A couple of months ago, I tried DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, and the short gameplay time that I got was still enough to get me interested in the long-awaited return of the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
With the game’s release just a month away, I got to play Sparking! ZERO again, this time for 3 hours; a far cry from the 20 minutes that I got to play a few months back. As such, I was able to experience more of what the game has to offer. Specifically, I got to try out the game’s VS Battle Mode, build Custom Battles, and experience iconic moments in the Episode Battles.
After my Sparking! ZERO session, I think that aside from delighting those who grew up playing Budokai Tenkaichi, this game might just be the dream game for many Dragon Ball fans.
Living Out Your Saiyan Dreams
To start, I first go to try out the VS Battle feature for around an hour. Instead of playing by myself against a CPU opponent like before, this time I got to play with another member of the Southeast Asian gaming press. Thus, my experience this time should be more representative of how best to play a Budokai Tenkaichi game – with friends via local play.
In VS battle, two players can pick up to five characters from the game’s massive roster. Gameplay should feel familiar to series veterans as this is an arena fighting game where to goal is to beat all your opponent’s characters.
As I described in my previous demo of the game, each match centers around building up your Ki gauge by attacking your opponent or by charging. Once charged, you can use various skills, but if you overcharge, you’ll enter Sparking mode which can let you unleash your most devastating ability to turn the tide of a match. Note that like in previous games, Z Search is here, meaning you lose track of your opponent when you take down their character. This can give them the opening for an attack.
During this extended session with the game, I got to try out plenty of characters from Dragon Ball Z to Super. Even though the complete roster wasn’t unlocked, the demo version I played already had a dizzying array of characters as even lesser-known figures are playable in the game. What’s more, each character plays quite differently, meaning players are encouraged to try out various characters instead of sticking to the tried-and-tested ones like Goku and Vegeta.
Because this is an arena fighting game with a focus on flashy attacks, don’t expect this game to have the same balance as a more competitive fighting game like FighterZ. In fact, as the game’s producer mentioned in our previous interview, each character is tuned so that their abilities in the game reflect their power level in the anime,
Thus, this means the weaker Dragon Ball characters are just as weak in the game. For instance, we tested out a team that included Mr. Satan and Yajirobe. As expected, they weren’t particularly powerful. On the flip side, some characters are incredibly powerful like Hit who was fast and hit (no pun intended) like a truck.
If you ask me, I like this aspect of Sparking! ZERO as it provided a more faithful experience when it comes to power levels. Balance also shouldn’t be an issue when playing with friends as you can simply ask more skilled players to include weaker characters in their team for a more balanced 1v1 experience.
Even though the time I had with the game was plenty, it’s not enough to fully give a verdict on the game’s mechanics. What I can say for certain is that I had a lot of fun with the VS Battle mode, though this might not even be what will draw many Dragon Ball fans into the game.
DRAGON BALL Sparking! Zero’s Custom Battles are a Particular Highlight
In DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO, players can play or create Custom Battles. You can think of these as mini “What If” scenarios involving the various Dragon Ball characters.
For instance, there’s a premade Custom Battle where you control Goku and Vegeta as they face, well, Goku and Vegeta. In this mirror match, whenever you go Super Saiyan, your opponent also transforms, making for a challenging match.
I saw that there were plenty of premade battles to experience, but the real meat of this mode is the feature to make your own Custom Battle. When creating your own, I suggest trying out the Simple Edit option first as if you jump right into the Normal Edit mode, you may get overwhelmed with the sheer number of options.
In Simple Edit, you can select a type of battle that you want and then select which characters are playable. You can also tweak the scenario’s opening and ending cutscene, and add various effects as the battle progresses. This should ease you in well enough to the various options available, but you’ll be forgiven if you still get overwhelmed with Normal Edit.
That’s because there are just so many options to choose from in the full version of the Custom Battle creator. Sure, the cutscenes are still limited to pre-made phrases and sentences (you can at least change the names), but there are still so many to choose from that you can get creative with the scenarios that you make up. What’s more, you can even add effects like the opponent will heal at a certain time or when they reach a certain health percentage.
To give you an example, you can make a Custom Battle where you play as a team from Dragon Ball Super’s Universal Survival Arc as they go through the Cell Games. Essentially, if you’re a Dragon Ball fan who loves daydreaming about “What If” scenarios, you can create them via this mode.
If you’re someone who would rather experience the story in a more interactive way though, you can head over to Episode Battles.
Episode Battles Let You Relive Iconic Moments, with Some Twists
The final part of my recent Sparking! ZERO gameplay session was time with the Episode Battle mode. Specifically, I went through Goku and Frieza’s storylines. The demo also featured the story of Goku Black, though I wasn’t able to try that.
As revealed before, Sparking! ZERO will feature story chapters following select characters in Dragon Ball Z and Super. What’s interesting here is that parts of the story feature branching paths, meaning you can experience different takes on the Dragon Ball story.
I can’t go into detail about these branching paths as I played the Goku storyline as it happened in the anime, though I did see one potential new path. When Goku goes to rescue Gohan from Raditz, Piccolo arrives, though you can opt not to have him join, meaning the next scenario will play differently.
Regarding the Episode Battle experience, I found them to be quite fun. Sure, the flow is basically watching cutscenes and then fighting. However, it’s still a great experience if you love Dragon Ball as it’s a way to experience the anime’s iconic moments again with more interactivity. After all, instead of just watching Goku versus Great Ape Vegeta, you have to fight the giant Vegeta instead.
As with the VS Battles, I can’t give the full verdict yet on this mode as there are plenty of story chapters and characters. Still, what I experienced was quite promising and has me excited to try out even more story chapters, especially the ones featuring the Dragon Ball Super characters.
DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO Initial Thoughts
It has been well over a decade since the last Budokai Tenkaichi game, and based on my time with the game, DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO should delight fans who had to wait a long time for a new installment. That’s because its core gameplay is engaging and flashy, not to mention that it feels great. Plus, the game has a massive roster that includes plenty of lesser-known series characters.
More than just for Budokai Tenkaichi veterans though, Sparking! ZERO is also shaping up to be a must-play for Dragon Ball fans. That’s because its Episode Battles feature the anime’s story with twists, while Custom Battles lets fans create their own dream scenarios.
Again, it’s too early to give a proper recommendation, but it’s clear that the game should be worth a look for fans when it launches this October.
DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO will be released on October 11, 2024, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.