I have very fond memories of the early days of Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi, which Sparking! Zero is said to be part of, but I also haven’t played many arena fighters that felt as good as Tenkaichi. I’ve had cautious optimism for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, but Bandai Namco went pretty far in convincing me I have little to be worried about. Not only is it shaping up to be a game no one will just be able to mash through, but it’s feeling like a very well put-together gallery of Dragon Ball characters and moments, as well as a stage for all sorts of dream battles.
A regular Tournament of Power
To my utter delight, Bandai Namco’s latest build of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero had nearly every character the game is going to feature available. That included everyone from Yajirobe and Frieza henchman Cui all the way up to Syn Shenron and Broly, and everyone in-between. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero plays as many Dragon Ball arena battlers do, with characters flying around a battlefield and lobbing a bevy of martial arts and energy attacks at each other. Every character has a few autocombos, a series of regular skills and attacks that use a limited Ki bar, and a super attack that can be used when powered up fully and in a special Sparking state. More on that later.
Battle moved fast, but it was quite gorgeous as I pitted foes against one another. I got to try out putting Goku against Frieza in their final battle on Namek, Future Trunks versus Vegeta in their prep for the Cell Games, and even Kid Goku versus Yajirobe in their first meeting. I also got to try some hilariously one-sided fights like Beerus versus Babidi, Fused Zamasu versus Mr. Satan, and Cui versus Super Broly. These were all exhibitions, but the dialogue the characters have, the opportunity for special finishes if completed with certain characters and certain moves, and more made them feel like fun, fleshed-out fights. Characters’ clothes even tear as a fight goes on, so in the Goku/Frieza fight, Goku was looking like he did at the end of the anime by the time we were wrapping up. It was exciting to see the attention to detail at all levels.
I also got to try some character episodes for Goku in the Saiyan saga and Freiza during the Namek saga. These are Sparking! Zero’s story mode, but there’s a very interesting twist to them. You can take them off the beaten path of the canon story. Goku’s episode had an option where you could choose to bring Piccolo or leave him behind to fight Raditz alone. Meanwhile, Frieza’s story has a path where we see what plays out if he had beaten Goku on Namek. These options spice things up and seem like they’re going to make the character episodes fun to explore.
I mentioned before that this isn’t a game you can mash through. That’s especially true with the CPU on hard. There are dodge and parry options that let you block your opponent’s attacks and then attempt to launch a counterattack, as well as certain types of combos that work better on certain enemies depending on their size. A huge part of the fights are also finding time to power up and let loose your character’s best attacks. It was pretty common for opponents to knock me down and then immediately try to power up so they could hit me with their most devastating attacks, such as Goku’s Spirit Bomb or Vegeta’s Final Flash. By powering up fully, you enter the Sparking State and can access these attacks to absolutely wreck your opponent, so battle becomes a tug-of-war of landing hits and powering up to those big moments.
For that reason, I also had a blast pitting the CPU against itself on hard difficulties. It played much better than I was going to, but it was also just interesting to see how it worked. In one battle I put Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Vegeta, and Goku against the Ginyu Force in a team battle. In case you were wondering, the Ginyu Force actually has a team intro and I love that. But then it was just also awesome to see them throw down at the hardest level the game offers. It really drove home just how pretty this game is and how much variety they’ve packed in, ensuring that making any of your dream Dragon Ball matches is going to be fun for a long time in Sparking! Zero.
The spark of something magnificent
I’m pretty happy to report that Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero isn’t feeling like any anime arena battler I’ve ever played. Its battles feel competent, its cast and stages are looking great, and its variety of battle modes and systems look as though it’ll keep any fan busy for dozens of hours. We’re not far off from the game launching on October 10, 2024, so stay tuned for more updates and coverage leading up to the game’s release!
These impressions are based on a PS5 early version presented by the publisher. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero's grand roster makes for countless high-quality 'what if's
