Dragon Ball Z games are all about smacking the living crap out of someone with a super attack (such as Goku's Kamehameha) or throwing him or her miles off into the distance. Atari continues this fine tradition with its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 offering Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit.

In the game, you choose from various characters in the DBZ universe, both recognizable (including Goku and Vegeta) and obscure (such as Cell) and duke it out in a number of stages scattered throughout the universe. The goal, as expected, is to overcome your opponents and gain possession of the powerful Dragon Balls. On a whole, the game looks like previous DBZ games, although a couple of significant additions should still make it a must-play amongst both anime and fighting fans.

Burst-ing at the seams.

First off, Dimps has implemented dramatic in-game sequences to give Burst Limit some back-story. For instance, say Goku has a huge fight against an opponent. He can receive support from Piccolo at an unexpected point in the stage, or maybe even encounter his smirking adversary Vegeta. This can change the flow of the fight, keeping you on your toes as you follow its new direction. The game also includes several enhancements with its fighting techniques. You can throw fireballs at a distance to pummel an opponent; perform a powerful charging attack to plow them into the earth; or attempt to pull off a "fatal blow" to finish them.

The game also looks more impressive than its predecessors, thanks to the power of the current-gen platforms. Goku and his adversaries animate beautifully, with a cel-shading technique similar to that of the TV show. The fighting areas look spectacular, with wide-open spaces to fly around and plenty of room to plot your attacks. The on-screen gauges are also easy to read, while staying in the corners of the screen so they don't obscure the on-screen action. As far as audio goes, you can expect to hear familiar voices from the anime show, along with the usual rock soundtrack. No word yet if Atari will include Japanese voiceovers. We'll see in the final product.

Probably the most important addition, however, will be online functionality. Atari attempted to do this before with last year's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Nintendo Wii, but it failed miserably. With the help of Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, though, Burst Limit should prove more effective. Users can take on opponents in versus action, or team up with a friend in co-op mode and attempt to save the galaxy together. We haven't seen too much of this in action yet, but if Dimps can pull it off, it'll be a splendid addition.

There's no question that Burst Limit follows the same course as previous DBZ games, more or less. However, it looks like it'll be the best one to date, with its improved visuals, online play and gameplay tweaks. We'll let you know if this fighter hits the mark when it hits shelves this June.

Related Links

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit Xbox 360 Game Guide

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit PlayStation 3 Game Guide

Atari