A lot has changed about both video games and how we play them since the last mainline entry in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series. As the first direct sequel since the PlayStation 2 era, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero brings with it a nostalgic charm in its old-school design and presentation, setting it apart from other modern fighting games. It’s tougher than Vegeta’s chest plate and imbalanced in ways that are both frustrating and lore-accurate. The menus are labyrinthine, training tips are sparse and not always useful, but every battle delivers the Dragon Ball fighting fantasy as seen in the anime. The fast-paced ki blasts, teleport kicks, and Super Saiyan transformations are great fun—when they aren’t marred by responsiveness issues.
The few areas where Sparking! Zero tries to innovate—primarily through its branching story mode and create-your-own-battles toolkit—are promising as well. While I still have more to explore before my final review, playing this game feels like a labor of love, much like the effort to revive the series itself.
Arena Fighters: A Different Breed of Combat
Arena fighters like Sparking! Zero don’t share much with traditional fighters like Tekken or Street Fighter. Instead of restricting the action to a horizontal plane, these games offer full 3D movement in open spaces, trading technical complexity for spatial tactics. The Tenkaichi series differentiated itself further by turning up the speed and emphasizing destructible environments and air combat. While other Dragon Ball games like the Xenoverse series have carried the torch for this form of arena brawling, Tenkaichi was always the more over-the-top experience, lacking stamina bars and featuring tons of flair. Sparking! Zero proudly continues this tradition.
Visuals and Sound: Nostalgic Bliss
At least in still frames, it’s undeniable how great Sparking! Zero looks. Every character, no matter what era of Dragon Ball they’re from, looks even better than I remembered. However, in motion, things get a bit dicey, with some cutscene animations feeling stiff. On the audio side, the game hits the mark. The booming sounds of ki blasts and Z Fighters zipping through the air are pulled straight from the anime. Most of the iconic voices return, recreated by their original actors, which is crucial for nailing the authenticity. (Though, in rare cases like Perfect Cell, even a returning cast member can change their line delivery enough to make you second-guess your memory.)
A Massive Roster
One of the game’s biggest draws for fans is its immense roster—180 fighters pulled from every corner of the Dragon Ball universe. Many characters need to be unlocked through the shop or story modes, and while some are variations of the same character (there are 19 versions of Goku!), they aren’t just reskins. Different versions of a character can have unique techniques and transformation trees. For instance, base-level Goku from the Saiyan saga plays very differently than Super-era Goku, who can transform into multiple forms of Super Saiyan.
Gameplay: Fast, Furious, and Sometimes Unforgiving
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero offers universal controls for all characters, but each interacts with the system slightly differently, which adds nuance. For example, both attack buttons can be held down for stronger attacks, and Android characters can’t actively regain their ki for blast attacks. While the game doesn’t attempt to balance these differences, this adds to the authenticity of the characters’ power levels from the anime.
That said, the controls can feel unresponsive, especially in tougher battles. Inputs are simple, but when the action speeds up, I often found myself struggling to execute techniques. Some of this is due to the game’s increased pace compared to Tenkaichi 3, and some of it is simply age (I played the last entry with fervor, but that was right after Barack Obama was elected!). Nevertheless, there were too many moments where my inputs failed to translate into action, leaving me frustrated as I missed grabs or guards at critical moments.
Training and Customization: Room for Improvement
Compared to modern-day fighters, Sparking! Zero’s training mode is basic at best. There’s no detailed frame data or hitbox information, and the lack of targeted drills makes it harder to master techniques. The game does feature a new skill point system, where you can charge a meter and spend points on unique abilities or transformations. While this adds strategy to battles, the responsiveness issues sometimes made it hard to make the most of these mechanics.
Old-School Design: Both a Strength and a Weakness
Sparking! Zero retains an old-school approach to progression and menus. There’s a long list of achievements that reward you with Zeni (the in-game currency) to spend on new characters, costumes, and items. Thankfully, the game doesn’t feature microtransactions, but the cumbersome menus are frustrating to navigate. Simple tasks, like customizing a character, require multiple menu hops, making the experience feel dated.
Episode Battles: Revisiting Classic Dragon Ball Stories
The flagship single-player mode, Episode Battles, is a condensed retelling of the major Dragon Ball story arcs. While previous games made you play through every battle, Sparking! Zero prioritizes the key moments, which speeds up the pacing. A standout feature is the ability to change certain events, leading to alternate outcomes. For example, in one battle, I had Goku help Piccolo against Cell, preventing the Cell Games from ever happening—a cool “what if?” scenario that changes the course of the story.
However, it’s not always clear how to unlock these alternate outcomes, and the tougher battles can be extremely frustrating. The game doesn’t clearly explain the conditions needed to change events, and you can only complete these tasks on the standard difficulty, making it an endgame challenge for most players.
Custom Battles: An Ambitious but Underwhelming Feature
Sparking! Zero introduces custom battles, where players can create their own scenarios using special modifiers. While the idea is intriguing, the execution feels a bit underdeveloped. The built-in custom battles from the developer don’t stretch the imagination much, and I haven’t yet encountered a player creation that fully demonstrates the mode’s potential.
Multiplayer: The Big Question Mark
Online multiplayer is still a big unknown for Sparking! Zero. The servers were briefly active ahead of launch, but they were plagued with lag, and it’s unclear how the responsiveness issues seen in single-player mode will translate to online play. Local multiplayer is also available, but disappointingly limited to one stage: the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
Final Thoughts (So Far)
From what I’ve experienced of the single-player content, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero feels like a love letter to the franchise’s fans. Its old-school charm, massive roster, and the ability to rewrite Dragon Ball history in Episode Battles are highlights. However, the game’s dated design, clunky menus, and occasional unresponsiveness hold it back. A lot will depend on how the online multiplayer pans out, but for now, this game offers a fun, if frustrating, return to a beloved series.
