DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO Review

There’s no shortage of Dragon Ball games around the globe, with three games including Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO in the 2020s alone, and countless others since the franchise’s debut as a manga back in the ’80s. However, Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is an important note in the long-running series, being only the fourth entry in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, and the first entry in over 15 years.

For all intents and purposes, Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is a familiar experience for anyone who has played, watched, or even seen a Dragon Ball game before. Sporting a very large roster of fighters, some iconic and some lesser known, you’ll fight a very varied cast of characters in 3D arenas. And, while it may seem like a similar experience to other Dragon Ball games, it’s an exceptional example of how to faithfully recreate the dramatic anime.

Raising the Power Levels

Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO’s story is, admittedly, very short. You play as one of six characters as you play through a variety of battles based on different arcs from the series. For example, playing as Goku will see you go from defeating Vegeta when he first arrives on Earth, to taking on Frieza on the planet Namek, taking you all the way up to the Universe Survival Saga.

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Story arcs are told through cutscenes and 2D slideshows

While it sounds like a lot of stories are told, that’s not the case. Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO‘s six characters have roughly three battles per arc, meaning you’ll be able to complete all six episodes within 10-15 hours at most. Fortunately, it’s still an impressive set of battles that gives you a taste of the arena action found within the latest Dragon Ball game.

Stories are told through battle cutscenes and 2D panel-style ‘slideshows’ that give newcomers context on the various characters, as well as returning fans a reminder of the ongoing events in each arc. They’re little more than small breaks between the exciting battles, but they’re well-presented and work well between intense fights.

I’m Just Saiyan

Each of the characters essentially offer different fighters as they get progressively stronger, changing out abilities for more powerful versions or entirely new skills as more battles are completed. Goku’s earlier arcs show him barely able to cast a Spirit Bomb, while latter battles will find you dishing out Super Saiyan skills like no tomorrow. These stages of Goku’s power levels pop up as different characters in the roster, but each version of the protagonist feels somewhat distinct.

And that’s where Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO sparkles - the engagements. The arenas look spectacularly faithful to the anime, and the challenging fights between super-powered fighters feel and look like watching moments of the series in play. Special abilities are intense, exciting spectacles that look visually appealing, and the aftermath of watching a staggered foe crashing through mountains or splashing into the oceans looks incredible.

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The detailed character models in the iconic anime style make the battles even more exciting to watch.

There were countless times that I noticed my jaw drop when watching the action in play. For example, I witnessed Goku’s Kamehameha demolish a difficult opponent, seeing its lifeless body destroy pure rock in its descent. Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO revels in the beauty behind destruction, and it makes the arena fights all the more exciting.

The button-spamming, Ki-charging nature of each encounter is sweat-inducing, and a lot of fun. Flying around each of the beautiful-looking levels as you fight for your life in the skies feels like a true Dragon Ball experience, and in all of my time playing the series’ long list of games, it’s the closest I’ve come to it.

Unfortunately, my time was marred with a fair amount of performance issues. During my time on the PS5 version of the game, a black screen flicker would regularly pop up, causing brief moments of blindness, where I return to a character pummeling my fighter into the ground. I’ve also had problems with clipping through the bottom of levels randomly, as well as a few frame drops in intense moments.

Over 9000 Characters (Well, Almost 200)

While the episode battles take up very little of Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO‘s content, there’s still a massive amount of content in the latest Dragon Ball game. After completing the narratives, you can engage in Custom Battles. These are bonus battles that let you play as more characters, or you can download and create your own battles based on the Dragon Ball universe. Want to play as Golden Frieza fighting a Goku and Android army? Sure, why not.

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Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO’s Custom Battles feels like getting your toys out and creating your own fantastical stories.

This includes creating your own 3D or 2D cutscenes, allowing you to create either simple battles based on existing experiences, or delving deep into the effects and conditions of each battle. Then, you can share them with the masses, letting people test your personal experiences. It feels like the perfect feature in a fighting game, as I fondly remember creating my own personal stories when playing titles like Injustice or Mortal Kombat, and that’s what Custom Battles offers.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see if the battles felt just as good from a multiplayer perspective. Despite the servers being open during the review period, I couldn’t find any matches. A lack of crossplay will certainly make it difficult to find competitors unless the game is popular on your chosen platform. However, if the fights are just as fun online as they are offline, we’re in for a real treat with Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO.

In any case, Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is a true Dragon Ball game, through and through. The intense super-powered battles are exciting, stressful displays of attrition that are truly engaging, while the detailed environments and associated destruction feel equally special. Custom Battles will surely give you plenty of additional content to enjoy, but I do wish there was crossplay, and more performance fixes first.

Disclaimer: This review is based on a code provided by the publisher