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Review

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit

6.0

Format Xbox 360

Developer Namco Bandai

Publisher Atari

Genre Beat 'em Up

26-Aug-2008 Does it take it to the limit, or just drag on a bit?

It's as old as the hills but the Dragon Ball series is still extremely entertaining - in fact, it's now more popular in the UK than it ever has been. So what better time for the series (or rather Dragon Ball Z, its sequel) to make its debut on the Xbox 360?

Burst Limit is a 2D fighting game with cel-shaded 3D graphics. Although cel-shading has had its place in the sun, this is the first instance in a long time that we can safely say we've been genuinely impressed by it.

The character models are large and detailed, their facial expressions are fantastically animated, the cel-shading is handled so well that there's never any clipping or glitching and the whole thing runs at a smooth and speedy 60 fps without the slightest hint of slowdown. In short, it's probably the best example of cel-shading we've ever seen in a game, and is jaw-dropping when you see it in action.

A shame, then, that it starts to fall apart when you start playing. With two main attack buttons and a button for firing projectiles, the move set can be pretty limited. Screen-filling special projectile moves, while impressive to watch, are almost too easy to pull off (often involving simply pressing the B button and a direction together).

The characters also lack diversity at times, and a lot of moves are identical regardless of who you're fighting as.

In particular, your character's main special move (activated by pressing LB to power up then LT to trigger it), which sees you unleashing an almighty kicking and eventually blasting your opponent into the air, is pretty much the exact same move right across the roster. This is disappointing because it's the most impressive move in the game, and it would have been nice if it had been specialised for each character in order to showcase their abilities.

This carries on to the cutscenes in the Story mode, too. Although it's fun to play through and features some moments of pure insanity, many of the cutscenes that show characters beaten are repeated, often more than once.

It's a shame Burst Limit suffers from these problems. The game is so well presented, yet what sticks in our mind is the repetitive cutscenes and generic character move sets. It's still a great laugh - it just could have had so much more depth to it.

OXM Staff

Overview

Verdict

A great little fighter though a bit repetitive

Uppers

Looks incredible

Sizeable Story mode

Lots of characters...

Downers

...but they feel too generic

Gets samey very quickly

Screens

Interactive

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Screens

1 / 6 Screenshots

Reviews:

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit

News:

Kamehameha! Dragon Ball Z screens pour in

Atari shows off Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit

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