DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO Review

The Dragon Ball series has influenced almost every Shonen anime out today. I can certainly say that it shaped my childhood. I grew up watching Dragon Ball Z from Monday to Friday on Toonami on TV, and I still remember clenching my fists in anger each time the channel would begin to re-air those episodes after completing the Frieza arc.

I think many Dragon Ball fans share this experience with me. Some may have even played Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 on the PlayStation 2—it has got to be the earliest definitive Dragon Ball gaming experience. Even today, I hear mentions of Budokai Tenkaichi 3 in communities when the topic of Dragon Ball games comes up.

It is no surprise that DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO gained this much popularity before its release, given that it is a spiritual successor to the very Dragon Ball game that left such an impression on us Dragon Ball fans when we were young.

Even though we've had our fair share of iconic Dragon Ball games, like FighterZ, Xenoverse 2, and Kakarot, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO has already racked up to be the most popular game from the franchise on release. The fact that Spike Chunsoft developed this game certainly took me by surprise, especially when this franchise is very different from the usual Danganronpa-like titles we have seen from the studio.

With this much notoriety and an unlikely developer working on DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, could this be yet another bag of failed promises coming from a highly anticipated game?

I should start this review off by listing out the sheer amount of content you have access to on release in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO. You have a roster of over 180 characters—this includes all the different forms of each character you've seen over the arcs and moves that are unique to them. The game is expected to return to its roots as a fast-paced arena fighter with incredible transformations, and it definitely delivers.

It's the classic formula with modern enhancements—4K graphics and seamless transitions between cutscenes and fights. I already mentioned the massive playable roster, didn't I? While the episodic story mode begins with Raditz yet again, it manages to cover each arc from the very beginning all the way up to Dragon Ball Super—that's around 40 years of Dragon Ball content, all condensed into a single title!

There's a lot to sit down and play here if you simply enjoy Dragon Ball or if you're looking for some awesome random bouts from DBZ or even something like Dragon Ball GT. In episodic mode, you basically choose a character and follow their point of view to observe the narrative. Of course, choosing Goku means you will see Raditz, the Saiyan Saga, you will die, and you will see all that goes down. The great thing about this, though, is that you can then play as the other characters come across you since you're in the episodic format.

You can only play as Goku at first, but you can later play the game from their point of view when you come upon Gohan or run-through Vegeta and others. It's somewhat entertaining.

Though you sometimes run across strange "what-if" situations, it's interesting to really see not just what they were doing while the other characters were off training with Supreme Kai and stuff like that. You can even alter the chronology and view events not shown in the anime, whether you win or lose a given combat.

It's great because some of these are quite funny, in addition to the original cast's animated and fully voiced performance. I always enjoyed that, as the old Budokai games also had this. In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, for instance, there was a board game where Cell devoured everyone on the board, and should he eat Krillin, he became weaker.

You might just deliberately give Krillin up in order to have a simpler time with the approaching Cell boss battles. That is basically the episodic format. It's definitely fanfare; it's quite humorous, fun, and a great approach to sort of understand how DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO challenges you.

Now, the last thing I want to mention about the story mode is one of my few grievances with DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, playing as the good characters is not only fun—it's definitely way easier than a lot of the other narratives. What I mean especially is that the later narratives, like Dragon Ball Super, seem to be several times more difficult for whatever reason—which is very odd.

I suppose it's because the power levels are higher, and they're attempting to replicate that, but strangely, the early arcs—like the Cell Saga or the Saiyan Saga—are not just more playable but rather something that you're used to. It thus gets far more difficult to even win a single match when you start visiting those later arcs, such as the Goku Black Saga and others like it.

In the combat, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO has really basic controls. The tutorial is pretty good—the training covers the fundamental ideas to a playable level. Still, the nuances of it—as with any combat game—come down to combos and timing. Thus, in this, you have punch, Ki blast, dash, fly, and signature abilities" and Ultimate attacks.

Hence, if you are playing as Goku, this is like the Kamehameha; if you are playing as Vegeta, it is the Galick Gun. But what I truly enjoy about playing this is that everything about it feels so responsive yet is so fast.

This is the type of game where, at the start, you have just one punch button and one blast button. Thus, it's simple to start testing out a very simplified combo of hit, hit, blast, or trying to charge up a stronger hit to knock somebody down and then holding R2 so you can power up and do a Kamehameha.

Once you start practicing, you start to see the other layers to it—things like recoveries, rush chains, advanced close-range maneuvers, instant transmission attacks, follow-up attacks, being able to not only hit somebody but hit them so hard it causes them to fly, then teleport to the other side of them and hit them again to keep that combo going.

Although this seems really advanced, one advantage of DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is that you start to realize how everything is connected as soon as you start tinkering with it—especially if you are staying with one particular character.

DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is not without its flaws, however. A major issue I have with this game is with the AI. I've noticed that when you play against computer-controlled opponents—which is a key part of training combos and stuff like that—the AI appears confused by flight. You have a fly-up and fly-down button, and there's a decent strategy for using it: make sure you're high up and near enough to dodge back in and start a combination.

But while you're flying around, the enemy appears to become confused. Sometimes, they just halt when they come into contact with the earth. I'm not sure why, but the enemy will occasionally land, stop flying, and then not resume flying. The AI simply breaks.

Plus, despite the great story mode of DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, the effort to condense such a huge saga into this game has made the pacing wacky. To an outsider to the franchise, the way it speeds through each arc would make no sense. I wouldn't call this game very friendly to newcomers.

I am also a little bit tired of playing the story from the Raditz fight each time I start a new Dragon Ball game. The gameplay mechanics are fresh, and the visuals are fantastic, but I still rolled my eyes when I realized where the story mode had started.

This may not be that huge of an issue if you are into competitive play because DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO will largely be played online. This is a competitive fighter, so if you don't like competitive ranked fights and such, you'll be able to get a few weeks out of it.

Aside from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, local co-op is very much non-existent, and Jun Furutani, the producer, has stated in interviews that extending it with a local co-op feature is pointless. So, if you want to continue playing, you'll need to improve your skills. It is going to be really competitive online.

I should also mention the tournament mode in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO allows you to organize or join tournaments with opponents from all over the world and play offline. There are several options: World Tournament, Cell Games, Other World Tournament, Tournament of Destroyers, Tournament of Power, and Yamcha Games. If it's tournaments you want, this game has got them all.

Visually, I think DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO blows it out of the water. Even starting from the menu, the game just has so much charm. You've got a different scene for each section in the main menu, with Goku flying to each location and making notes of the characters. In the game, the animations, ki blasts, transformations—everything looks the best it has ever looked.

I thoroughly appreciate each character's voice acting by the voice actors from the anime. The performances are excellent in both the English and Japanese dubs. The music here is great, too—it's the familiar stuff you've heard from recent Dragon titles. It's full of energy, electric guitar, and charm. I have no complaints about the visual and sound department.

In the end, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO succeeds in delivering a nostalgic yet fresh experience for longtime fans of the series. The sheer amount of content, from its massive roster of characters to the episodic story mode, makes it a love letter to the franchise's rich history. The combat mechanics feel responsive and fast-paced, rewarding both casual and competitive players. However, issues like unpolished AI, uneven story pacing, and the omission of local co-op might frustrate some. Still, if you're a Dragon Ball fan looking for an explosive, visually stunning fighter, this game is worth your time.