Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit definitely does a great job of bringing the long-established license to the Xbox 360 in style. The graphics are crisp, clean and full of flash, while the music is just as energetic and full of movement as the past games.

While Burst Limit isn't as big as the Budokai or Budokai Tenkaichi series as far as number of characters, locations and customizations, what it does have is a lot of polish and strong core gameplay.

Visually speaking, each of the 20+ characters are cel-shaded and highly detailed. Not only was I impressed by the game's ability to convey these characters in high-def goodness, but the fact that most (if not all) in-fight special events were done in-game instead of pre-fab cutscenes. Where past games would cut away to see the character transform or perform start an ultimate attack, Burst Limit simply moves in so you can have a closer look.

As I mentioned above, the sound is also pretty solid, but then again that isn't something we've typically had to worry about in DBZ fighting games in the past. All of the voice actors seem to have reprised their roles and the music sounds very Dragon Ball Zish. But what really stood out is the interaction between the characters. Since you can choose a partner character to help you in specific parts of the battle, these characters will come out and often times exchange words with your fighter. When those characters have a special relationship, then the comments are very specific. Raditz might taunt Goku as a way to get him fired up, or some similar, but very specific exchange. This is just one of the bits of polish that makes the game shine.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit doesn't try to be the next complete Dragon Ball Z game, instead it starts off going back to the basics, contains only 20 or so characters, but does what it needs to well. The core fighting game mechanics are solid and fun, while the few extra modes that have been added are just enough to keep fans happy.

Z Chronicles is the game's story mode. It doesn't go through the entire series, just to the end of the Cell Saga, but it not only covers the story's main fights, but a few What-If situations to boot. Unfortunately, the game's story doesn't really do all that good a job if you aren't already familiar with it. People who know the series will see semi-important fights removed in order to focus on some of the bigger ones (like four or five fights against Frieza in his various transformations). Consequently, newcomers will be really confused as characters jump from world to world with little or no explanation.

Burst Limit also offers its share of Versus and Xbox Live fighting modes that lets you play against friends either locally or over the Internet, but it also offers a Trial Mode that gives you three different types of challenges. Survival Mode lets you take a character against as many opponents as possible before your life runs out, while Time Attack puts you against the same opponents in order to beat them as fast as possible, while Battle Point is an attempt to earn as many points as possible in the fight.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit's Story Mode lets you play through each fight on six different difficulty settings. Each time you win a fight, all your stats are stored in a centrally located "Saga Summary" screen. From there, you can see which goals you were able to trigger for that difficulty. If you up the fight from Easy to Hard, the data for the Hard fight is stored under that tab.

As far as the difficulty itself, each setting seemed to be pretty well balanced. I found the lower settings to be marginally challenging to downright easy, while the settings you unlock took me a few tries to get past. This definitely helps to make the game more accessible to people not familiar with DBZ fighters, since long-time players will feel more comfortable in the higher settings, but newcomers will need to get their feet wet on the lower ones, at least until they get a handle on the transformations and super attacks.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit's controls feel a lot like the Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi games of the past. Thankfully with the inclusion of a Training Mode, even players who haven't picked up previous DBZ fighters will be able to get a handle on the basics and start making progress in the other modes. But by keeping it pretty close to the established system, people who are no strangers to the past games will have no troubles picking it up.

Outside of controls, I found the game's Drama Pieces system to be a really interesting mechanic. Before starting fights, you are given the chance to choose up to three Drama Pieces and a partner character (except in Story Mode where they are chosen for you). These Drama Pieces are activated based on a specific set of conditions that is unique to each piece. For instance, a particular event might only occur if you have less than a quarter of your health, while your opponent is still mostly full. This piece might cause your character's attacks to become more powerful since he will become more determined. Another one might be triggered after being knocked to the ground and that one involves your partner coming out to encourage you to get back up. Other pieces simply has your partner character deflecting a Ki Blast or kicking your opponent when their back is turned. It really is a nice system that works well. While you might not know exactly what triggers a Drama Piece (though you can look it up in the Story Mode), if nothing else, they offer a bit of a break in the action and button-mashing.

Existing DBZ fans should definitely look into Burst Limit. It isn't as comprehensive as the older series, but it has a very "back to its roots" feel to it. As for people unfamiliar with the show and its story, you might be quite lost in Z Chronicles seeing as they really don't convey any of the details of the story, just the fights themselves, but if you don't care about that and you just want some high-energy fighting, then it might still be worth it.