What a dumb name for a game. So here we are with another Dragon Ball game with another confusing title. How do we remember this one? Well it was the first Dragon Ball games on the console, released in 2008 and it looked great at time. Partly because it was the first released on the console, Burst Limit really sets the standard for the Dragon Ball games to come. This is not because it's an amazing game, but because like most DB games on the console, it is very average. In fact, it feels way more stripped back of features than the 3rd Budokai game found on the HD collection which came out a few years before. BL and most DB games have a simple formula. One on one fighting games with a short campaign covering a large story based on the famous anime. They all have loads of characters, lots of combos to remember, and a Ki system to charge up special attacks. Burst Limit doesn't do a lot to stand out from the crowd and offers little in terms of innovation or distance from this tired old formula. Fights all basically take place a similar area, each level offering little more than some dialogue and the fight itself. Of course, the fighting is what you have come here for, yet the fight system in Burst Limit doesn't really offer enough depth to compete with the traditional fighting games like Tekken and Street Fighter. I was expecting a bit more in terms of world building, tasks, challenges or even something like the 3D open world environments found in the Naruto games. Spam punches and kicks, build up Ki, unleash your special. So is there anything to like about the game. Well, the tutorial is nice and does a good job at explaining the game mechanics. They have also added some in-fight events which add a bit of story and variety to the fights. I found these interesting at first, but quickly it felt like they were only added to make the fights last longer. The campaign itself is also very short and quite stale. It's a real shame that most of the DB games on the console are fairly average, but in that way BL is a nice place to start. If you dig this, you will probably enjoy these others and vice versa. Disappointing, but a taste of what was to come.

Reviewed on Jan 15, 2024


Comments