DRAGONBALL Z - BURSTLIMIT

Subject: DRAGONBALL Z - BURSTLIMIT Wed Oct 01 2008, 07:52

Well firstly, no doubt! You're wondering what the fudge is Dragon Ball Z - Burst Limit!??..Ok, well Dragon Ball Z is a highly popular Japanese Manga series inspired the Chinese Folk Novel Journey To The West. It's based around a monkey tailed boy named Goku, who was found by an old marital arts expert who raises him as his grandson.

The story develops from there and as a young adult Goku meets his older brother, Raditz, who tells him that they come from a race of extraterrestrials called Saiyans. The Saiyans had sent Goku to Earth to destroy it, but Goku had amnesia caused by his ships crash landing on earth. Goku, raised by humans, refuses to join Raditz and in turn becomes a defender of the planet he was sent to destroy. If you wish to read more regarding the back story have a read here....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonball_z

Basically the game is a 2D, parts 3D beat 'em up of the Street Fighter II mould. I personally bought the game as I'm a huge fan of the Manga series & Comics. The graphics on this game are spot on, and it really is like watching the animated series. The action is fast paced & great fun. It can sometimes turn in to a button masher, but combos are easy to pull off & again your special moves are simple to pull off. So it's not as complex as Mortal Kombat for example..(can we say eww for up, down, right, left, left & X just to chop someone's head off!)

There's about 20-30 playable characters and 3 saga's to play through. Each Saga is based on a saga from the series, and again as a fan they are linked brilliantly. Each fight has a cut scene before and after and during the fight also depending on how it's going!

I fancied getting this game for a while, but didn't want to spend £40 on release given it's just a beat 'em up and there's normally not much lifespan in them.

However lifespan wise.......well I was right lol. After 2-3 days I've completed the game on the hardest setting, and playing it on live doesn't really interest me.

So if you're looking for a little fun for a couple of days I'd get this say on rental.

Graphics - 9/10 (Not gears standard, but for what it is and what it's based on, it's near perfect!)

Sound - 9/10 - Magical, just like watching the series, all the screams, voices & explosions are bang on!

Game play - 7/10 - Sometimes when losing a fight strategy seems to be replaced with a good old fashioned "twat the x button!"

Longevity - 3/10 - As above, great fun for a short while but not one for the long hall - though to be honest I'm pretty sure my youngest niece would love this type of game and the cartoon style graphics, so for the youngens, this might keep 'em quiet for a long time.

Overall - 7/10 -

gameplay footage