt any epic adventure to go on. Dragon Ball Z Burst Limited is a barebones fighting game with a twist. Basically as the person operating the controller you will follow the larger-than-life battle to save the earth from Frieza and his crew of super-baddies. You will witness superlative battles played out from two perspectives: the good, and the bad. One encounter you will play as Goku or one of the other Dragon Ball Z heroes, and the following you will step into the shoes of a villain, each character with their own powerful moves, and reasons for using them.
The fighting element of the game is fast and furious. Smashing buttons in sequence will pull off some amazing martial arts moves that will send your opponents flying wishing that they never crossed paths with you. The combos are pretty straightforward for a fighting game. The usual X,X,X attack pulls off a colorful array of punches, while a simple push of the toggle and an added button or two will conjure up a totally different maneuver. If your timing is right, and you successfully pull off your combo moves, a dramatic cut scene will unfold for your viewing pleasure. These cut scenes can be as mundane as your character exclaiming that the last attack hurt him, or they can develop into a furious button smashing battle where its you vs. the computer to see who can hit buttons faster than the other. This scene usually ends up in a mid-air battle where you and your opponent will be fighting amongst the clouds, but in a few of these situations my opponents called in a sneak attack from a friend. I soon found myself looking around after every cut scene unfolded looking for the inevitable sneak attack. While it was unusual to see such drawn-out cut scenes in a fighting game it was comforting to know that during every match I would get a moment to rest my aching fingers. I eventually embraced the cut scene and anxiously waited for another snippet of the story to unfold before my eyes.
Another one of the perks of buying my way into the Dragon Ball Z franchise was being a proud owner of all that glorious eye candy that was compressed onto the disk. Every character looked superb, and in most cases I felt like I was participating in the actual cartoon, and not playing a game. All of the character renderings were magnificent Krillin, Goku, Vegeta, and even Frieza all looked as though they were plucked right from the animated series. From their hair, to the facial expressions they made, right down to the different attire they wore, every character looked fantastic. Some of the most beautiful parts of the game were the backdrops. The fighting environments were spectacular looking and looked as though they should be hanging on a wall in some museum somewhere instead of being displayed on the 52-inch TV in my living room. These huge backdrops felt like they could of swallowed you whole, turning the somewhat small environment of a 2D fighter into an enormous open world experience.
Its kind of hard creating a 2D fighter that can hold a candle to games like Street Fighter IV, Soul Calibur, or the infamous Mortal Kombat. Dragon Ball Z Burst Limited brought a unique experience to the table when it arrived. A deep storyline coupled with cutting edge animation, high speed fighting sequences, and amazing cut scenes has proven to be the perfect equation in creating the ultimate DBZ fighting game. My only question is when will we see another one?
Some Extra Stuff: I thought it was funny how Atari dubbed the voices for the game. My only complaint is that I noticed right away that the words wouldnt match up with the mouth movements of any of the characters, and at some points of the game I felt like I was playing a bad kung fu movie. I didnt really mind though because Ive always loved bad kung fu movies since I was a kid.
previously posted on my personal blog.....http://amellowmoment.blogspot.com/
