Pulse withstanding capability of standard resistors
Any half-decent reputable resistor supplier will have pulse power dissipation limits such as this one from Vishay: -



It tells you how much power can be delivered in a pulse to a resistor. For instance, an 0603 resistor can take pulses of power up to about 20 watts if the duration is only a micro second. For a milli second the power can be no more than 1 watt.


  Or is there any way to tell whether a 0402, 0603 or 0805 standard
  resistor (without further specification) will suffice?


If you want to do the job properly read the data sheets. The data sheet will also tell you how much copper you may need to use around the resistor to achieve this specification so, you can't really guess with any accuracy.