Yo gamers Its TVOS Slade back at it again with another review. As you can see from the title, I’ll be reviewing Dragon ball Sparking Zero! I’ve already decided it’s one of the greatest game releases of the past decade. Honoring the great Akira Toriyama in every way possible. The game brings what every Dragon ball fan and gamer could love. Me and my grandad would watch the anime together on DVD every weekend. You and your friends probably had split screen battles way back in the day. With the game series ranging all the way back to 2005 when the first Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi released on PS2. Dragonball: Sparking! Zero has years of history behind it with the last implementation of the game series (Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3) being released in 2007. Dragonball Sparking! Zero is the best of what we love about Dragonball Z and the Budokai Series. Developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco, they finally gave us the perfect Dragonball: Z Fighter!
Dragonball: Sparking! Zero Modes
Dragonball: Sparking! Zero has many modes for you to enjoy in the game. You have Episode battle, Custom Battles, Tournaments, and Super Training. In Episode Battle you can select from many different heroes from the cast. Once you select a character you can go through that character’s story, and you can make choices to decide different outcomes. Custom battles are my favorite part of the game. The basics of what you need to know in Custom Battles is that you basically create your own what if stories. You can have many different sets of rules and character options like forced fusions, beam struggles, etc. Just many different options.
The tournament mode of Sparking! Zero is super fun. You can create your own tournament and adjust many options in the game mode. You can restrict the type of characters being used whether you want character customizations to be allowed. Whether you can fly or if you even lose the fight by landing out of bounds. You can decide whether people heal after the fights or not. The possibilities are endless. The no flying combined with the Lose if out of bounds make the game mode extremely fun! The World Tournament game mode is one of my favorites.
The Custom Battle mode is extremely in depth, and you can have plenty of hours of fun with it. You have other what if stories already premade in another game mode called Bonus Battles. In that game mode you can also unlock new characters, titles, player icons, etc. The game has literal hours and hours of gameplay options within it. I suggest playing the Super Training options to learn the basics of the game. Going through the Episode battle mode without knowing the basics will be difficult. Even though the gameplay isn't the easiest that's what makes it fun. With that we will get into the gameplay section of this review of Dragonball: Sparking! Zero.
Gamers, we all know how important gameplay is for a game. It could either make it or break it. Sparking Zero holds no punches with gameplay in this aspect. The gameplay is certainly some of the most in depth or complex I have seen in a while. You have two different control options to choose from. Standard or Classic Controls. Standards are more of the noobs like me. New to the Dragonball: Budokai Tenkaichi series. Classic controls are more for the veterans of the game. I suggest playing the game on Standard if this is your first time. If you can take the time to learn Classic, you would have an edge in the game. Each have their own unique feel, but both are extremely smooth in gameplay.
You have many different mechanics in options working at play during your fights. I'll do my best to get into the nit and gritty of each mechanic but playing would be the best way to grasp the idea. I think the best way is to divide it into two parts. Offensive mechanics and Defensive mechanics.
Let’s start with the defensive mechanics first. They have plenty of options to get yourself out of a pinch. You have counters and vanishes. They all work the same way. Super Perception, Perception, Z Counter and Revenge Counter. They could use either SP or Ki. Each is an essential resource you'll need in your kit to survive in the game. Manage them both wisely.
For offensively you have super attacks, ultimate attacks, and your basic attack combos (Rush Attack Chains). Super Attacks, Ultimate Attacks takes a ki as well. You can use your ki to power up your super attacks, and you can use your ki to give you an extra advantage when you and your opponent clash. All the different clashes in the game are cool. Each rush attack for every character has the same premise. Some perform knockback mechanics and others turn your opponent around, giving you the advantage. The super attacks can be chained smoothly into rush attack chains on knock back, and on grab which looks and feels very satisfying. The gameplay aspect of the game they nailed it. It's mostly timing and skill and that's what us gamers love.
Dragonball: Sparking! Zero have a Gallery mode in the game it has Encyclopedia, My Data, and Theater option. The Encyclopedia mode provides insights of all the characters in the game with dialogue describing that characters life in that point of time, in the series. I think that addition is cool for newcomers to the franchise that know nothing about the series.
My data provides insight on your current rank, top 3 used characters, and other collectibles and titles you have gathered throughout your time playing the game. The last mode Theater mode provides you with match gameplay that you decide to save after your online battles, and it allows you to see the intro of the game. It also houses all your BGM (background music).
Gamers, I haven’t forgotten about the characters and customization of Gamers. They give you a total of 182 characters and some character customization options for some of them. You can access all the characters by buying them from the shop once you hit level 20 or you can use Dragonballs to wish for them. Also, like what I said earlier in the review, you can play the story and bonus battles and naturally earn characters. They did well with the aspect of unlocking characters easily.
