REVIEW: ‘Dragon Ball Sparking Zero’ Is A Celebration Of The Franchise (XSX)

It’s not an overstatement to say that the Budokai Tenkaichi series of arena fighters is the pinnacle of the genre and why we have seen anime fighters churn out so many. At times, it all felt like chasing that series high, but it usually came up short (with the Naruto Ninja Storm series, notwithstanding for the most part). Now, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, published by Bandai Namco and developed by Spike Chunsoft, is bringing all the anime fighter girlies back to the arena by embodying the legendary gameplay of the Budokai Tenkaichi series. And man, it feels good to be back.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero captures the Budokai style of arena fighter and never pretends to be anything else. You could call it Budokai Tenkaichi 4, and I wouldn’t even be mad about it. But this game intelligently incorporates an old formula (and even gives you the Classic controller scheme) into 2024. With a focus on anime authentic combat, a voice set that puts our favorite ladies like Bulma at the forefront, and a deep reverence for the Toei animation tentpole franchise, this takes the video game series to whole new levels.

Suppose you’re not familiar with the genre. In that case, in arena fighters, you can play with one character or multiple (forming a team you can swap between in the middle of a fight) in a 3D arena with next to no vertical or horizontal movement restrictions so long as you have the flying option on amongst the battle restrictions. And you do it by choosing from a roster of Dragon Ball characters from across decades, series, and canon (or out of canon in some cases).

From the jump, even with only a few characters to play, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero has an overwhelming amount of options. From playing characters with planet-razing powers that range from beam clashes and rush attacks to just actual high-speed displays of ultimate attacks, there is so much to unwrap. Whether you’re playing as rivals or the people’s champion (I mean Videl, not Goku), there is no shortage of chances to leave a trail of destruction or just pull off transformations.

With an assortment of modes, Episode Battles is the place to start. This mode works as a unique character campaign that follows high points in the franchise. It’s also the easiest way to start unlocking new playable characters for the roster. Additionally, there are Bonus Battles that offer high-level story battles with unique win conditions for more of a challenge, and Custom Battles, an Editor that allows you to create your own battles and then upload them to the World Library where others online can play.

But that’s actually not all there is. The Battle Mode also operates like the traditional versus mode with both online and offline capabilities. My favorite, World Tournament mode, offers offline and online tournaments based on sagas (Cell Games, World Tournament, Tournament of Power, etc.). Here, you can also customize tournaments and, if you’re like me, set victory conditions that push people past what they think they can beat.

It’s not to say that Dragon Ball Sparking Zero reinvents the arena fighter wheel. It just reminds players why we loved the genre in the first place. The game executes dynamic environments that yield wildly different matches when fought with different restrictions. Turning off flying, for instance, completely upends a character’s viability on certain maps and becomes increasingly difficult. But turning off flight also impacts how characters play on their own.

This allows for an intriguing amount of replayability—as if the 182-character roster didn’t already. For whatever reason or however they did it, Spike Chunsoft has made an arena fighter that just doesn’t get stale. Especially since the road to unlocking all of them is as exciting as can be (even if the game can just be purchased with Zeni, the in-game currency).

It also has to be said that different versions of the same character aren’t just palette swaps. There are movement mechanic differences and clear power differentials between a Great Ape Vegeta versus a Dragon Ball Super Vegeta and Early Dragon Ball Z Vegeta and more. The thoughtfulness in crafting this roster is undeniable. It’s not just about putting characters in for the sake of it; instead, it’s about highlighting the power changes and character differences across the franchise’s history.

The only time that including different versions of one character becomes an issue is when you pick two transformation forms of one character. This happened to me with Trunks, but more specifically, Kale. I often chose the immediate transformation, doubling up the character when I could have efficiently just used the transformation button and added depth to my team. It’s not a game-breaking element, but it is one that I think ultimately cuts down on the true number of rostered players that give you different play experiences.

If you play solo or online, the fun is found in exploring new pairings. Nothing feels too overwhelming for solo matches against NPC characters, and it’s a good way to get experience in different World Tournament battles or general custom matches. That said, when playing online, the difficulty jumps refreshingly. Because of the uniqueness of how people choose to play and the sheer variety of team comps, online matches are a whole new world of competitive play.

However, one clear element to be aware of is size differential. When playing against an NPC, the size difference between your character and the NPC offers different strengths and weaknesses. As noted in our preview of Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, the developers looked to give different sizes different specialties instead of adjusting hitboxes.

Speed and range are your best friends if you play as a small character against a large one. Knowing how to jump in, get in a blind spot, and exploit it can be fun. Big characters like Great ape Vegeta (even in the Episode Battle) or Jenmba (the chunky yellow first form) are devastating when they land a punch. Additionally, they can kick away small opponents and regain control of their space.

