I guess you could call me a casual Dragon Ball fan. I remember watching Dragon Ball Z when I was a kid, sneaking in episodes on the tiny TV in my room as I got ready for school, but I never watched it religiously or kept up with the series over time. I’ve always held it in high regard, its characters and storytelling were influential across multiple generations, and to see it carrying on in the memory of Akira Toriyama is a welcome sight.
One thing I never did was play a Dragon Ball game. More specifically, I never played any of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi games. Known as Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! In Japan, the three titles in the 3D fighter series were highly regarded by the fan base, the closest anyone had come to reliving the experience of the animated show’s massive set pieces and visual flair. We’ve seen a considerable number of games in the franchise since, from the highs of Dragon Ball FighterZ to the hollow lows of Dragon Ball: The Breakers, but now Bandai Namco has hit the reset button and returned to the 3D arena fighter with Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.
Sparking! Zero marks a couple of key moments in series history. It’s the biggest roster of characters ever, covering everything from the originals through to Dragon Ball Super and even the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima and every variant of Goku in-between. It’s also the first time the Japanese title has been used across all regions, following in the similar footsteps of Sega’s Like A Dragon. All that aside, it’s a traditional 3D fighter with all the elements you would expect, but at least it accomplishes that feat reasonably well.

He said the thing!
Booting up the game, you’re greeted with some wonderfully animated menus, as Goku jumps between various locations greeting a host of familiar franchise faces. Series veterans will likely go straight to the online multiplayer, but as someone who prefers playing solo, I didn’t dabble too much in that outside of ensuring it played smoothly. No, instead I placed my focus on the handful of single-player experiences, starting with Episode Mode. Here, you’ll be able to relive some of the biggest moments from across both Dragon Ball Z and Super, playing as Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks and others.
These bite-sized battles help to ease you in if you’re a not familiar with the concept or controls, which can be a little overwhelming even for someone who has hundreds of hours in Street Fighter. You’ve got a lot more to keep in mind when you’re flying around in a three-dimensional space than a traditional, 2D fighter, even more so when the tempo remains high across each fight. Holding down the right trigger allows you to power your Kai, in other words increasing your power level, which normally takes characters a few minutes but only a handful of seconds in-game. Once at a certain level you’ll be able to perform powerful attacks which vary between characters, or in Goku’s case various kinds of Kamehameha techniques.
The combat can feel a little mixed overall, falling into ‘how quick can I charge my Kai between punches’, though there are a host of accessibility options for those struggling with the timing. The enemy AI almost always spams specific moves, throwing me backwards and hitting me with a power blast I couldn’t block, yet I found myself doing the same right back. One thing Episode Mode does get right is the clear distinction between the various different Gokus you’ll play as. As you progress, you’ll take up different versions of the leading man, showing how much his Kai levels improve over time much like they do in the show. This leads to some truly enjoyable moments, where Goku punches the absolute tar out of Frieza, unlocking more powerful moves for you to unleash in the process.

The different battle modes add a ton of extra content
Episode Mode has some fun callbacks within a mixture of in-engine recreations of key scenes and decently drawn stills, with a spattering of voiceovers from either the Japanese or English voicecast. There are some weird moments where some cutscenes play out in a much lower quality than the rest of the mode, and the lack of fully voiced dialogue is telling, but otherwise it’s a fun way to relive the best of the show despite the stilted nature of some scenes.. It’s also nice to be able to play as someone other than Goku in a story mode, no offence to the guy but he always manages to hog the spotlight.
As other characters vary in ability and power level, most just won’t feel as competitive in an online battle, especially if your opponent chooses an overpowered Goku or Broly. Sorry, Yamcha fans, he just won’t cut it. This leaves the majority of the rather large roster as pure fan service compared to a balanced roster of fighters with strengths and weaknesses. Playing with a friend could lead to some fun matchups but expect to get your butt handed to you if you don’t want to play as a big name against random players online.
There’s a scattering of other modes to take part in, your usual challenge modes and tournament modes most fighting games manage to stuff in, but one I had some amusing times with was Edit Mode. Here, you’ll be able to create not only your own fight but your own scene, including camera cuts, background music, dialogue and effects. In short, if you’ve always thought yourself a bit of a writer or editor, it’s a chance to create your own mini episode of the show before battling it out and sharing it online with other fans. I can see a lot of creative individuals making the most of this mode more than I ever could, but it’s a neat addition that makes up for a lack of a genuine character creator.

How much hair gel do you think he uses?
There are so many little touches across Sparking! Zero’s presentation that add up to an enjoyable package, with visuals ripped straight from the show and plenty of little nods everywhere. It’s a shame the voice cast aren’t used consistently across the game, with only a spattering of lines rerecorded from Dragon Ball history. On the bright side, you’ll be able to collect the fabled Dragon Balls by completing in-game challenges during any mode, and eventually cash them in by summoning Shenron and making a wish. These wishes include unlocking new characters or increasing your power level, nothing truly amusing but it’s a bit of fun for the fans.
Final Thoughts
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero does a decent enough job in carrying on the legacy of the 3D arena fighter, with some fun if slightly tricky mechanics and a story mode that does just enough to be enjoyable in its own right. Ultimately it serves its purpose as an entertaining slice of the animated series, despite not feeling wholly unique to the franchise. I would have loved an even broader story mode, allowing a greater number of the available roster to be playable, but fans of the previous entries in the series will no doubt flock to this modern iteration solely to play online. Time will tell if there’s longevity here, but as a total package there should be more than enough to appease even the most die-hard of Dragon Ball fans.
Reviewed on PS5 // Review code supplied by publisher
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- Spike Chunsoft
- Bandai Namco
- PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- October 11, 2024

Known on the internet as Kartanym, Mark has been in and out of the gaming scene since what feels like forever, growing up on Nintendo and evolving through the advent of PC first person shooters, PlayStation and virtual reality. He'll try anything at least once and considers himself the one true king of Tetris by politely ignoring the world records.
