Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (Atari)

The world-famous anime franchise makes its next-gen gaming debut with Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit. Packed with hyper-fast action, it delivers on all fronts while remaining a damn fun fighting game to boot.

Power levels

The first thing anyone's bound to notice about Burst Limit is its astounding visuals — it is, without a doubt, the best looking title in the long-running Dragon Ball game franchise. The developers put in tons of subtle details like realistic hair and clothing and the characters look as if they were torn straight from the animated show. The cel-shaded visual style really pops off the screen and the in-game cut-scenes are fantastic.

The game retreads the by now familiar storyline from the Saiyan Saga through the Cell Saga but you get a ton of conflicts to battle your way through. The actual fighting mechanics in Burst Limit aren't incredibly deep, but they definitely work well with the source material. Many brawls will descend straight into button-mashing territory but the game's control scheme has a nice element of complexity and depth to it.

Leave the drama...

A new Drama Piece system also adds an interesting twist to the gameplay: When specific battle criteria are met, you can unlock a Drama Piece that triggers an in-game event; it's a nice wrinkle that's integrated seamlessly into the story mode but I noticed that it doesn't work quite as well in the multiplayer mode. The game also felt a little shallow in terms of content and the limited number of stages was also a drag.

Still, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit managed to really impress me. It's not perfect but it's a fast, over-the-top fighter that's an absolute blast. The single-player Z Chronicles mode is perfect for hardcore fans and the multiplayer options are good enough that you'll want to call your friends over for a few matches. I highly recommend it if you loved Dragon Ball Z or like your fighting games to be lightning quick.