The Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi serires of 3D fighting games, which has always been known as Sparking! in Japan, is finally back after a 14-year hiatus. Developer Spike Chunsoft returns for a modern update that keeps the series true to its past. Featuring a truly staggering amount of characters and content, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a Dragon Ball fan’s dream and a wonderful celebration of the world that Akira Toriyama created.
From a gameplay perspective, the game will be familiar to fans of past titles in the series. Building up ki is necessary for special attacks, while you can still enter a more powerful time-limited “Sparking” mode by filling up your gauge, and you’ll have to master the teleport dodge to find success in battle. The biggest difference is in the presentation as the action is gogeous to watch unfold, especially on an OLED television, as special attacks really wow with how energy beams take up the entire screen. I was regularly wowed by the sheer spectacle of gameplay, and it’s easily the best-looking 3D Dragon Ball fighting game.
With the core combat being polished and a lot of fun to engage with, it makes the fact that Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has a massive amount of content even more appealing. There are over 180 characters to choose from, although each character’s individual form can be selected as a character (Super Saiyan 2 Goku, Super Saiyan 3 Goku, etc.), with plenty of deep cuts from the movies and Dragon Ball Super as well. There are also plenty of customization options, such as different skins, to unlock, so you really can have a lot of fun with your favorite characters.
The main single-player mode is called Episodes, which has you going on a character’s full journey (well, Z-onward as the original Dragon Ball is sadly underrepresented) through a series of cutscenes and fights. There are eight different characters, some more obvious and a few really unique choices, that can be used to relive 21 different sagas. It’s a great mode, and there are a lot of small touches, like being able to experience the cutscenes in first-person view (it really adds to Goku’s sacrifice when you watch Piccolo use Special Beam Cannon from that perspective).
There are also a number of challenges and missions to complete as you play in various modes, allowing you to collect different dragon balls (Shenron will give you goodies for summoning him, such as new characters or money you can use in the shop). These range from rewards for long-term play, such as winning 200 battles or using each character a number of times. As a result, even when you’re just grinding online or playing random matches, you always feel like you’re making progress towards something. It’s a really smart addition that rewards players for engaging with the game as they please and will get you to use more of the roster rather than just gravitating solely to your favorites.
It’s also worth noting that there are a number of tournament modes that lovingly recreate the rule sets of competitions within the series. The Tournament of Power from Dragon Ball Super has you assembling a team and going up against others, while the World Tournament allows for ring-outs, so you’ll have to be careful while fighting. A few others are also included, and you can even create your own tournament with whatever rule set you desire, so feel free to get creative.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Review: Final Verdict
Developer Spike Chunsoft hasn’t missed a beat and has delivered the best game yet in the Sparking! series. Filled with a ton of characters, deep-cut references, and a fulfilling single-player mode, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a content-rich game that is backed up by fun combat. This is the 3D fighting game that Dragon Ball fans have been waiting for.
SCORE: 9/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 9 equates to “Excellent.” Entertainment that reaches this level is at the top of its type. The gold standard that every creator aims to reach.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a PS5 code for our Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero review. Reviewed on version 1.003.003.
