Let me start by saying something. Accusations have been thrown about that I am or was at some point some sort of a rabid Dragon Ball Z fanboy. Watching hours and hours of the show in my younger years, and still enjoying it to this day when it airs occasionally on Cartoon Network, while grinning ear to ear. To these rumors, I say…yes. Yes it’s all true. However, and stop me if you’re shocked by this: I have never been a big proponent of the Budokai series. My view is somewhat impartial. In fact, I have rarely been seen playing a fighting game aside from Street Fighter II and Soul Calibur 2. But I’m glad I didn’t let that stop me from trying it.

Created by Dimps (the same guys working on Street Fighter IV), Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit doesn’t stray too far from the original formula. Yyour average, tame, fighting game in which you press buttons to see your character do a kick, a jump, and maybe even a punch, is thrown out the window. Hello! Meet your new Kung-Fu overlords with their earth shattering, lightning fast movements and their city destroying energy blasts. Anyone expecting a realistic, controllable fighting system leave the room now, no, actually jump out the window. This carriage has lost its driver.

In the first few seconds of getting used to the controls, you will either: A) Get the ever living crud beaten out of you by Radditz. B) Button mash your way to defeating him in under a minute on Very Easy difficulty. C) Run out of the room screaming at the gravity defying aerial combat because this is the first video game you’ve ever played. Or D) Sit through it, learn the controls and enjoy the game for what its worth. I recommend everyone do D), but if you absolutely have to, do C), come back to the room and then continue to D).

The demo almost thrusts you into combat, first showing you a scene of two crazy haired warriors doing some cliche` fighting game taunting (to those who’ve never watched the show). Your only insight to how to defend yourself is the control scheme at the start, which you’ll probably have hastily exited out of. Well in case you didn’t know, there is a move list in the pause menu. Still can’t beat a solid tutorial.

The graphics are also a thing of beauty. They’re So smooth. Its cel shading is top notch, coming as closer to the show like never before, and even surpassing it in visual effects. When I first saw early gameplay footage, I remarked how close it looked animation wise to Street Fighter IV. Although I’m sure separate teams are involved at Dimps, either way you shape it, a stellar job all around.

I’m definitely interested in seeing more of what the retail game has to offer, as well as a more in depth overview of the basics of combat. Also, the demo inspired me to take a look at my favorite fighting game from the license. More on that soon.

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