October 2024 is a dream month for fans as not only do we have a new anime in Daima, but we also now have Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, the long-awaited new Budokai Tenkaichi game. A long wait may be underselling it a bit as the last Budokai Tenkaichi game was released nearly two decades ago.
Since then, the Dragon Ball franchise has continued to grow, with lots of big game releases as well as the massively popular Dragon Ball Super anime and manga. Given the franchise’s continuing expansion, it makes sense that Sparking! Zero promises to be the biggest game in the series yet in terms of both roster size and sheer amount of content.
A few months ago, I got to try out a short demo of the game. Then, just last month, I got a meatier hands-on session. I had a great time both times, so it was quite exciting to finally play the complete game recently.
If you’re a Dragon Ball fan, chances are that you’re one of the many who bought the premium edition to access the game early. Though if you’re one of those still on the fence as to whether to get this game or not, here’s our full Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero review.
A Battle System to Delight Dragon Ball Lovers
As we’ve discussed before in our previous hands-on demo, Sparking! Zero is a fast-paced arena fighting game that plays similarly to the previous Budokai Tenkaichi games. While fans of the series will feel at home here, those used to something like Dragon Ball FighterZ may need some time to get used to its pace and combat style.
Arena fighting games can get a bad rap given that there are plenty of anime games in the genre that, while fun, tend to have a lackluster feel to their combat. One such example that I can remember is Jump Force, the massive crossover Shonen Jump fighting game. I had fun with that game, though I do admit that how the combat feels isn’t exactly the game’s strong suit.
Thankfully, Sparking! Zero is not a lackluster arena fighting game when it comes to how combat feels. Combat works as with most arena fighting games in that matches are 1v1, with each player having up to five characters to switch between. While it seems typical, the game plays smoothly and dynamically compared to others in the genre, not to mention that there’s a surprising amount of depth here.
At first glance, it seems that the name of the game is simply to charge up your Ki to get to Sparking mode and blast opponents with high-damage skills. While this is definitely how many battles went for me, I still had to switch things up at times when I played different characters.
Speaking of characters, the game has a load of them – 182 in fact. Sure, many of these characters are simply alternate versions of iconic Dragon Ball characters, but they still manage to have some differences to make them feel distinct to play.
Note that as the game’s producer mentioned before, the game isn’t out to deliver an experience with esports levels of balance. Instead, the game is designed to not be balanced in that some characters are way stronger than others. For instance, characters like Goku and Hit are incredibly heavy hitters, but then you have someone like Mr. Satan and Yajirobe who are the exact opposite. There’s also the fact that not every character can fly, meaning some roster members are inherently at a disadvantage when fighting.
This might seem like a big knock on the game (many other reviews seem to think so), though on the flip side, this lack of balance across the roster makes it an experience that’s true to the series which is exactly what the developers intended. As it’s not made to be a competitive fighting game, I would say that I like the more accurate experience that the game delivers, not to mention that it feels like a throwback to more “old-school” anime games that I enjoyed in the 2000s.
Plus, I think the game’s “balance” works in its favor for Dragon Ball fans. For instance, if you’re playing offline multiplayer, you can simply make house rules that the more mechanically skilled player would need to add weaker characters to their lineup.
You Won’t Run Out of Things to Do
The game’s multiplayer mode offers up hours of fun for Dragon Ball fans, but if you ask me, the core of the game is its Episode Battle mode and Custom Battles – two features that I also got to experience during the hands-on demo last month.
Now that I’ve had more time with the game, I can more confidently say that the game’s story mode is a delight for fans. In this mode, players can choose to experience select storylines from the Dragon Ball anime shows, ranging from the iconic DBZ arcs to stories from Dragon Ball Super. While these stories are essentially CliffsNotes versions of what happened in the anime, I do love getting to experience the series’ memorable battles myself.
To add a fresh spin on these stories, the game also features choices during specific moments. For instance, you can choose not to have Piccolo join Goku when going up against Raditz. These are basically “What If” scenarios that players can see and experience, making for a compelling reason to play through the story mode. Sure, these scenarios aren’t particularly in-depth, but I did have a lot of fun seeing them play out.
If depth is what you crave though, look no further than the game’s Custom Battle mode. As we’ve previously explored, this mode lets players customize specific scenarios and share them with other players. For those who prefer to play instead of create, this mode also features pre-made Custom Battles that are quite creative. For example, there’s a scenario where the player must control Goku and Vegeta as they go up against another Goku and Vegeta pair who will mirror their transformations.
The pre-made Custom Battles are nice to dip your feet into the possibilities that the mode offers, but the customization is what I imagine will delight many dedicated Dragon Ball fans. After all, this is essentially a game version of the times back when I was a kid discussing various Dragon Ball matchups and scenarios with friends at school.
Personally, I found the sheer number of options to be dizzying, so I mostly stuck with the Simple Edit mode instead of accessing the full customization features. This is just me though as I’m sure that plenty of players would enjoy having control over cutscenes, character options, and effects that happen when certain conditions are met.
Combining the game’s Episode Battles with Custom Battles and multiplayer, you get what is arguably the biggest Dragon Ball game yet when it comes to the sheer number of hours that you can spend on it. Thanks to this, Sparking! Zero offers up a lot of value for Dragon Ball fans. Though do take note that this isn’t a perfect game as there are some things about it that I didn’t particularly like.
What Could’ve Been Better
I’ve heaped a lot of praise for its combat system, but what I didn’t like as much is the enemy AI. While I enjoyed some of the challenging boss fights (like Great Ape Vegeta which many players struggled with), I had to admit that I got frustrated at some of the later bosses. As I don’t have problems with dropping the difficulty setting for games when I’m getting frustrated, this wasn’t the biggest issue for me, though I can definitely see why this is a drawback for many players.
Difficulty is fine if the enemies are fair, but the problem here is that the CPU AI feels a bit unfair at times, meaning instead of needing to master the mechanics more, it’s often better to simply cheese them. Given that both Episode Battles and Custom Battles are experiences where you face AI opponents, this can be a big issue for some players.
Personally, I thought that this aspect of Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero could’ve been better, but it’s far from a dealbreaker as the game’s strong points heavily outweigh this con. This is likely because I grew up watching Dragon Ball so I have a fondness for the series.
On the flip side, players who aren’t big Dragon Ball fans may not find this game to be for them. Even with its flashy and fun combat along with the loads of content it has, it’s still very much a game made by and for Dragon Ball fans, meaning its strong points can only really be appreciated by those who love the series. Thus, this might not be the best game to play for those who are new to Dragon Ball or are more casual fans who may have only watched certain episodes of DBZ or Super.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Final Verdict – 8.5/10
Ahead of the game’s launch, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero was already shaping up to be the dream game for big fans of the series. With the game finally out now for everyone, it’s clear that this lives up to the promise when it comes to pleasing fans.
Sure, its AI could’ve been better, but thanks to its fast-paced arena fighting combat, massive roster, entertaining story mode, and incredibly deep Custom Battle feature, Sparking! Zero will offer countless hours of fun for Dragon Ball lovers across the world.
[This review was made via a PS5 game code provided by the publisher]