Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is an Action, 3-D Fighter game developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco. This game is one of the greatest if not the best way for people to get into the Dragon Ball Z universe first hand. The story could be linear if you know the right sequence of things that need to be. Or you could unlock these amazing “What if” scenarios that make you wonder where fan-made theories they found to make them a reality.
But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we have time to talk about the many things Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero does great and a few things that make me question my existence in this game.
Concept
Dragon Ball Sparkling! Zero has you go through a variety of character’s adventures and points of view for each one. You can experience things like the fight between Majin Vegeta and Goku from two different points of view. Honestly, it’s an experience I wished all anime games would do as well. (I’m looking at you, One Piece!) Not only that, we also have the second-largest roster of characters we can use in any fighting game that comes to mind.
I don’t know how Spike Chunsoft did it, but having to choose from 182 characters to me is considered a never-ending buffet. But, then again, Spike Chunsoft did make Fire Pro Wrestling Returns back in 2005 and that Bad Boy has a roster of 327 characters to use.
So, really Bandai Namco made the right choice by having Spike Chunsoft develop this title.
Storyline
When it comes to the storyline of Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero, it’s actually spread apart like as I’ve said earlier a buffet. You do start with Goku at the start but do unlock more characters’ chapters over time. You’ll actually get seven more campaigns to work through for Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Future Trunks, Frieza, Goku Black and Jiren. For some, that means nothing. But, to us DBZ fans, it’s actually some of the most well-known characters to have a campaign. However, I’m slightly confused as to why we couldn’t get something for Bardock, Tables and Broly.
The other thing that these branches of the storylines have are the “What if” scenarios that can only be achieved by completing certain criteria for some battles in each campaign. If you ever wonder where those conditions would be located, you can check by just pausing the game at the start of the match and selecting Battle Details. You’ll find it under Alternate Objective or just Objective if you’ve accidentally done the alternate one. Yet, if you’re having an issue fulfilling it, you can always either lower the difficulty or summon Shenron to wish for the objective to be done for you.
Sounds
Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero sound effects and soundtrack feel as if it was just grabbed from the anime series and placed there. Every line spoken by every character sounded clean and well-written. Even the lines read for the “What if” scenarios were just fantastic and have caught me off guard every time. Even the little skits you get when you get to the Encyclopedia section. Looking there, you can see the characters you’ve unlocked and have Chi-chi,Bulma and Videl having their girl talk and discussing almost all the characters at length.
If you’re smart/lucky, you can unlock unique dialogue from your character selection before battle. Especially if you get Goku (Teen), Mini Goku, Goku (GT) and Goten in a single team.
Graphics
When I tell you that they went above and beyond when building not only the whole game’s environment, but even the characters, the transition effects, and even the UI is top notch. Let’s first talk about the environments, usually I’m used to being boxed in a small arena when it comes to fighting anyone. With a background that’s just a 3d or 2d image that I’ll never get to explore. But, we’re given more room to traverse than we did during the Budokai Tenkaichi days. Seeing how clean structures break apart when either an attack hits it, or a body has been flung across the field.
The character designs are by far immaculate. I didn’t come across anything that felt either weird or off-putting when using the characters in battle or seeing them in cutscenes. The fact that when you reach certain points in your health bar, the clothes on them begin to get dirty and the last bar is either destroyed or barely hanging on to the wearer. Now the UI for everything I’ve come across in this game is both creative and amazing. From the transition to one section to another when it comes to either cutscenes or the main menu selections, it’s just beautifully executed.
Mechanics
The movement when flying or dashing towards feels smooth and fun to use, even though it does use up your ki like a person drinking chocolate milk with a straw. We do get to choose the options of what kind of control scheme they offer us at the start, or you can always change it to fit your preference.
Everything combo and abilities you can use at different levels of ki and charades are easy to understand. Even the dodge and blocking mechanic will take some time to fully grasp since some of us haven’t played Budokai Tenkaichi in a decade or so. I extremely love the “What if” scenarios they added into the campaigns was by far the icing and filling of this Sparking! Zero cake.
Replay Value
With 50 achievements, 182 characters to play with, three DLCs that’ll be released next year and plenty of online matches you can have, Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero has a high replay value. With trying to get all the scenarios unlocked in every campaign, collecting the zenni to make purchases in the shop, and levelling up the proficiency with each character, there are many hours of fun. Even battling friends or getting ready to get sweaty palms with the ranked matches like I did.
Closing Statement
After spending about 10 hours completing the storylines and improving my combos with splashes of dodges, I know I still have a lot of gameplay to look forward to. Getting to not only experience the stories all over again in ways that the show never did. But, to allow us the option to actually get to look at certain scenes from the character’s point of view in first person.
The fact that Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero made me actually like the GT branch of the series was honestly the biggest miracle.However I do want readers to be aware that there is no cross-play when doing online matches, so check with your friends or pick the option that best suits you.
Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero Trailer
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Written by Ruddy Celestial
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