Dragonball Z Burst Limit & Raging Blast

You know what's funny? The title Ninja Assassin. The assassin part of the title is so redundant. When have you not seen a ninja assassinate something? Okay, maybe in fighting games, but there are rules and regulations; nothing they can do about that except maybe assassinate the chair committee. The point is ninjas are known for killing. If you're signing up to be a ninja, chances are you are going to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people within the week. Those gravity-defying flips don't come free chief; you have to earn them with the blood (and the occasional body part) of your enemies. Anyway, if you're a fan of ninjas and ninja related injuries, I suggest watching this movie because ninjas make everything awesome. Seriously, is there any game with ninjas that sucked outright? No. There's been some faulty ones (Ninja Blade), but none that were bad, which leads me to my review. Where are the ninjas in Dragonball Z!? How can a franchise like this not feature at least one ninja? Think about it.....flying ninjas shooting shit out their hands, destroying chunks of the planet, all the while being stealthy. That would be awesome. No, Naruto doesn't count (fake ass ninjas).

Too all the DBZ fans out there, it's hard to talk about these 2 games without bringing up the previous games because...let's face it; they're the same fuckin games. Burst Limit is a predecessor of the Budokai/Shin Budokai series, and Raging Blast is a predecessor of the Tenkaichi series. Besides graphics, both games took a step back with their new entries, but only one of them suffers for it. Burst Limit's gameplay remains fun, and something you can put in your system for some DBZ goodness, while Raging Blast's gameplay feels old and stagnant. Granted, I've played all the recent DBZ games, so the formula would seem boring by now, but then again what kind of excuse is that, especially since I still find Budokai fun? Raging Blast may feel like a true DBZ experience, but Burst Limit feels like a true DBZ 'FIGHTER', and fighting is what we came for, but now I'm starting to get ahead of myself. Let's start with Burst Limit. Oh, before I do, I would like to say something that proves I'm a fan of DBZ before I start bashing because after Sonic and NFL 2K5, I really don't wanna hear it. You know how Vegeta can go SSJ4 without going SSJ3? I have 2 theories. One, Vegeta may have had the power, but couldn't pull off the transformation. Goku learned how, but he was dead, and certain rules containing to the body don't apply. SSJ3 is an extremely difficult transformation, and Goku can't hold it for long when he's alive, so maybe Vegeta can't do it at all since he didn't die long enough to learn. My second theory (and probably the correct one) revolves around the mighty Oozaru. When a saiyan transforms into the great ape, their power increases 10 fold. So since Vegeta's power increased so much when he became a Super Ooozaru (created my own phrase there), he had enough power to put him over the edge to transform to SSJ4. This isn't something DBZ fans don't already know, but still....suck it fanboys!

Hey! It's Super Soni....oh...

Burst Limit is almost like your traditional 3D fighter, except a hellava lot easier. Your offense can pretty much be about mashing buttons, but if your opponent knows how to play defense, he'll own your ass, and that's the surprising thing about Burst Limit. It seems like a game where you can do random acts of violence, but the minute the difficulty raises or you're facing someone who knows what they're doing, you'll be defeated by what Team Fourstar (look them up) calls the Wheel of Bitchslaps. The gameplay is so simple, yet demands skill to play. The fights are fast as hell, and at one point, I forgot who I was controlling before getting hit by a dodon ray. The best thing about this game is that moves like the kamehameha wave don't deplete your meter, forcing you to stop and recharge like every other game. In fact, you don't even have to recharge. The game does it automatically, and does it fast, unless you're getting hit. Then the meter stops charging until you you stop getting smacked. The only time the meter depletes is after a ultimate attack (like the Spirit Bomb), transformations (ie Super Saiyan), or when you enter Aura Spark mode which boosts your stats. The one thing I don't like is the drama pieces. Drama pieces activate in mid-fight as a cut-scene (sometimes featuring a partner of your choosing) to help you, whether it be increasing attack power or giving you health. It sounds nice, but in practice, it sucks. The scenes break the flow of the fight and they can't be skipped once activated. It does make the fights more cinematic and truer to the show than past DBZ fighters, but in the end, I always turn them off. One time, I showed this game to a couple of friends, and they liked it. Mind you they hate the show (mainly because it takes forever for stuff to happen, like the fact that Frieza said the planet would explode in 5 minute, yet the fight lasted what seemed like 17 episode, and wow; what a long parenthesis) and didn't think much of the games, which leads me to believe that even non-fans can get into it. It ain't Tekken, but it'll do. A good game all around.