Gamers, now we are hoping into the customization options. They include capsules which can boost that character’s attributes, visual customization options like clothes, swords, etc, and BGM music for that character. They put a lot of thought into the customization, but this is where I think Sparking! Zero fails to deliver.
The Customization option with Capsules I think is a cool aspect of Sparking! Zero. It rewards players for playing the game. Capsules can boost certain attributes of the character you equip them with, depending on the capsule you choose. It can boost health, Super Attack Power, Ultimate Attack Power, etc. You can unlock stronger capsules the more you progress the game by increasing your player level and going through the story. You really won’t notice it too much because most people will be playing the game without capsules because the capsules are so strong. If you want to try them, I suggest making a private room with your friends, and then testing them out there.
Okay gamers, now we talk about the visual customization here; I was hoping I could throw this halo I unlocked on every character in the game. Instead, it’s tied to only certain characters who have had a halo in the series. The point I’m trying to make is there really isn’t much characters options for the characters you haven’t seen in different outfits. If you haven’t seen a character in that outfit or accessory in the show you probably can’t put them in it or have them equip it here in the game. For example, if you were thinking about having Gohan equip “Tapions’” sword on his back you can’t do it. Instead, what you could do is have Gohan equip every outfit he has worn before in the series. So, this part of the customization was a big let down for me.
Finally, we are going to get into the Music Customization option, which is cool. They have a shop where you can buy BGM and that music you can equip for certain characters when they are out on the field, and it can activate when they enter Sparking! Mode. That was a small detail that adds a little bit of flair to your fights if you choose the right music. I love it.
Yes, I agree with the Dragon Ball Fans, the visual customization was a letdown, but it’s small compared to what the game has to offer. The gameplay, graphics, and dialog options are really were the game shines.
Dragonball: Sparking! Zero Beautiful as Namek
Dragonball: Sparking! Zero is a beautiful game. I believe I said it earlier in the beginning of the review. How the game is the most beautiful fighting game I have ever played. I’m not exaggerating here. The maps are beautiful, most of them can be destroyed and from what I’ve noticed they don’t come back. The way the aura’s ooze of the characters’ bodies when they’re standing still. When you charge your ki to perform super attacks, the way the aura just sways around your character. The game just feels alive. No other way too put it. The game is by far one of the most aesthetically pleasing of 2024. The cut scenes when you perform your super attacks look gorgeous. When the characters talk their mouth move even when you’re on a giant character!! The attention to detail they have in this game is amazing.
Now the voice acters have out done themselves with this game. I don’t know if they got voice actors who originally voiced the characters. But if you watched the anime, you won’t be disappointed. They all sound very true to the characters in the anime and when you’re fighting the dialog that some of the characters say are very true to the character by design.
The many different dialog options in this game are absurd. It really makes the game feel fresh and new with every fight especially if your picking different characters too fight with. When you’re picking a team, and they have some type of history in the cannon of the series or some type of lore with each other you get special dialog. My favorite dialog is when I pick an All Namekian team Nail, Lord Slug, and Piccolo they all say something in the premise of its nice to be around strong Namekians and I think that’s such a nice detail to add for the fans and shows that the game has so much life.
The soundtrack for the menu gets me hype for my next fight. When you switch game modes in the menu the characters speak with one another, and it makes the game feel alive. They did such a great job making the whole game just feel lively. The dialog and the graphics of Sparking! Zero was very well done.
Dragonball: Sparking! Zero The Options
Sparking! Zero has plenty of options there to make the game easier for you to enjoy. The main option I mentioned earlier in the review was different control types. Standard and Classic. Like how I explained earlier in the review classics are more for the Veterans of the series. Standards are more for the noobs too the series. Sparking! Zero has a lot of language options surprisingly. A total whomping of sixteen different languages in subtitled text, but only two in voice I believe it’s Japanese and English. Of course, we have our standard graphics options which let us decide whether we want low- or high-quality gameplay. I of course choose high quality.
The accessibility options in this game have settings that’s supposed to make the gameplay easier. Like combo assists to perform your rush attacks easier, guard assist that makes blocking easier, things of that nature like auto combos and blocking etc. They even have a cool setting I haven’t seen before called left-handed mode. So, all my left-handed gamers Sparking! Zero hasn’t forgotten about y’all. Sparking! Zero doesn’t have any color-blind options yet, and hopefully they’ll add some soon. That’s all I have for Accessibility and Options for Sparking! Zero.
Dragonball: Sparking! Zero is a great game deserving of taken on the Budokai Tenkaichi Mantle. From gameplay, to dialogue, and finally beauty the game has it all. It showed why Budokai Tenkaichi was such a fan favorite for years, and it improved on all the things that made it great in the process. Sparking! Zero is a most have for gamers and Dragonball: Z fan alike. I think the only thing Sparking! Zero is missing is an interactive loading screen. Please for the love of god, give us the interactive loading screen in the next game and the force will be at balance. I’m TVOS Slade and this is my Dragonball: Sparking! Zero review!
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