When I was a lot younger, I really, really wanted to become a Super Saiyan. While I still haven’t completely given up, I’m glad BANDAI NAMCO keeps putting out games where I can live this power fantasy. The latest on the docket is Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero or DBSZ / Sparking as many of the game’s community has started calling out. 

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is the sequel to the Budokai Tenkaichi series. It’s a 3D Arena fighting game that feels like it’s built specifically for Dragon Ball and its many earth-shaking and heaven-breaking characters. 

To get you properly hyped, here’s the opening sequence of the game featuring the opening theme of Dragon Ball Super during the Tournament of Power Arc. 

Shake the Earth

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has a massive roster featuring 182 characters. Even if you take out the transformed characters, you still end up at around 80 which is still a lot. 

The game features two primary modes: Episode Battle and Custom Battle. 

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In Episode Battle, players will be able to relive some of the epic battles from the anime with 8 different characters available, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Jiren, Future Trunks, Goku Black and Frieza. They will all have different lengths with Goku being the biggest with events starting from the Saiyan invasion on Earth, up until the Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super.

In Custom Battle, players will not only discover some of the original scenarios created by the development team, but they can also create their own dream scenarios with pre-battle and post-battle cutscenes or specific effects and the characters they want, before sharing it with the world!

Sparking! Episodes

What many of the early marketing releases don’t tell you is that the Episode Battles contain Sparking! Episodes. These are What If scenarios providing you with alternate storylines during key moments of the many arcs of Dragon Ball.

If you start playing through Son Goku’s episodes, you’ll encounter a potential What If scenario immediately right before and during the battle against Raditz. The possible diverging path is marked as broken blue lines on the progress screen. 

As I’ve been extremely excited over the game, I’ve really seen plenty of these What If scenarios uploaded online. I personally don’t mind spoilers that much, so I wasn’t too peeved. But I’ve already seen one regarding my favorite character, Gohan, and I can’t wait to play through his Sparking Episodes. 

Break the Heavens

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero’s bread and butter is its relatively simple but extremely flashy combat. The game offers two types of controls to start: Standard and Classic. 

Veterans of the Budokai Tenkaichi might opt for Classic controls. Since I’m technically a newbie, I went with the Standard one. 

Combos, movement, and super finishes are generally easy to pick-up. However, I still suggest quickly going through the Tutorial Training featuring Gohan, Piccolo, and Goten for a more precise grasp of the controls. 

This is especially true if you’re going for the transformation and fusion routes in matches. Transformations and fusions require a certain number of Skill Points before they can be accessed. The skill point meter builds up naturally through battle. 

Why not just pick an already transformed character? Well, DBSF is lore accurate. That means it is not concerned with keeping the game balanced unlike most other fighting games. When you start off with an already transformed character, you get fewer health bars vs doing the transformation in-game. 

In certain matches, you’re also only limited to 15 Destruction Points for your team. There are point totals assigned to each character. This is where the game applies the balance. By giving higher DPs to stronger characters. 

The presentation during battles is where DBSF truly shines. While the controls are the same, each character has their own unique animations. And all of them are fairly faithful to their anime/manga counterparts. Yes, there are certain movesets here that are present in the manga but not in the anime. 

Battles are as tense, fast-paced, and bombastic as the anime. If, like yours truly, you spent some of your childhood pitting Dragon Ball action figures against each other, DBSF is the ultimate recreation of that in game form. 

Fillers

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Elsewhere in the game you’ll find many interesting things too. For instance, there’s a character gallery screen where you can have main Dragon Ball ladies Bulma, Chi-Chi, and Videl talk about the characters displayed on the screen. 

The one featuring Future Gohan was particularly heartwarming while many of the rest are an absolute laugh trip. The game carried over not only Dragon Ball’s action but also its humor.

These are also present in the intro dialogues between the characters right before they battle. Some are hilarious, some heartfelt, while others are just flat out badass. 

Another cool thing the game does is have some characters locked to start the game. By playing through the Episode Battles, you gain Zeni and Dragon Balls for three different dragons.

Characters can be unlocked just by completing certain stories. While the rest can be obtained through the store through the generous amounts of Zeni you get or by collecting the many dragon balls and wishing for them. 

For Dragon Ball die-hards

Dragon Ball is a beloved franchise and is loved by many. In fact, throughout the game’s early access period, my social feed has been bombarded with content about the game. So, I’m fairly certain those interested are already playing or have already ordered the game. 

Even if you’re new to the Budokai Tenkaichi series, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is still a worthy pick-up especially if, like me, you have an irrational attachment to the Dragon Ball franchise. 

While it’s not a perfect game, it truly Breaks the Earth and Shatters the Heavens.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

Digital Editions

Deluxe Edition 

• Base Game (Digital download edition)
• 3 Days Early Access
• Season Pass (DLC 1, 2 & 3 featuring over 20 playable characters)
• Season Pass Bonus Content (Summon Shenron & Early Access to DLCs

Ultimate Edition

• Base Game (Digital download edition)
• 3 Days Early Access
• Season Pass (DLC 1, 2 & 3 featuring over 20 playable characters)
• Season Pass Bonus (Summon Shenron & 3-Day Early Access to DLC)
• Ultimate Upgrade Pack (Goku (Super) Costume with Power Pole, Emote Voice Set, 2 player card backgrounds, 1 customisation item that increases a character’s fighting ability)
• Ultimate Edition Bonus (Summon Super Shenron)

Sound Ultimate Edition

• Base Game (Digital download edition)
• 3 Days Early Access
• Season Pass (DLC 1, 2 & 3 featuring over 20 playable characters)
• Season Pass Bonus (Summon Shenron & Early Access to DLC)
• Ultimate Upgrade Pack (Goku (Super) Costume with Power Pole, Emote Voice Set, 2 player card backgrounds, 1 customisation item that increases a character’s fighting ability)
• Ultimate Edition Bonus Content (Summon Super Shenron)
• Anime Songs & BGM Pack 1 (11 tracks)
• Anime Songs & BGM Pack 2 (11 tracks)

Packaged Edition

Premium Collector’s Edition 

• Base Game (package edition)
• DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO exclusive diorama
• DRAGON BALL SUPER Card Game Fusion World (Card set exclusive to the DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO Premium Collector’s Edition)
• SteelBook®
• Metallic Bookmark
• Ultimate Upgrade Pack (Goku (Super) Costume with Power Pole, Emote Voice Set, 2 player card backgrounds, 1 customisation item that increases a character’s fighting ability)
• Ultimate Edition Bonus (Summon Super Shenron)
• Season Pass (DLC 1, 2 & 3 featuring over 20 playable characters)
• Season Pass Bonus (Summon Shenron & 3-Day Early Access to DLC)

Pre-order Bonus

• Playable characters early unlock
• The below six characters will be available for use from the start of the game:
  • Gogeta
  • Gogeta, Super Saiyan
  • Gogeta, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan
  • Broly
  • Broly, Super Saiyan
  • Broly, Super Saiyan (Full Power)
• One playable character