Of all the anime game announcements in 2023, none took audiences by surprise more than Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 4, which was announced during the 2023 Dragon Ball Fighterz World Championship. The game received a full reveal with gameplay at The Game Awards last year, revealing a new title – Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO.
Recently, I had the opportunity to preview Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO with Bandai Namco at Summer Game Fest. Set to release this October, Sparking! ZERO looks to be a major step forward for the series, acting as the first Budokai Tenkaichi title in 14 years. The team at Bandai described this game as a “dream project” for the developers at Spike Chunsoft and fans alike. After trying out the game and viewing a short presentation, it is apparent that Bandai Namco is going all-out.
As someone who has not played any of the prior games in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, I was looking forward to testing out what seemed to be an extremely fast fighting game that captured the essence of Dragon Ball and its characters. I was not disappointed. Right from the get-go, it was clear that the team at Spike Chunsoft has put everything they’ve got into this release. Sparking! ZERO is a game made by fans for fans.
While the demo I played had probably 40-50 characters or so to choose from, a total of 164 characters are set to be present at launch. I expect that it will be hard to find any major character that isn’t available in this roster, as it really is that deep. There are so many fun combinations to be had, especially since you can create teams with up to three different playable characters.
Developer Spike Chunsoft has done an excellent job at creating a game that’s fun to control but feels in line with the world of Dragon Ball. You can fly and zip over to your opponent using Ki Power, but the game requires you to keep on your feet and assess each move. You won’t be able to win by simply button mashing – carefully timed attacks, dodges, and abilities are critical to success in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO.
Gameplay is extremely fluid and incredibly responsive. Each character is easy enough to pick up and learn, but there is a surprising amount of depth to everyone, even some of the variants. While dealing massive attacks, I was blown away by the large amount of destructible environments and objects in each stage, which was a major detail that aided in the immersion of each battle. As characters zipped through the stage at lightning speed, visible destruction followed.
Also, the game is downright gorgeous. It’s one of the prettiest titles I’ve seen running on PlayStation 5, with a perfect cel-shaded style that captures Akira Toriyama’s iconic art style. You won’t have to worry about performance, either, as the game ran smoothly with no noticeable frame drops during my hands-on preview.
Two key modes stuck out to me in the presentation. First, the story mode, called Episode Mode, looks to provide a unique experience for every player. You can experience the story of Dragon Ball Saga in new ways that have never been seen before. Bandai Namco & Spike Chunsoft have created a feature many players have only dreamed of: you can now see alternate scenarios at key events that can change outcomes entirely. In our presentation, we saw Goku face the choice of either teaming up with Piccolo or fighting Raditz himself. While our presenter chose the canon route (a team-up with Piccolo), the optional choice of fighting alone will bring up brand-new, never-before-seen possibilities.
We were told that there are all kinds of choices to experience in Episode Mode, with eight different character perspectives available throughout. There is also the ability to experience story cutscenes in first-person mode, so you can see the perspective of taking a Kamehameha attack right to the chest. Besides these features, even more lies within the new potential story scenarios. Fights that characters are meant to lose can now be won, which can lead to new and exciting story surprises.
Overall, this is a huge fanservice move with dozens of “what if” scenarios waiting to be explored. You can craft your version of the Dragon Ball story and have it forged through your decisions. It feels like Bandai & Spike Chunsoft have created a story mode that will be unique with each playthrough, providing an incentive for longtime and new fans to experience the story of Dragon Ball Z.
The second major mode allows you to create your own story battles with any characters you’d like. This is fittingly called Custom Battle, and it seriously looks amazing. Looking to pit Goku Black against Piccolo or Gohan vs Beerus? You can now make that dream a reality and create a custom story battle with voice introductions and all. Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO allows you to customize the characters, stages, BGM (music), intro animations, and dialogue in this mode. It’s extremely extensive and is something I expect the Dragon Ball community to support for years to come.
This is essentially like uploading levels online in Super Mario Maker 2, with players around the world able to download your creation and experience it for themselves. While I never expected this type of player-created content to appear in a fighting game, this is a genius way of opening up all sorts of creative battles that fans have yearned for over the last few decades.
Of course, Versus Mode will be available to fight players online, and the team has even implemented a split-screen local multiplayer mode, which many believed wouldn’t be available! You’ll be able to battle it out with a friend on just one TV, which is amazing news for tournaments, parties, and casual hangouts.
I’m ridiculously excited for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, as it truly does feel like the ultimate Dragon Ball title so many fans have waited years for. There are so many different facets of fan service built into the title, with new story routes to be explored and custom dream battles finally available. While time will tell, my first impressions of Sparking! ZERO are extremely positive, and I look forward to seeing what surprises lie in store when the game releases on October 11.
