DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO
Review
The World Martial Arts Tournament Returns
by Camrin Santchi
reviewed on PC
Much Love, Toriyama
It has been exactly 40 years since Akira Toriyama first released Dragon Ball, and this year held a great tragedy with the passing of Toriyama in March, news that shocked and broke the hearts of people worldwide. This franchise helped inspire the rise of anime in the West to a massive degree, and was considered to be the father of the shonen/action genre, popularizing tropes like the tournament arc, form changes, and so much more. Dragon Ball holds a special place in the hearts of many fans of manga and anime, and it cannot be overstated how important Toriyama was to the medium.
A Living Legacy
The legacy of Dragon Ball lives on incredibly powerfully even now forty years after we were first introduced to Son Goku, both outside of the series with its influence being almost everywhere but also within as the story continues and more media is created to show the love of these characters and stories. Dragon Ball Daima is a new story releasing this year written by Toriyama himself, but what fans of the franchise were arguably most hyped for had to be the announcement of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero. Sparking Zero is the next game in the long beloved series of Dragon Ball fighting games, which went by Sparking! In Japan but was known as Budokai Tenkaichi in the West. Known for incredibly intense fights, insane roster sizes, and a large amount of content that included ‘What-Ifs’ that involved the breaking or shifting of canon, this series is widely considered to be some of the best Dragon Ball material in its four decades of existence, with the only games that give it any competition being 2018's 2D fighter FighterZ and 2016's RPG Xenoverse 2.
The last iteration, Budokai Tenkaichi 3, released way back in 2007, so it has been 17 years since the last Tournament. 3 released well before the revival of the franchise in 2013 with the release of Battle of Gods, the movie that kickstarted the Dragon Ball Super portion of the series, so new characters and forms like Universe 6’s crew or the legendary Ultra Instinct have never had a chance to shine in the gripping combat this series of fighters is known for. But has the much beloved series gotten rusty in the years past, or has it been revitalized by the franchise’s continuation and returned with a vengeance?
Our Ki is Building, Overflowing!
There are three main modes in Sparking Zero for players to enjoy, which all offer fantastic ways for gamers to sink their teeth into the intense 3D combat. Episode Battle is the first of these main modes for Sparking Zero, and depicts the major battles throughout Dragon Ball Z. Starting with Goku's Episode, players are tasked with going through the story that fans know and love, but this also includes the Sparking series' What-Ifs. At certain parts of these Episodes players are either given a choice within a cutscene or during a fight to try and clear it with alternative conditions in order to see one of these What-Ifs play out.
Speaking of What-Ifs, fans have often come up with their own in the past decades of the series' existence, and Sparking Zero has finally allowed them to get a taste of crafting their own What-If Scenarios in the Custom Battle mode. This editor has a lot of tools that will allow gamers to craft their own dream scenarios of team-ups, victories, or whatever other insanity they may desire to craft and send into the world for other fans to experience.
Finally there is Battle & Training, which contains your more standard fighting game fare of picking fighters and an arena and duking it out, either single player against a CPU or online to take your skills up against other foes. This includes Battle, Training, and World Tournament, which has several 'Tournaments' inspired by the separate sagas of the series.
Day of Fate
One of the big things to note about Sparking Zero is how amazing it looks. Spike-Chunsoft took full advantage of Unreal Engine 5 and it shows how everything from fabric and hair to Ki Blasts looks while playing.
Sparking Zero also includes newly updated clash mechanics for when blows engage with each other, from the classic beam struggle to different ways to block strikes and leave your opponent open. The game was designed to be simple to learn and tough to master, and Spike-Chunsoft certainly succeeded. Every form and character has different combos and attacks, some of which change drastically when they enter what is called Sparking! Mode by overcharging their ki, and allow for many different ways for gamers to try and put the hurt on their opponents. The game also offers customization in the way of alternate outfits, voicelines, accessories, and even what music is used when your character engages Sparking! Mode, allowing for your variant of Gohan to really feel like your own variant if you put the time and Zeni (in-universe currency) into unlocking items from the shop.
Welcome Back, Dragon Ball Sparkling
17 years have passed since Budokai Tenkaichi 3, three generations of videogame consoles have come and gone, and tons of new plot points and characters have been introduced to the Dragon Ball series, and it is incredibly clear every way you look at it that Spike-Chunsoft took the time they had and created a real labor of love that is Sparking Zero. Enemy AI can feel a bit wonky at times and you can occasionally find destructible environments not cooperating with being blown up, but that's few and far between, with this game being a highlight of the wide variety of characters, forms, and gripping battles that have caused millions of fans to adore the Dragon Ball series since its inception 40 years ago. It’s good to have you back, Sparking. Fans have been waiting to enter the next Martial Arts Tournament.
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9.7
fun score
Pros
Gripping gameplay, Beautiful graphics, Fun customization
Cons
Wonky AI, Environment destruction/clipping on occasion
