“DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO” is by far one of the best “Dragon Ball” games of all time. “DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO” is the fourth entry in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, a 3D arena fighting game that centers solely on the “Dragon Ball” series. It is a set of games that has lived on as one of the greatest gaming franchises in the series, with the previous game holding the title of “best ‘Dragon Ball’ game” for the longest time. With a 17-year time gap between “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3” and “DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO,” the new game had a lot to live up to in comparison to the success of the first one. Thankfully, in more ways than one, “DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO” lives up to the hype of the earlier titles in the series.
“DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO” has 182 playable characters that range from four entire generations of “Dragon Ball,” including characters from the original “Dragon Ball Z” movies and characters from “Dragon Ball GT” and “Dragon Ball Super,” respectively. To add onto this, more characters from the most recent “Dragon Ball” movie, “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,” and the upcoming anime series, “Dragon Ball Daima,” are on the way in the downloadable content, planned to release later next year. Just about every character in this game is unique in terms of their overall statistics and playstyle that perfectly fit the character in question. Players can customize every character’s statistic to enhance health, strength, combos and more to make any character much stronger for online or offline play.
There is one major aspect of “Dragon Ball” that feels left out from this game entirely and it’s “Dragon Ball,” (the original series before “Dragon Ball Z”). Although Teen Goku from that era is playable and there are skins for Yamcha and Master Roshi that reference the original series, the fact that the original series is barely there doesn’t sit right when “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2” and “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3” both had characters from this era.
There are two different control styles that players can choose from, known as “classic” and “standard.” “Standard controls” reduces the amount of button presses for specific abilities, making it much easier for newer players to get a handle on the game’s controls. If you’ve played the original games and are used to the complex button presses and combinations, then don’t worry, “classic controls” brings in that nostalgic control scheme.
In addition, most of the original controls and gimmicks from “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3” are present here, including Sparking Mode, Beam Clashes, Rush Clashes, Super Attacks, Ultimate Attacks and much more. Each character has four to five main attacks, two boosts or assists, two super attacks (one melee attack and one beam attack) and an ultimate attack. Depending on what character you’re using, you can also fuse two characters just like in the original. This feature is very limited for certain characters such as Goku and Vegeta. The two characters can fuse into either Gogeta or Vegito, depending on which era you choose from. Transformations have also returned, however, it is not just limited to the Saiyans. Various characters can transform, including Frieza, Cell, Baby and Zarbon. But don’t fret – if you want to specifically play as Semi-Perfect Cell and don’t want to play as base Cell, you can. You can play as every character’s transformed state. The only downside to this is that it inflates the roster greatly.
Data mining for the game suggests that characters from the original era were planned to be playable, such as Grandpa Gohan, Demon King Piccolo and Android 8, but were cut from the game. Characters such as Pikkon, Supreme Kai, Super 17 (GT), King Vegeta, Champa and more were all listed as characters planned for “DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO.” It’s strange, as half of the characters listed in the data files were characters in earlier entries.
If there was one thing that sold fans on “DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO,” it was the story mode, better known as “Episode Battle.” This mode takes a new spin on things and allows players to experience the story of “Dragon Ball” in a new way. Much like the games before it, this mode has you play through the story of “Dragon Ball Z” and “Dragon Ball Super,” from fighting against Raditz in the Saiyan Saga to finishing off Jiren in the Tournament of Power. In this mode, players can make their own choices and create junctions in the timeline to see new events play out. Some paths have certain requirements to access different endings and branches, while others can be unlocked within cutscenes.
Story mode does not mess around. The battles are difficult and getting certain requirements to reach certain paths can be very frustrating. You will often have to repeat the same fight over and over because you need to defeat all the enemies within a certain time. Sure, it’s a great challenge that really tests your skills within the game, but it is annoying at its best or frustratingly difficult at its worst, especially with the Great Ape Vegeta fights and the entirety of the Goku Black path. This doesn’t mean the other paths you can take are boring – many paths reward the player with their engaging stories, such as Trunks being in the Tournament of Power, Piccolo defeating Cell and Goku turning Super Saiyan early. Unfortunately, these paths are a double-edged sword, as some are over before they have even started. These paths will mainly show an enemy being defeated early in the story, like Dabura and Babidi before awakening Majin Buu or Frieza killing Goku on Namek. While it’s understandable that not every junction would be incredibly expansive, it makes these parts feel less engaging, as players will gamble whether they should bother with getting these scenarios.
On the other hand, “Custom Battle” is the most engaging mode in this entire game. “Custom Battle” is a first for any “Dragon Ball” game and does exactly what its name suggests – you can create your own stories and post them online for people to play. Have you ever wanted to have Broly fight Jiren? An android showdown with Androids 16 through 20? Hercule vs Beerus and Whis? This mode allows you to unlock your inner child and create short stories of your own. You can also add cutscenes, music, dialogue and activate certain actions to spice things up in your custom story. You can make the battles as challenging or as fun as you’d like. If you can beat the scenario, it can be uploaded online.
All and all, “DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO” is a phenomenal game that goes above and beyond in so many different areas that it may even surpass some of the best games in the series. This game is like one giant love letter to all fans of “Dragon Ball,” as just about every era is celebrated and represented in one game. It’s essentially the “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” of “Dragon Ball.” Hopefully, the success from this title will bring more entries in the “Budokai Tenkaichi/Sparking” series and more downloadable content for the foreseeable future.