Damn! Punched Frieza right in the Cooler!

Raging Blast is a lot different from...well....any other fighter you played. Here you can fly freely around the environments and smash people through things. In a way, it's kinda like Burst Limit, except with a list of moves that takes advantage of the 3D shift. You can quickly fly behind people to attack from behind, you can warp from side to side in mid-combo, you can throw people into the wall and wail on them as they're stuck, you can fly away when things get too hectic, and your special moves are handled by the right stick. As an added bonus, you can start in any unlocked transformation you want, something Burst Limit should have done. So, if you want to start off a Super Saiyan 3, you can. This all sounds like Raging Blast should be better than Burst Limit, but there are so many fuck ups that irritate me so. First off is the camera, the fuckin piece of shit camera. Its a fuckin struggle for it to stay on your opponent, especially if he flies either straight up or down. If he's above you or under you, you won't be able to see him, and there's no way to know how far down he is. You could always rush him, but what's stopping him from bitchslapping you once you get there? I shouldn't have to play this kind of fuckin guessing game. When you're fighting near an object like a mountain or cliff, the camera gets stuck, and won't pan the fuck out so you can see. You can change the camera angle by pressing left or right on the d-pad, but while you do, KAMEHAMEHA up the ass! I've lost so many fights because of the camera. Punches and kicks aren't really worth it in my book. They do such little damage, you're better off just chucking fireballs all day long. Yes, they open players up for bigger attacks, but I would like them to be a real offensive threat. The biggest problem with Raging Blast is that it's fighting style just isn't fun anymore. As I mentioned earlier, the formula doesn't age well as I was bored out of my mind after maybe 3 days. It may seem fun to those who haven't played the 3 Tenkaichi games, but for us fans, it's lather, rinse, repeat. Really, the only people I see playing this are those who are really curious about SSJ3 Vegeta and Broly, and if you're really that curious, you can look it up on google images and save yourself 60 bucks.

.....Your aim sucks...

Both games host the same set of problems. The story mode doesn't tell you shit about the story. They just assumed you've seen this before and know what happens next. That's fuckin unfair to those you haven't seen the show before, and will probably be turned off by the fact that they don't know what's going on. Nice job building on your fanbase numbnuts. The roster is short. Coming after the series before them, you would think the roster would be packed, especially since Tenkaichi 3 had roughly 120. I can understand trimming the fat for more balance, but key people are missing. Burst Limit stops at the Cell saga, meaning there's no Super Saiyan 3 or 4, nor is there any fusion or Majin Buu. Raging Blast stops at the Majin Buu saga, meaning no Super Saiyan 4, and even more so, no Dragonball characters either. The official name of the game is Dragon Ball: Raging Blast. The absense of the 'Z' made me believe that it would start when Goku was a kid. Nope. Super moves don't do shit from long range because they're easily side stepped. The guy's gotta be a noob or an idiot to get hit. The graphics suck as the environment is concerned. They look very PS2-ish while the characters are rendered nicely. It looks weird. Speaking of characters, although Raging Blast looks more like the cartoon, I like Burst Limit's graphics better. My biggest problem with both games is that...well...WE PLAYED THEM ALREADY! Really, who are you fooling!? We move on to the next generation of gaming consoles, and Atari makes the same shit we've played last time. What really pisses me off about it (for some unknown reason) is that they have the nerve to market it as if it's something new. You must think really little of us. Actually, I work in retail, and consumers are really that stupid....but still....

He kicked the HD off of him!

Not so fun fact: Raging Blast was not published by Atari, but by Bandai Namco, yet it was made by Spike, the people who made the Tenkaichi series. Hmmm, maybe the publisher does make a difference. Anyway, Burst Limit is simple fun to be had and is a pretty good buy at $20. I've had it for almost a year, and I still play it. As for Raging Blast, don't waste your time if you played the Tenkaichi series or not a fan of the series. I've had it for almost a month, and I'm fed up. This game could have definitely benefitted....with ninjas!

DBZ Burst Limit Rating: Sweet

DB Raging Blast Rating: Ass

NOTE: Idea for a new game....Ninja Hero! Comes with it's own katana peripheral. Ninja Stars sold separately.