We’re deep into our Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero playthrough and fully intend to bring you our verdict very soon. However, in order to properly put the title through its paces – including its all-important online mode – we’re delaying our write-up for a few more days to bring you a thorough review.
That hasn’t stopped other websites from running their appraisals of this long-awaited successor to the Budokai Tenkaichi series, however. Below, we’ve collected some of the reviews and their conclusions to give you a general idea of how the media has been rating this release.
- Metacritic: 85
- Open Critic: 83
Comic Book - 5/5
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is the Budokai Tenkaichi 4 fans have been waiting to get for a long, long time, but it's also the perfect first entry to jump into if you've never played a game in this series. It's a great first impression, and even better reunion. You've been waiting for a Dragon Ball game like this.
The Gamer - 4.5/5
Even after playing Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero with a massive grin on my face for more than 50 hours, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of everything that it has to offer and still have so many more battles and events to make my way through. Its smart evolution of Budokai Tenkaichi’s combat, stacked and detailed roster, and near-endless amount of modes and features make it one of the best Dragon Ball games of all time and one that’s going to be nearly impossible to Toppo.
Noisy Pixel - 9/10
Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is the ultimate 3D fighting experience for Dragon Ball fans, boasting an impressive roster of 181 characters and exhilarating combat that stays faithful to the anime. While the single-player story mode has its highs and lows, the diverse gameplay mechanics, what-if scenarios, and multiplayer modes make this a must-play for any fan of the franchise.
Game Reactor - 7/10
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero feels like a game made for the fans, above all. It oozes fan service, and the amount of content and characters proves that the developer wants to satisfy the needs of as many people as possible. It's because of this that the playability comes across as a bit of an imprecise slap in the face, as this otherwise competent action game sometimes struggles in practice. However, there are only a handful of better alternatives to see Goku and the gang in a virtual context, and even if my rating ends up being "only" 7/10, I can definitely imagine that more devoted fans of the franchise might see it in a more acclaimed light. If you like Dragon Ball, you are simply doing the right thing by checking out Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. You will not be disappointed.
How do you feel about this ratings for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero? Has it sparked your enthusiasm for the release? Remember to check back later this week for our full verdict.
Comments 24
Sounds about right. If the year wasn’t so packed, I’d get this day 1, but I don’t mind waiting! Looks awesome nonetheless.
Like Sammy writes in the article, our review will be published this week before launch.
It's a surprisingly big game (I'm still unlocking characters!) so we wanted to make sure the review is comprehensive and not rushed. Thanks for your patience!
@ShogunRok can’t wait to read it over my evening tea!
I'm so hyped for this game. LFG!
Sparking Zero is what Ultimate Tenkaichi SHOULD HAVE been
Going to pick this up later on the month
Awwww yeah! This is gonna fantastic.
Already pre-ordered. Can’t wait to play with GT characters. Might even buy the music pack DLC if they put all classic themes in it.
Super excited. I've wanted a BT4 for a long, long time.
@ShogunRok You had to balance this and Metaphor? You’re a busy guy.
I’m glad to hear it’s a big, detailed game. The file size wasn’t huge when it installed. Looking forward to playing it when I get off work today! I didn’t even realize there was early access with the ultimate edition or whatever it was called. I don’t usually do digital deluxes or whatever, but, man, it’s Dragon Ball… I need the characters!
I might wait a month. I know it's primarily focusing on fighting but I'm more interested in the single player mode/vs mode. The battle from the classic anime is pretty cool but we've already seen it a billion times before so I feel like there's not much they can work with, and I'm not really a fan of what if scenarios. Dragon Ball fighter Z was incredible the animation, the intros, etc., but the storyline was horrendous. It didn't even feel part of DBZ.
7/10 seem low, dude must not be a big fan.
@Shad361
I'm a big fan and I completely understand. These games always have the gimmick of quantities. You can play everyone, every power up, every series, etc.
None of it is truly of the highest quality, ever. We've been getting the same DBZ games for decades now.
I'll buy a DBZ game on the day they make a true action adventure game with the quality of an Arkham game. I'm sorry, but I've just played them all already
Let's hope they don't pull a Tekken 8 and add battle passes, paid for extra stages NOT IN season passes, and other scummy not communicated money making techniques.
Weirdly this game seems to be one of the most complete fighters for a decade. Surely this isn't the direction Bamco are actually going? Thought they were going the scummy route!
Had a good feeling this was going to be at least at 95 out of 100. The only ultimate edition of the game I've ever bought and pre-ordered. Been a long wait but it's going to be worth it
@McTwist we haven’t gotten a game like this since 2017 which was xenoverse…and xenoverse had a different concept with the created character.
Kakarot was literally an action adventure/rpg game and released in 2020….Dragon Ball fighterz came out in 2018 and was a 2D fighter.
I still cant get over the name Dragon Ball Sparking Zero. Its the kind of japanese to english translation that loses all meaning and makes no sense, the kind of non sequitur that adds comedy to japanese to english dubbed over movies... somehow 1 made it to the title....
Wow even the most negative review sounded glowing. Can’t wait for this.
@Blofse I mean Tekken 8 was a fairly complete game at launch. People moan about the battle passes (what are insanely cheap) and a paid stage but it doesn't stop it from being the most complete fighter out of the big 3, hell the same update that added a paid stage also added more story content for free but everyone likes to ignore that.
Got it pre-ordered and i'm very excited as it looks fantastic. Damn what a great month for games.
This month is strong with the amount of quality titles. I'm a little overwhelmed tbh xD
@DennisReynolds I guess but there is a lot more content that is paid for Vs not paid for, and wasn't communicated before buying a season pass or the ultimate edition. I expected paying so much money for at least the first years worth of content, but now I have to pay for another few bits. Forget about it
@Blofse I mean what 4 characters, one stage and a bunch of skins? Base game has way way more content then what they put out post launch. End of the day we got exactly what the season pass said we would get 4 characters and some awful gold suits and nothing more. Its a live service fighting game it was never going to just stop at season passes i dunno why people thought otherwise.
@Shad361
Kakarot is such a low budget bargain bin garbage game. It's an insult that that game is so highly regarded by "fans" who'll buy anything.
Same with Spiderman fans defending garbage games until Sony got its rights. No people finally realise its potential. As long as Bandai keeps bringing out these low budget games, people won't know what they're missing. It's pathetic
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