When I brought home a new PlayStation 3 controller, my fiancé and I were both stoked. With just one controller, we spent much time with Pass N’ Play. You know how it goes: You play for a while, you die and then your partner takes his turn. Everybody gets some time with the game. In a utopian gaming society, that is how it works. Unfortunately, when you have two people with very different levels of skill, actual playing time can stretch into hours, or a few short seconds.
So the new controller symbolized a cooperative heaven where we could play against each other (I usually win) or go at a game together (where I’m often left waiting for him to catch up). To level the playing field, I pop in Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, a game and cartoon series we both have limited experience with. For fans, this release must be the cat’s pajamas because it features what the manual calls some of the “greatest moments in Dragon Ball Z history.”
Those moments, including battles between Goku and Raditz as well as a few rounds with Vegeta and Recoome, go completely over our head. I recognize some characters from the one or two DBZ episodes and million commercials I’ve seen, but trying to give each of the momentous battles a place in DBZ history is just beyond me. No worries, however, as the upbeat music, energized characters and a fun fighting experience kept us entertained for some time despite our obvious disconnection with the franchise.
After accessing the VS. mode, we select our avatars and take a moment to set up match parameters including time limit, drama pieces, arenas and partners. Since we didn’t unlock any of the 21 characters in Saiyan, Frieza or Cell Z Chronicles mode, the pickings are pretty slim. If you don’t have a partner, you can always open a PlayStation Network account and face fighters from around the world to earn a spot on the leaderboard.
Our first fight is just a wild whipping of high kicks, aura blasts and animations. Fighting in this game is almost like putting yourself into the cartoon. There are so many cinematic events it is easy to forget you are manipulating the action. Selecting drama pieces before the match influences the occurrences of partner-based help and defensive boosts represented by an animation snippet. The brawl goes fast as both fighters move around the screen on the ground and in the air. Without looking at the manual, it is possible to grasp the idea of movement and action in the game, creating gameplay that is enjoyable for non-DBZ fans, too.
If you have exhausted all 50 episodes of the Z Chronicles, there is plenty of anime action left to tap. The Tutorial mode is highly recommended for anyone new to the Dragon Ball Z franchise as you can learn the basic attacks and movements the game is built on in a supportive setting with lots of room for error. Training mode allows you to practice your newfound skills with defensive and offensive CPU opponents.
When you feel your abilities are honed, you can test them in the three challenges of Trial mode. Take on 100 fighters until your health is gone in a Survival match or defeat the enemy in Time Attack mode before the timer runs out. Finally, in Battle Points mode you can set up and knock down a series of opponents to earn as many points as possible.
Playing this game with my fiancé was fun for both of us, but with the lack of storyline, it was hard to keep an interest in the game beyond the novelty of a good fight. Fans of Dragon Ball Z will undoubtedly get more out of the game’s historical battles, but if a story is what you are after, you might want to consider another release in the franchise.