It’s much easier to handle size differentials when playing against an NPC and not so easy to handle an opponent in an online match. Online play can be difficult with so much variability in how they can play a character you just bested. At times, online matches will have some character inch close to becoming one to be exploited. However, none of these were a Yoda in Soul Calibur IV situation, and with enough understanding of how the opponent fights, you could use the arena to your advantage—at least a lot of the time.

However, that play variance makes competition fun, and it is also why Custom Battles and World Tournament setups allow you to restrict the roster that an incoming player can pick from. In fact, choices like this make Dragon Ball Sparking Zero as much a game of crafting custom bouts using the suite of systems for the kind of experience you want as it is just jumping into an arena and fighting.

That depth extends to the character customization you can play with as you collect Zeni. Like the Budokai of the past, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero allows you to customize your character. Here, you do so with different buffs that allow you to adapt a character to your style. To do so, you purchase capsules with Zeni. To get more Zeni, you can focus on completing missions and challenges.

That said, it all happens naturally as you finish Episode missions and unlock characters. You can undertake special missions via Zen Oh’s Orders, where you receive tasks to complete. Additionally, and probably the easiest, is following along with Whis’s Stamp Book, where you can track what you’ve completed in terms of “wishes,” which can be viewed as achievements.

And while Dragon Ball fans can get excited about all the ways they can be creative in terms of competition, entering the Episode Battle is where the real lore exploration and fun is to be had. In line with the other arena fighters that Budokai Tenkaichi inspired, the Episode Battles allow players to fight their way through pivotal moments in franchise history. Only here can you make a decision that completely changes the course of Dragon Ball and spin off into an interestingly constructed “what if?” story.

For those who come to this style of game to relive moments from the franchise, well, you’ve come to the right place with Episode Battles. These episodes span from Dragon Ball Z’s Raditz arc to Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power, allowing you to play moments from the different series. Only now you can shake up the timeline of events by drastically altering the course of the character with the choice you pick. Do you adhere to the story? Or do you explore the other side of it all? Additionally, the Episode Battles aren’t entirely from the hero’s perspective. Instead, you can take on the part of antagonists and villains in their story as well.

Episode battles are pretty straightforward and worth playing on high-difficulty settings for some fights with weight to them. The only element that could have been better is how each part of an Episode Battle is strung to the next. Instead of being connected fluidly, small cut scenes play before and after a completed section, and then you’re shown stills from scenes and get a hefty info dump of the story in between what you just completed and where you’re going. It can be a checkout point for some, and when you’ve worked to change the course events with your choice, wanting to speed up the process isn’t exactly how you want to feel.

Outside of different modes and systems, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero also has one feature that is a game changer for me: motion sickness accessibility. The franchise and this game are known for characters that move quickly and constantly change the view of the horizon. Moving freely in a 3D space can be a large trigger for motion sickness, which has become a bigger issue for me the closer I am to the screen. But when you enable the motion sickness assistance, the problem is mostly gone.

At this point, I’ve written 2000 words, and there is just so much more to discuss regarding how in-depth Dragon Ball Sparking Zero allows players to go. But now, it’s time for a more personal note.

At this time, I’ve written about Dragon Ball Sparking Zero now three times. Each time, I spent more and more time with the game. And yes, the difference is that the love for Toriyama, the reverence, and the care for his work are embedded in every part of this game.

The largest change from my time with the previews is that I was able to experience more character interactions and combinations that showcased just how much Spike Chunsoft understands the world of Dragon Ball. Those little moments, when coupled with the expansive roster of 182 characters, felt like a love letter and a rousing goodbye to Akira Toriyama.

As I played, the truth was that I kept remembering that the man who brought this eccentric and beautiful franchise to life is gone now. But every match I played online, every new tournament I played that was custom-built by someone else, all of us took part in this game because of Toriyama.

With 182 characters, it feels like the entire world of Dragon Ball is loved (even the stepchildren in Dragon Ball GT, the one animation that Toriyama didn’t take part in). Characters unique to the films and those across different series were recreated with a reverence that acknowledged who they were. Sometimes, they’re ridiculously overpowered; at other times, they’re just your favorite for whatever reason. But none of them, even in their camp or humor, ever feel like a joke at the expense of the character. Instead, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero feels like a game made to honor the past, the IP, and the people who made it happen.

I remember where I was when I got the news that Akira Toriyama had died. I was at SXSW at a party for an upcoming TV series. One of my best friends turned to me as I took a drink and told me the news. We cried and took photos the rest of the night in a fusion pose. Later that month, I was on a panel ranking Dragon Ball games, and we opened by explaining what Toriyama meant to us.

Ultimately, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero feels like a collective celebration for Akira Toriyama and the characters he created. I feel connected to others, reveling in the history of a franchise that is the cornerstone of shonen manga and anime and, for many of us, a gateway into international animation. And what better way to do this than with a return to the arena fighter structure anime fighters have been chasing? It may not be called Budokai Tenkaichi 4, but Dragon Ball Sparking Zero continues that legacy and brings all of us so very back.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero releases on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 on October 26, 2024.