This author has to be straight up with you: he’s never engaged with Dragon Ball in any real way. Playing Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero at Summer Game Fest Play Days is the most he’s ever interacted with the iconic franchise, and that’ll certainly be heresy to some. However, before you crucify the poor guy (who has been travelling for about 13 hours so far and really needs to go to sleep), know that he loved the ridiculous spectacle of this over-the-top 3D fighting game.
Sparking is the long-awaited return of the Budokai Tenkaichi series — a collection of Dragon Ball games that let you partake in explosive battles with heroes and villains from throughout the saga. We got to play matches versus the CPU for roughly 30 minutes, and while some of the context was lost on us (this author’s eyes are feeling heavy, please maintain sympathy), the overall takeaway is that this is undoubtedly a brilliant title for the fans, but probably nobody else.
Matches are three-on-three tag-team affairs, allowing you to create a trio of your choosing to take into the arena. For those who understand why it’s valuable to have over 9,000 versions of Goku (he made a reference! But he’s also feeling a little woozy), the ability to create your own scenarios by choosing your and the CPU’s team will be pretty exciting.
The gameplay will likely be very familiar to those who’ve played one of these before. This is a 3D fighter set within wide open battlegrounds, giving each character the opportunity to really let loose their outrageous powers. After having the basics explained to us (he’s heading to the bag drop-off now and swaying a little as he walks, bless him), we found the combat to be really quite interesting. It’s basically an ebb and flow in which you’ll get up close and personal, knock the enemy away, charge up your abilities, then let them fly, delivering big damage.
The fisticuffs always feel very fraught and dangerous, as each fighter can teleport behind you and punish if they’re quick enough. This is contrasted by the long charging phase, which sees characters building energy before unleashing it in spectacular fashion. It’s great to watch these moves play out, and quite satisfying watching your opponent’s health bar shrink so dramatically. However, while it’s all very exciting in the moment, it strikes us as quite shallow when you zoom out (he’s through security and probably a bit hangry too).
We’ve no doubt there’s a skill to playing this competently at a high level, but for us (meaning this author, who’s really trying to avoid being one of those airport sleepers who take up three seats), we struggled to lose at any point. Once we found our feet, we had no trouble at all destroying the AI combatant and this author’s a complete novice. Furthermore, we go so far as to say every character feels essentially the same, whether it’s Goku, Blue Hair Goku, or even Yellow Hair Goku (he’s just irate because he’s tired, promise). In all seriousness, we did try out a wide range of fighters, and easily applied the same strategy to all of them with zero consequence.
There are a few things to consider. Firstly, the AI difficulty might have been dialled way down for our hands-on demo. Secondly, perhaps it’s entirely the point that Sparking makes you feel like an unstoppable force. Third, we’re under no illusion that fights against other players — be they in online or local multiplayer — may be a lot tougher. Finally, it could be that we’re just innately insane at Budokai Tenkaichi and never knew (the jet lag is clearly setting in).
Despite our concerns about the depth of the fighting, we came away from our demo with a smile on our face. Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is a feel-good game, because it’s bringing back a fan-favourite fighting series and doing it in fine form; the presentation is excellent, the battles are always a thrill, and the amount of options players have is solid. The good news is that this author’s flight is nearly ready to board, and the next time we cover this game, it’ll almost certainly be from the perspective of our very own Robert Ramsey, who knows what a Frieza is, why you really should respect the name Piccolo, and much more besides.
Are you looking forward to Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero on PS5? Do you think this author has managed to get any sleep yet? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Comments 12
As Push Square's resident Dragon Ball fanatic it is my duty to defend Stephen's ignorance. Forgive him, for he is a good man.
I don't blame him, every time I see a DB game I can't tell if it's a fighter, mmo, open world or RPG
Without any knowledge of the series, I’m curious how Stephen interprets Goku’s changing hair colors.
He isn't alone. I tried to get into it a couple year ago but I fell off. Definitely feels like one of those things you just had to grow up with to appreciate.
Happy for the folks that are excited for this though. I got a buddy who won't shut up about it even though he knows I don't care. 😄
(Asks the mob leader) when can we light our torches on?
Used to kick up my legs on the olde crt and play this series for hours. It's not complicated or difficult, but for fans of the series it's equivalent to banging action figures together in the bath. Nonsensical fun
I always tell people that haven't engaged with Dragon Ball to give Super: Broly a watch. It's not necessarily the best of the series, but it's a nice little vertical slice. It helps that it starts with prologue to the entire series — but also shows off the series' solid character work, action, forms, and general themes (lotta 'bad guy's not as bad as they seem).
If anything there catches your attention watch either Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or Abridged (if you don't have much tolerance for more antiquated anime).
Every character playing similarly in terms of inputs is a series thing. It's what makes it easy to pick up and play so many characters. It was never a deep game. It was more of a "for fun" game for series fans. I think the point will be lost on others. It's meant to echo the feel of the battles from the anime.
3v3 is new though. Used to be 1v1.
This is a great write-up Stephen. Always good to get a different perspective!
Writeup was good, but the little snapshots of airport nightmares and flying woes were the icing on the cake.
I required a solid second to understand the pun in the article’s tagline. Chef’s kiss stuff.
@ShogunRok at the risk of going a little off topic, your word is p nuff (us koei fans gotta stick together) and has been a great read since I’ve been reading this site all the way back in 2015. Stephen (word up son)’s article is actually a fun insight into this game.
Ill prob maintain my biases towards DBZ:SZ tho I’ve grown up with virtually all the games that use control scheme that debuted in budokai 1 (and you know I’m not lying cuz I even played the cursed Evolution game).
Even played the Budokai AF Latin American bootleg that was being passed around as the real Budokai 3 as early as 2007 (I know because I made that mistake first hand back in the ps2 days).
I’ve even emulated the deliciously goofy budokai tenkaichi 3 Latin American romhacks like “DBZ:BT3 anime war” which includes iconic dbz characters such as… Jin Kazama and Big Smoke….just to name a few. But yes, I’m excited for Sparking Zero. And sorry if I make typos this isn’t my native language xDD.
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