This review was made possible by an advance copy of Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO. Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO releases on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on October 7, 2024 with Early Access and October 11, 2024.
It has only been seven months since the creator of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama, passed away. A loss that was hard on many Dragon Ball fans, as without Dragon Ball, a lot of them wouldn’t be the people they are today. Without it, we wouldn’t have many things, as it served as inspiration across the globe. Although Toriyama will be missed, he has left us with several gifts this year.
One of these is a brand new Dragon Ball game, but not just any game—one that’s special to fans of the series and brings back a wave of nostalgia for them. For the first time in 17 years, the Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi franchise has received a new console entry, using its Japanese title for the first time in the West and calling itself Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is the fourth game in the Budokai Tenkaichi franchise. It’s the first game in the series to feature characters from Dragon Ball Super and its latest anime, Dragon Ball Daima. It takes the legendary gameplay from the Budokai Tenkaichi series and uses next-generation power to take it to whole new levels.
When hopping into Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, it can be quite daunting, especially for someone who isn’t accustomed to the Budokai Tenkaichi franchise. There are quite a few modes that you can jump into, and there are over 100 characters you can play as, all ranging from Dragon Ball Z to Dragon Ball Super. It even includes the characters from the films. Thankfully, many of these characters are locked, which gives you something to aim for while you’re playing.
While jumping between the various modes, which we’ll get into, I noticed that I was unlocking characters through various means. It was hard to tell if these were the definitive ways to unlock specific characters or if Sparking! ZERO just offered numerous ways for players to unlock characters, allowing them to play whichever game mode they like the most.
When launching the game for the first time, you’re met with a brief tutorial that comes in the form of a spar between Goku and Vegeta. It’s not an in-depth tutorial, but it teaches you enough to be able to hold your own in a fight (or so you think). I play my fair share of fighting games; I wouldn’t say I’m skilled at any of them, but I still have fun with them.
One thing I always try to do is play the tutorial in hopes of being able to actually defend myself in fights, to help give me a fighting chance. With Sparking! ZERO, I hopped straight into Episodic Battles and was met with the most disgraceful losses I’ve had in a while against the computer. It was clear that I had no clue how to do absolutely anything in this game but punch, send ki blasts, and dodge.
The game does indeed have a tutorial mode where you play as Gohan training with Piccolo, but unfortunately, Sparking! ZERO falls victim to the Arena Fighting Game Tutorial Issue. It teaches you how to counter and everything that’s important to survive. What it lacks is the ability to put this into practice with actual combos or tutorials that are designated for each character.
While there are over 100 characters, and that might be too much to ask for, it still would’ve been a nice gesture to have combo tutorials for some core characters. This way, it would’ve been easier to adapt to the game. Sparking! ZERO has a learning curve, but it’s one you’ll get around quickly. Spike Chunsoft has envisioned the world of Dragon Ball perfectly; it’s fast-paced, and registering what moves are coming your way will take a while before you become skilled at countering them all.
The main mode consists of the Episode Battles. This is where you can experience the story of Dragon Ball through its various characters and key moments. There are eight characters you can choose to play from, consisting of Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Future Trunks, Frieza, Goku Black, and Jiren. If this is a game you’re playing to experience the Dragon Ball story for the first time, well, this is the wrong game for you. You’d be better off playing a game like Kakarot or picking up the source material to get the best experience. The length of each character’s episodic battle varies.
Goku is the central character of the series, so it makes sense that his is the longest of all the characters. It spans from the Saiyan arc in Dragon Ball Z all the way to the Universe Survival arc. Some arcs in the Episode Battles are skipped if they’re not seen as essential, such as the Universe 6 arc, which I believe is an odd choice since Goku’s first meeting with Hit and the concept of various universes are integral to how we reach the Universal Survival arc.
That’s not the only odd choice made with the Episode Battles, though. With characters like Vegeta, you’d expect to start from the Saiyan arc, giving you the ability to try out the giant ape, but instead, it starts you from the Planet Namek arc. Gohan starts from the Android/Cell arc instead of the Planet Namek arc, but this one slightly makes more sense as it’s where Gohan experiences real character development and is heavily involved in the story.
