Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has a long legacy behind it, buoyed by a nostalgia for the arena fighters of old. It’s the successor to the Budokai Tenkaichi franchise, and expands on these classics with a larger scope, and a fighting roster that wrangles over 100 characters from across Dragon Ball history.
In approach, it mostly lives up to the Budokai Tenkaichi of old, with hard-hitting, eye-catching action, but it is dogged by some unfortunate choices in execution – notably, in a relatively unfulfilling campaign mode that leans a bit too heavily into static cutscenes, exposition, and weirdly compressed video clips.
As much as its battles impress, it does feel like the narrative pieces of this game are slightly undercooked, in a way that makes the whole dish less satisfying.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero – Campaign mode
There is a wild quality variance in Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero‘s main narrative, with some campaign cutscenes looking absolutely fantastic, dynamic, and like they’re lifted directly from Akira Toriyama’s work – all clean lines, bright colours, and expressive faces – and others looking like they’re ripped from a mid-2000s anime AMV streaming on YouTube at 240p.
Much of the action plays out in static cutscenes, with heavy layers of exposition detailing branching storylines. As you play through Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, your choices and actions in battle can have implications for story, with certain canon and non-canon events playing out across multiple pathways.
The game presents novel narrative twists and gives insight into big “what ifs” for the Dragon Ball series – but when key story moments are reduced to a sentence and a still image of Trunks, it’s hard to get too invested in the plot.
Most of the time you feel like a static observer, particularly when story events are clearly dictated to follow a certain path. In certain battles, you’ll win with great effort – only for the story to imply you’ve lost, actually, because that’s just the way the story is meant to go.
Read: Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero features a devastating Great Ape Vegeta fight
There are odd choices all around here, in a mode that feels like an afterthought, when it really shouldn’t. The one saving grace here is that the fights of campaign mode are flashy enough that they are still moreish and exciting – and most players will likely be here for the fights only.
Sparking! Zero‘s battles remain a high point
Regardless of the strange quirks of campaign mode, the core focus of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is strong. It lets you choose from a wide array of Dragon Ball stalwarts and put on absolutely gut-busting battles.
Each fighter has a unique skillset that benefits them in battle. There’s been a lot of thought put into the moves of each fighter, and how they fare on the battlefield. For example, if you’re playing the fan-favourite boaster Mr. Satan (aka Hercule), you’ll have weaker attacks, but will be able to summon Buu to fight on your behalf – in reference to their wonderful friendship.
As Goku Black, you’ll wield a pink energy-powered scythe that can swiftly cut through opponents. As Great Ape Vegeta, you’ll tower over your opponents, and leave destruction in your wake. (As a small aside – in my early preview of this game, I fell to Great Ape Vegeta multiple times. After four attempts with a renewed sense of stubbornness, I finally put him down for good – and I feel very proud.)
The focus here is on dealing repeated, swift blows to opponents, while finding an opportunity to unleash higher-powered attacks. Get a combo in, and you’ll smash enemies into destructible environments, causing all sorts of chaos around you. You can throw them into lava, below the ocean, across cities, and deep into the earth.
While this can cause camera clipping (and does so frequently) it adds to the sense that you’re physically breaking your opponents, whittling away at their health as you toy with them.
There’s no greater satisfaction than buying yourself enough time to charge your power and unleash your best attacks – then watching as chaos reigns. There’s explosions, the screen shakes, buildings collapse. It all plays out in explosive, wonderful fashion, with a real sense of dynamism clearly inspired by Toriyama’s works.
Action is sleek and beautiful throughout fights, with clean, expressive lines making each battle feel like it’s taken directly from episodes of Dragon Ball Z (or GT, or Super, or so on).
Is this battle worth it?
As a successor to the Budokai Tenkachi games, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has a lot of expectation riding on it. For the most part, it does deliver, with its battles offering strong, moreish action, and its large cast of characters allowing you to dive deep with Dragon Ball lore.
In its approach to campaign integration, Sparking! Zero is much weaker. While it presents strong ideas in having branching story pathways, the narrative’s varying quality and beige storytelling is a letdown. The flash and style of individual battles may be enough to dazzle you, but those looking for anything deeper will need to dive further back into Dragon Ball‘s video game past to find it.
Three-and-a-half stars: ★★★½
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
Platform(s): PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Developer: Spike Chunsoft
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Release Date: 11 October 2024
A code for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review. GamesHub reviews were previously rated on a five-point scale. As of 29 July 2024, they are rated on a ten-point scale.
