For what seems to have been an eternity, fans of Dragon Ball Z’s Budokai Tenkaichi series of games (including me!) have been waiting for a new entry in the series. While it’s true that we’ve have had a lot of Dragon Ball games during the years since Dragon Ball: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, none of these were a true successor. So you can imagine the off the charts hype when Bandai Namco finally revealed that a 4th entry into the franchise was in development.

In fact, the hype has been so real that the pre-release early access player count on Steam actually beat out both Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6. Truly spectacular. So does Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero deserve this accomplishment and is it worth picking up?



Bandai Namco have opted to revert to the game’s original Japanese title for the global release. In Japan, the “Budokai Tenkaichi” series was known as “Sparking!” and it’s great to see that parity has been achieved with the naming convention now. Following in the footsteps of its predecessors Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero features multiple game modes and a story mode that focuses on key battles in the overarching Dragon Ball Z saga, and for the first time in the Sparking series, Dragon Ball Super.

The story mode in Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero isn’t as in-depth as in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Instead it’s more of a “greatest hits” compilation of battles for each specific character’s story in a respective arc. You can see that the developers really put a lot of effort into the game though because the attention to detail in key moments from the anime really shows through here.



However, the story really shouldn’t have been separated out into specific characters. It would have been so much better if everything was in one long chain instead of broken and split up into character specific vignettes. The watered down cutscenes between battles serve their function of recapping events but I can’t help but feel like there was a huge missed opportunity here to retell the entirety of the Dragon Ball Super story with unparalleled visual fidelity. Dragon Ball GT also takes a backseat despite some prominent characters featuring in the game. Surprisingly, even though the game features a lot of Dragon Ball Z movie characters too, their stories aren’t retold here either.

The watered down cutscenes between battles serve their function of recapping events but I can’t help but feel like there was a huge missed opportunity here...

As you play through the story mode, you’ll unlock new characters as well as titles and items that can be used elsewhere in the game. You’ll also collect Dragon Balls which can be used to summon either Shenron, Porunga or Super Shenron and have a wish granted. You can unlock more characters, outfits, in-game currency and items via wishes and this is pretty standard fare.



The story also features some alternate scenarios which can trigger if you complete some specific conditions. These slight deviations from the norm aren’t very extensive but they are quite refreshing to see since it’s new content that dips into “What if” scenarios that fans will enjoy. In addition to this, there is a mode in the game where players can create their own scenarios and share them online. The game also features 30 premade scenarios to play through and this serves as additional content to play but isn’t as fully fleshed out as in the main story mode.

Moving on to the actual gameplay, players will have access to two control schemes. The new scheme tailor made for Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero or the “Classic” control scheme which is how the previous entries in the series used to play. Personally I opted for the new scheme but remapped some buttons to better suit my needs. A bit more customisation when it comes to the control schemes would have been welcome but for the most part, the game controls quite well.



Thankfully, Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero features a very easy to understand tutorial mode. “Battle Training” will get you up to speed with the more intricate mechanics of the combat system. You will have to learn how to block in Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero - dodging attacks and recovering from brutal special attacks is a necessity to progress through the game.

Jiren from Dragon Ball Super is obviously way more powerful than say, Yamcha from Dragon Ball Z and this is very clear.

An early example of a difficulty wall where you’ll have actually employ some of the aforementioned dodging and blocking skills is Goku’s fight against Vegeta in his Great Ape form. If you don’t dodge or block Vegeta’s beam attacks, you’ll just end up dying over and over. The key to winning this particular battle lies with firing off a Kamehameha and having a series iconic energy beam battle/struggle and winning. Speaking of this, these powerful struggles look absolutely fantastic and if you’re able to win one, you’ll do massive damage to your opponent.



Battles in Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero play out just as fast paced as before. You’ll have access to a basic combo of punches and kicks along with your Ki-based energy attacks with more powerful attacks unique to each character. These attacks differentiate each character from each other and the game respects the fact that each character in the Dragon Ball franchise have different levels of power. Jiren from Dragon Ball Super is obviously way more powerful than say, Yamcha from Dragon Ball Z and this is very clear.

The game features the most extensive roster of characters in a Dragon Ball game and while it’s true that most characters are just different versions of the same one due to various transformations (Yes, that means you Goku and Vegeta), the different special attacks are all still a spectacle to behold.



Given the massive roster of 182 characters, it will easily take you hours and hours to see every character’s special attacks and ultimate attacks in-game. The arenas or maps available to fight in are quite limited with day, evening and night variations but there’s still enough to keep you satiated. It would have been nice to have some more available but maybe these will be added with future content drops via DLC. Notably, Kami’s Lookout is missing and that was quite an iconic location to fight on in the previous games.

Given the massive roster of 182 characters, it will easily take you hours and hours to see every character’s special attacks and ultimate attacks in-game.

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is the type of game that you’ll appreciate if you are a fan of the series. Rose-tinted nostalgia goggles are necessary here though because the deeper you look at the game, the more issues you’ll pick up. There’s no cross-play between platforms, split-screen versus mode is currently only available on one map, customisation is not as deep as it could have been and there’s features from the previous games that are missing such as being able to change your skills/special attacks.



Graphically, the game is jaw-droppingly beautiful with some of the flashiest effects modern anime gaming has ever seen. Each character’s special attacks and their ultimate attacks are literally dripping with visual flair. It is quite disappointing that there aren’t any massive planetary destruction finisher scenes across all the maps though. Unreal Engine 5’s power could have really been put to good use here with massively destroyable environments but alas, this isn’t the case. Bandai Namco, if you’re reading this please, add more destruction to the game! If a Kamehemeha or Spirit Bomb looks like it’s going to cause cataclysmic damage, we need to be able to see it cause cataclysmic damage.

The soundtrack to Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero features some great music but it’s quite a shame that some of the licensed tracks from the anime aren’t available in-game unless you purchase the music DLC packs separately. Oh and to make matters worse, even the Ultimate Edition of the game doesn’t feature the licensed music tracks which is very disappointing. Want iconic music? Better fork out some more money for it as DLC! The voice acting in the game is on-point in both English and Japanese with the voice actors doing an excellent job bringing their respective characters to life once again. This is especially prevalent with series iconic one-liners being done to perfection.



Overall, Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is one of the best fighting games in the Dragon Ball franchise. It’s almost exactly what fans have wanted and while there are some mind-bogglingly baffling design decisions that have been made here, this is still a must-play title if you’re a fan of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super. It’s more Budokai Tenkaichi and one can only hope that a future title builds upon this one’s strong points and takes the franchise to even greater heights. Give the game a try, chances are you will love it if you are a fan of Dragon Ball Z.