Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (Playstation 3, 2008)

Having religiously played the Xbox Live demo every day for most of the past few weeks, I was counting down the hours until I could get my hands on the full version of Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit.

Now, I’m not exactly a fan of Dragon Ball, having only previously had a passing interest in the adventures of Goku and friends. Having said that, playing the demo actually made me want to discover more about the DBZ universe - and how many games can you say that about? Plus, the demo was just so much pure fun!

So, did the full game live up to my lofty expectations? Was I rewarded for all of those endless replays of the demo?

Excitement coursing though my being, I eagerly slammed the game disk into the old 360 and set about finding out.

Once I got past all of the tutorials - took about ten minutes - I first made the mistake of trying out the Trial Survival mode. Highly addictive, I managed to got past 25 opponents before time ran out during a battle with Bardock. Bah. Still, it was a nice introduction to the proper game.

On then to the basics.

The various modes on offer are Z Chronicle (the main mode where you unlock stuff), Versus (player-on-player fun, either in the same room, or over Xbox Live), Trial (Survival mode, which unlocks Time Attack Mode and Battle Point Mode), Tutorial (do I really need to explain this one?), and Training (where you can pick how you opponent reacts to your attacks, including Offensive and Defensive behaviour).

The first thing you notice about the game are the stunning visuals, a fantastic display of cel-shading finished off with the occasional flash of motion blur. At points, it's like watching an interactive cartoon. Ah, if only there was more of it. Slim re-telling of the core storylines simply isn’t enough to immerse you fully into the action - but more of that in a moment.

This is a fighting game that is easy to pick up and play. There’s some depth there if you want it, but many hardcore fighters should look elsewhere if they want a true hardcore fighting experience. Still, there’s a wide variety of attacks such as the standard rush and smash versions, grabs, and Ki blasts. Aura actions kick in with a transformation (giving you the Aura Spark which allows for quick teleportation) and Super and Ultimate attacks round out your arsenal. I think DBZ fans will approve.

The thing that really appeals to me about Burst Limit is that it’s so satisfying when you pull of the really big moves. I can’t help but grin every time I end a fight with an Ultimate K.O.

Another great moment comes when you enter into "frenzied battle mode": Trigger it at the right moment, and you launch into a dizzying display of fast and furious button bashing as you and your opponent zip all over the place, feverishly trying to block each other's moves. Fantastic stuff!

A few last notes about combat. Super Saiyan unlocks more powerful basic attacks, and a few bigger moves - the downside here is that you suffer from a lower defence. Alternatively, activating your Aura Spark boosts defence and turns normal moves into super moves - however, you only get a limited amount of time to pull these big moves off.

Oh, and counters and dodges can also be pulled off, as long as you get your timing right.

Back to the player modes then, and the main single-player game is Z Chronicles, where you start out with a pre-set character and opponent, and play through the sadly slight story line of the game.

Once you've beaten an opponent, you’re rewarded wi