October is a celebration for fans of Dragon Ball. Not only does the new series start, but also a new game in the popular Budokai Tenkaichi series is launching. MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes was able to play Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero and can recommend it to (almost) every Dragon Ball fan.
What is Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero for a game? As Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero was announced, many fans were filled with joy. Finally there was a sequel to the popular Budokai Tenkaichi series. There you fight with a large selection of characters in 3D arenas, with fists and energy attacks.
*Affiliate links. We receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase. Thank you for your support!
Sparkling! Zero is a faithful sequel with a more stylish look and a lot of new characters that have replaced old fan favorites. This promises sparkling! Zero seems to be the perfect game for fans as long as you are interested in multiplayer.
You can find a trailer for the game here:
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO in the trailer
More videos
Autoplay
Lots of characters, lots of fan service and a fun battle system
Fans of all series will be happy. Probably the most important thing about the game is the large selection of characters. Without DLCs, there are 182 fighters to choose from. All series are represented: Dragon Ball Classic, Z, Super and GT. There are also movie villains to play. Most of the characters are from Z and Super.
Unlike fighting games like Tekken or Street Fighter, it’s not about balancing. Basically, Beerus and Jiren are supposed to be significantly stronger than Videl or Muten Roshi. I think that’s good too, if you want to play a balanced brawler, you should choose Dragon Ball FighterZ. Part of the experience is also getting the lore across in the fights. This is intended fan service.
This is also evident in the battle itself, because in ranked mode the characters are divided into points from which you can form a team of 15 points. The strong characters with better values cost up to 10 points, the very weak ones only 1 to 3. This at least ensures a simple form of balancing.
The combat itself is fun, even if beginners have to get to grips with the overloaded controls. Once you’ve learned that, you’re practically prepared for any fighter.
There are no different strategies with different characters like in Street Fighter. This is convenient for players who don’t want to spend thousands of hours training just to learn a single character.
Single player fans might be disappointed
Sparkling! Zero doesn’t offer much in single player. In addition to the online modes, there is also the episode mode for the single player. You play the story through several characters. The selection is pretty cool, as villains also get their spotlight. Unfortunately, the mode itself is disappointing.
You replay several fights from the series. Except for still images and simple cutscenes, it’s not beautifully staged. There are also several what-if scenarios that set up cool premises, but these are mostly concepts rather than actual stories. At least an alternative story will amaze many fans.
One of the predecessors, Budokai Tenkaichi 2, got a lot more out of the story, with an open world, side quests and a rudimentary role-playing system. The role-playing system is also available here, but is in a different menu item than the episodes and is not needed to play through.
The world tournament mode also returns, but it ends quickly and is too easy for my taste, even on the hardest difficulty level. Once you have figured out a good combo and combine it with the ultimate attacks, you can end any fight against bots easily and quickly.
But the bonus fights are a bright spotwhich can also be created by players. You can even build dialogues and small cutscenes from prefabricated patterns. Over time you will definitely be able to play cool and interesting battles from the community that increase the difficulty.
To be honest: the single player is secondary
As unfortunate as it is a missed opportunity for a better single player, it doesn’t matter. Sparkling! Zero is great when it comes to combat. The effects and colorful graphics gave me goosebumps too. When the heroes fire a Kamehameha with the original Japanese voices, then as a Dragon Ball fan you are simply happy.
Trying out the different characters in multiplayer and playing your own what-if battles with your friends is the greatest joy you can have with the game. And the whole thing is finally online, with a ranking system.
Also the fan service with small dialogues before the fight and Easter eggs like Goten, who says KameKAmeha instead of Kamehameha because he’s just a child, put a smile on my face. Equally impressive are the many animations that represent each character individually despite the similar game strategy.
For the high full price, as a player you have to know whether the focus on multiplayer and fan service is worth €70 (Steam) or €80 (PS5, Xbox). If you’re not a huge fan and only want to hang out with friends sporadically, it’s better to wait for a sale.
If you want to play a developed story, then just pick up Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. One of the best anime games on PS4 and PS5.
Dragon Ball has been with me since I was 6. I love the universe, the characters and I also really enjoy watching the new series, despite their many weaknesses. And also sparkling! Zero has weaknesses. But I still enjoyed every second.
As much as I love complex, strategic fighting games, there’s still that 6-year-old in me who wants to virtually fight with his friends to find out whether Gogeta or Vegeto is stronger. And no game does this better than Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero.
Anime games have a rather mediocre reputation, mainly because the majority of them are pretty bad. But I still love them and play almost every series release I know. You can find out why anime games are so good despite their weaknesses here: I love anime games on the PS5, even though most of them are pretty bad