Another peculiar choice was Future Trunks not starting at the Android/Cell arc, even though he has a few fights there and is introduced there. Instead, you only play through the Future Trunks arc, which can feel repetitive if you play it in the order I did, jumping from Goku to Future Trunks to Goku Black. On the topic of Goku Black, there are characters like him and Jiren, who only appear in one arc, making their Episode Battles a breeze to get through compared to characters like Goku.
A concept integrated into Sparking! ZERO is one that you can find across its two single-player modes: What If? This idea allows for many possibilities within the Dragon Ball universe. In the Episodic Battle game mode, it’s possible to divert from the anime’s storyline via choices that arise or secondary objectives you must achieve. These secondary objectives aren’t easy to obtain, making it difficult to actually see what the What If scenarios might be.
Interestingly, instead of running into that issue, I found myself struggling to stay on the main path as the secondary objective I was given involved defeating my enemy quickly. No matter how many times I retried the fight, I couldn’t get back on the main route. Thankfully, you can lower the difficulty, which disables the secondary objective, forcing you to follow the main course of the episode map.
Spike Chunsoft has managed to create a game that reflects their passion for the series, from the available music options to the character-specific dialogue you hear before starting a match. One thing that can’t be denied is that the game is visually stunning. There’s no better way to describe it than glowing; every move and transformation radiates off the screen, with every little detail shown in the particle effects.
Unfortunately, the cutscenes used for the Episode Battles can look rather poor unless they utilize the in-game engine. They often appear blurry, similar to the opening movie that plays at the start of the game. While the story isn’t the main selling point of this game, fans shouldn’t have to settle for subpar cutscenes. With the potential of the built-in game engine, it would’ve been much better if all the cutscenes were rendered through it, showcasing the power of the next generation of Budokai Tenkaichi.
The second single-player mode in Sparking! ZERO is Custom Battles. For creative fans, this is the mode you’ll have the most fun with, allowing for endless possibilities. This mode lets you create your own dream scenario with a built-in editor that lets you change almost everything, from the music to what the characters say. There are three ways to create your custom scenario: Normal, which takes the most time (as it did for me); Simple, which lets you choose a base and speeds up the process; and Copy, which allows you to tweak an already-made battle.
I saved this mode for last because I wanted to take my time with it. I was able to create a scenario where Frieza got his revenge on Future Trunks, involving Bulma and Vegeta as NPCs. Getting them to say somewhat accurate dialogue was challenging, and realizing I could do more with the opening scene was a discovery I made late. But I can see myself spending countless hours in this mode, which offers so much freedom and doesn’t limit creativity, even if it seems like it might at first.
The tournament mode gives you the option to play through preset tournaments based on those found in the series. The two I quickly gravitated towards were the Tournament of Power, which kept its elimination rules (being knocked out of the ring), and the Yamcha tournament (which I had to try). To my surprise, I found the Yamcha tournament more difficult since it selects a random character for you. I ended up with Android 19 and got too cocky in the finals against Yamcha.
This mode can be played both offline and online, allowing you to organize tournaments easily with friends. Unfortunately, the servers were down in preparation for early access, so I couldn’t fully explore it, but I managed to get into a few regular online matches and really enjoyed the system that’s in place.
If you thought you’d be able to play as Whis and Ultra Instinct Goku, well, think again. There’s a limit in place called Damage Power (DP). Each character has their own DP, and you’re limited to 15 points to make a team. Most of the high-hitting characters cost 10, meaning it’s impossible to double up on overpowered characters. That doesn’t stop me, though, as I’ll be pairing UI Goku with Hercules.
Just like with most Dragon Ball games, you have the ability to summon Shenron, but it doesn’t stop there. You can also summon Super Shenron and Porunga. So far, I’ve only found a way to collect the Dragon Balls in Episode Battles, which could be an issue for some players. The three wish-granting dragons offer Zeni, titles, characters, outfits, power-up items, and the chance to increase your power level, which is essentially your account level.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is a Dragon Ball game not only in name but down to its very DNA. Every fight makes it feel like you’re part of the anime. Every punch, blast, and transformation feels impactful, and I found myself screaming alongside the characters. That’s how much fun I had with Sparking! ZERO once I finally mastered my Saiyan heritage. This game is, without a doubt, the best Dragon Ball game in over a decade and serves as a great tribute to Akira Toriyama.
