5 things DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO got right

One thing’s for sure, in recent years we’ve been treated to some awesome Dragon Ball titles – all of which have been strongly rooted within the core story of the franchise’s history whilst adding something unique. With DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE and XENOVERSE 2, gamers created their own custom hero to assist Trunks in restoring the Dragon Ball timeline from imminent threats – while DRAGON BALL FighterZ introduced 2.5D arcade-style fighting with intense 3v3 tag battles, as well as a never-before-seen scenario featuring a brand-new threat, Android 21.

DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT, as the name suggests, homed in our everyone’s friendly Saiyan in an open-world RPG setting whilst filling some of the gaps in Dragon Ball lore through engaging quests and story moments.

DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, in comparison to some of the newer entries like KAKAROT and XENOVERSE, draws back on the larger customizable character and ability options and shines a Solar Flare on its incredibly destructive and awe-inspiring mid-battle cinematics. The overall mechanics were slightly more difficult for me to adjust to compared to other entries mentioned above – one consideration was how the tempo of the fight can change when being within a short distance of your opponent.

Players racing in from long range will have to be cautious when up close as exiting your fly-in and falling out of your combo rhythm can leave a brief window for your enemy to open a can of whoop-ass on you.

There’s a lot of emphasis on charging your Ki to not only power up mid-level attacks but also power your vanishing counters and attacks to give your enemy a good kicking from behind. It’s vital to find the right opportunities to charge Ki against CPU and other players as simple Ki blasts can disrupt it, so take advantage of those moments where you’ve sent an enemy hurtling backwards to reach your full power.

High and low guards also come into play, which has a Fight Night boxing vibe to it, in which players can’t simply hide behind holding the block/guard button.

Above all, charging your Ki to unlock your Sparking charge (where the bar turns purple and the lighting of the arena/environment dims in dramatic fashion) can give you the edge over your opponent and turn the tide of the battle. I recall using Goku’s Spirit Bomb against Vegeta in a training match on the World Tournament stage; and this move prompted a cinematic where the announcer and crowd all dispersed to avoid being blown to smithereens, leaving an empty, battle-torn arena for the remainder of our fight.

The detail to environmental damage and fighters (torn clothes, bruising, etc) helps capture the essence of what Dragon Ball represents – some of the world’s elite fighters giving their all against worthy foes.

One simple yet neat feature in Sparking! ZERO worth a mention is the first-person camera option during the game’s cutscenes. Whilst this may seem like a ‘meh’ thing to pick up on in most games, I found it rather satisfying to be able to see some of the memorable moments from the anime series through a unique perspective – there’s nothing cooler than staring down your enemies whilst the glow of your Super Saiyan power (Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, etc etc) illuminates the screen as you prepare to wipe the floor with them. Away from powering up for battle, there’s a moment where Goku says goodbye to Goten and gives him a hug, for me that was a nice fatherhood moment to witness from a first-person view too.

I briefly mentioned earlier that the mechanics and combat took some getting used to compared to my experience with the likes of XENOVERSE, but the game also throws a variety of different fights at you beside the predictable 1v1 scenario. There were several battles where I was forced to fend off multiple characters in a single fight, all of which needed to be completed on a non-regenerating health bar.

I also found that some of the battles in the very early stages of the game, particularly for Goku’s story, were quick to test your knowledge of the Budokai Tenkaichi-style games of yesteryear, as well as your general ability to engage in high-octane combat with worthy opponents.

You may have seen that the internet went into meltdown over the difficulty of ‘Great Ape’ Vegeta within the first hour of starting the game – and whilst this was a testing battle, I did find a sound strategy to quickly thwart him – predominantly dodging sideways, landing large combos on his back and using my Kamehameha at full charge. The game has an extensive tutorial and training mode which allows you to dig deep into the mechanics and pinpoint your weaknesses in order to progress.

The difficulty of certain foes takes Sparking! ZERO way beyond a button-masher fighting game… but even if you’re struggling with a specific fight, you can lower the difficulty to proceed – just bear in mind that you won’t unlock that battle’s secondary objectives, which in turn unlocks different branches to explore in the story.

‘Wait… how many?!’ is what you might have heard me gasp out loud if you were a fly on the wall in my living room when checking out Sparking! ZERO’s roster size. There are 180 playable characters in the base game alone, with a number of additional faces making an appearance from early 2025 for those who have the Season Pass, which is included in the Deluxe Edition and Ultimate Edition.

Better still, each character has their own signature abilities and transformations, as well as numerous cosmetic changes including fresh looks and battle-worn attire. The combinations of characters you can experiment with in Custom and online battles are practically endless and gives you plenty of gametime.

So, you’ve conquered the story and its branching alternate realities, but what’s next?

Well Sparking! ZERO isn’t short of additional modes to explore. Tournament of Power is a brilliant addition in which you’ll participate in (you’ve guessed it) the Tournament of Power with restrictions like no flying/hovering so you’ll need to battle on the ground, as well as being able to claim victory by knocking opponents outside of the arena.

You can even create your own tournament and set an abundance of rules to keep the punters (and yourselves) entertained. There’s also the Yamcha Games, which is a quirky mode based more on randomising gameplay and characters – and Cell Games, which focuses more on the ‘nothing is off limits, there are no rules’ angle.

The PvP online battle mode in itself is good fun too, allowing you to create your own lobby with specific requirements like similar player level, etc or you can join a quick match for friendly and ranked matches.

DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO explodes onto the scene bringing the rich nostalgia of its Budokai Tenkaichi predecessors whilst appealing to new audiences with snippets of features from recent releases, and adding entirely new concepts and modes to the franchise that all Dragon Ball fans and fighting game fanatics can get behind.

There’s a reason why this game sold over three million copies worldwide in 24 hours, and you need to experience it yourself to truly appreciate why.

SAM’S RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★