Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, & PC)

At long last, we have a direct sequel to 2007’s Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and even though the naming for the new game is a little confusing, it’s very much so the sequel we’ve been hoping for these past 17 years. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero takes us back to the old-school 3D arena fighter formula that made the Budokai Tenkaichi series so damn addictive. It retains most of the frenetic action you remember, if not kicked up a notch. 

Most of all, fans of Dragon Ball will have their fill of the rampant trip-down-memory-lane story beats that the new game revisits time and time again. It’s essentially the most iconic battles and compressed stories across the Dragon Ball franchise that both veterans and newcomers will appreciate. And that’s just not saying it for the sake of it: the new game sure aims to please. 

So, stick around while we explore all the ways the sequel nails it and the few areas that it misses the mark. Cue Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero review.

Welcome Back, Goku

With the sprawling arena fighters nowadays, it’s easy to dismiss Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is yet another button-mashing affair. Arena battles these days barely push you to think outside the box, with quick reflexes often being the most essential skill to master. But the new game dares to color outside the lines, if not challenge you in ways you won’t see coming. 

You’ll at first marvel at the stunning graphics: it’s a sight for sore eyes, indeed, and not even in impressive creativity but in the spectacle of flashy battles that keep your adrenaline flowing. The lighting effects are perfectly done, culminating in beautiful showcases of victory and demise. 

Just like the Dragon Ball anime show, characters move flawlessly and swiftly, teleporting behind opponents and closing distances in quick succession. For this reason alone, the way in which battles adapt to the high-speed dance of combat, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero seldom gets boring.

Anyone Who Tries to Hurt My Friends is Gonna Pay

And then the actual combat began, with melee and ranged options, both free to switch between in no time at all. There are defensive options, too, whether dodging or parrying, with timing more stringent than Sekiro. Up close, you’ll be briskly trading punches and kicks with tight timings. And it goes deeper thanks to the defense strategies that lean on perfect timing, too. 

When it comes to ranged attacks, they execute in a wink, giving less time to find your bearings. Battles are tense and frenetic, with a particular stress on speedy reactivity. Factor in movement, and you have yourself a more-than-usual complex arena fighter. 

Give Them the Biggest Kamehameha You’ve Got

Particularly, there are varied ways you can warp around opponents, from teleporting behind them to vanishing and appearing up close and closing the distance, flying directly toward enemies. However, each movement has its own considerations. For instance, flying toward an opponent can be risky when they are supercharged for a powerful counterattack.

As such, you do put more thought into combat than typically. Merely dodging and evading attacks isn’t enough when you have perfect timing and precision to consider. What’s more? Studying your opponent is key to anticipating their next move and reacting accordingly. 

An opponent can teleport behind you, but you can be ready to counter by teleporting behind them, smack them down, and dashing out of their way as they plummet to the ground. Still, you can take advantage of their vulnerability and finish up by hurling them face-first into a massive boulder. Pretty neat, huh?

Look Out Behind You

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has been pretty candid with cues for anticipating your opponent’s next move. You can see them get ready to unleash a follow-up attack and teleport behind them before they execute. You can hit them and follow up with a pursuit attack. As you’ll soon come to realize, movement, from teleporting to vanishing, is pretty key in evading incoming attacks, closing distances, and setting up devastating combos. 

Speaking of combos,  Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has a decent bunch of them you can pull off, especially once you’ve come to grips with the combat system. Plus, the more you play, the more special attacks you’ll unlock that feel incredibly satisfying to pull off. That’s because they need to be charged up by essentially being still for a moment. 

Take Charge

You’re weak while charging up your Ki gauge, which means your opponent can dash and smack you down. As a result, you’ll need to find safe moments during battle to charge up your Ki, preferably when you’re in an advantageous position. On the flip side, whenever you see your opponent charging up, dash and smack them down. Otherwise, they’ll earn a charged-up smash attack that is unblockable.

Alternatively, you can play it safe and rely on the gradual charge of your Ki gauge by hitting your opponent using hand-to-hand combos. 

Sparking! Mode

Meanwhile, there’s another special gauge, the Sparking! Gauge, which you can use to unleash Ki blasts and blast attacks once full. All the while, you have to consider how quickly you’re draining your gauges when dashing or using special attacks, as once the Ki gauge is red, your character cannot move until it returns to normal. 

Another resource you have to consider is skill points. Things like transformations cost skill points, which you have to fight to regain. Or you can have fusions between two characters that cost skill points, too. Overall, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero’s combat is a blast, with a surprising depth and strategy that keeps you constantly on top of your game throughout.

You Can’t Win

Now, with all that in mind, imagine learning many of the combat moves that matter in the actual game (or in training mode). The tutorial does very little to ease your way into Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero deceptively difficult combat system. If anything, it gives you a hard time navigating its awful menus. 

At times, some bosses can seem overpowered, as they should be. It’s just gaming nowadays tries to even the score for you. But that’s a minor complaint when it’s apparent Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has decided to be faithful to its source material: tough battles or not. Speaking of source material…

I Am the Super Saiyan

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is chockful of characters and stories from the franchise, including the Dragon Ball anime shows and manga, so much so that fans of the franchise will probably be familiar with the cutscenes and battles you encounter. However, as much as the story mode is evidently curated as a fanservice, newcomers also won’t feel out of their depth. That’s thanks, in part, to the addition of alternate story paths that explore “what if” scenarios of popular moments in the series. 

You can unlock these alternate story beats by choosing between multiple paths. You can also fulfill certain specific objectives in battle, like defeating an enemy quickly or using a specific technique, and unlock a brand new alternate story path. Overall, though, the story mode follows eight characters, including Goku, of course, and retells a well-packaged campaign from each character’s perspective.

In that same breath, you do have access to plenty more characters to the tune of 182 playable fighters. It’s a whopping ton of selections that you’ll be spending lots of hours checking them all out. They will unlock as you progress through the story or buy new characters using in-game currency called Zeni. Zeni can also buy other DLC, from costumes to in-game items. 

Just Stay Close to Gohan

Worth mentioning, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero allows you to create custom battles. You can build the battle of your dreams, although the tool sets feel limiting. Plus, you can create your own story beats, which feels limiting, too. It’d be grand if there was a rating system to play the best custom battles. At the moment, though, it’s unclear just how successful custom battles are going to be. 

As for multiplayer, there are lots of modes to hop between. From quick battles to ranked ones, you can challenge friends on local couches or in online multiplayer mode. Performance is flawless, whether offline or online. The only gripe is the valid possibility of being humbled by the more proficient gamers who’ve managed to master the battle system. 

Verdict

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has far outdone itself, bringing back a series that some of us had given up hope of playing. Picking up where 2007’s Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 left off, the new sequel stays true to the old-school 3D arena fighter formula we loved. It retains splendid graphics that depict spectacle flashy battles among some of the most powerful fighters in the Dragon Ball series. With alternate “What If” story paths and up to 182 characters to unlock, albeit some variations and near-clones of one another, you’ll be spoilt for choice over the characters to spearhead your way to victory.