Analysis DRAGON BALL: Sparking ZERO

17 years have passed of this legendary Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3. 17 long years during which, even though we had similar experiences in both iterations of Unleashed explosionthe truth is we haven’t had it again Budokai Tenkaichi as such. It is until today, with the arrival of DRAGON BALL: Spark ZORE which comes to offer us everything a fan asked for in a dreamlike return to the legendary sub-saga of the work of the now unfortunately deceased master Akira Toriyama.

Without further ado, I am sure you are very hungry to read our analysis of this long-awaited title, since Son Goku must fight (or eat a good plate of rice). So let’s get started.

A story mode to match

We start with what probably attracts the most attention in a Budokai Tenkaichi: History. From the start of Dragon Ball Z to the end of Super (in the anime), we see the whole story again as various characters, including villains. We can see the point of view of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza, Goku Black… Which gives what is one of the oldest Story modes of Dragon Ball in video games.

Many alternative routes are included. which extend a certain event into several additional fights, or it is resolved directly with a cinematic scene. Explore all possible paths by completing certain objectives in certain battles to get more rewards, and even more hours of gameplay. Some of the alternative situations are very interesting.

Of course, a few small negative points need to be clarified here. To start, Most scenes in the story, including the most important ones, are depicted as static images with a narrator in the background. who comments on what is happening. Yes, we already know all the Dragon Ball events very well, but it wouldn’t have hurt to put at least a little more effort into these really important and legendary events. The other problem concerns the alternative paths themselves, whose objectives for unlocking them are sometimes not so clear and they will pose an obstacle to the advancement of the main narrative. There is a simple solution, so we might see it fixed in a future patch.

DRAGON BALL: Sparking ZERO features incredible core content

“Will there be too much DLC?” “Are they going to leave out essential characters?” These are some of the questions we asked ourselves when we learned about the existence of DRAGON BALL: ZERO Sparkuntil the latest trailers gradually reassure us on this subject. Well, now that the game is in our hands, I am very happy to be able to tell you that this largely meets our expectations in this regard..

Although it is true that it will have future DLCmainly focused on the Super Hero movie and the new Daima, The base game has so much content. that you will only feel the need for its downloadable content if you are a die-hard fan. You will spend hours and hours of fun with more than 180 characters in total (counting transformations) without having to pay anything more than the main game. World tournaments of all kinds (or with your own rules), battles against the CPU, local battles against another player, online games with and without ranking, shop to buy items and characters with zenis (franchise motto)… Even you can create your own custom battles and share them with the rest of the worldwhich we will talk about in more detail in the next section.

It goes without saying, each character, as in the Budokai Tenkaichi the previous ones, it has its own movements and characteristicssharing certain things in common. Goku in his Ultra Instinct phase will be able to automatically dodge basic attacks using ki, while Vegeta Ozaru will have enormous power in exchange for sacrificing movement and attack speed due to the enormous size of the transformation that Saiyans undergo when they observe the full moon. . Furthermore, Every super attack is recreated as faithfully as possible 100% respecting the manga/anime, as well as the transformations achievable in the middle of combat.

Create the fight of your dreams

DRAGON BALL: ZERO Spark It is so complete that it even offers you the possibility of create the fight of your dreams customize a large number of settings. Then it can also be shared with the rest of the world, just like you can play any player-created fight. We are not talking about a simple editor, but a lot of customizable elements to literally create that fight you always wanted to see in Dragon Ball.

Change the introductory or farewell scenes, the characters involved, the sentences they say (from a selection, since you can’t write anything), and even the non-canonical consequences that the end of said altercation has in the world of Dragon Ball, whether negative or positive. Then, give it a name, a presentation that will serve as the start of an episode of the series, and an image as a thumbnail/preview of your creation to finally share it with everyone.

Here you have an almost infinite number of overtime hourssince the community continues to make its own creations. From the game’s launch, there are a large number of player-created fights, which ensures a useful lifespan for the title in a way that has rarely been seen in a game based on Toriyama’s work. There is a simple editor To start familiarizing yourself with the concepts, in addition to the advanced.

Online mode, one of the points to improve in DRAGON BALL: Sparking ZERO

Online mode is something that no modern fighting game can leave behind, and that’s why DRAGON BALL: ZERO Spark He really has it in mind. However, we can note that this is not the main mode of the title, which focuses more on single-player content. It’s also something to be grateful for, but I can’t ignore something pretty negative these days, and that’s the lack of crossplay. It may be added after launch, but at the time of writing this review, nothing has been confirmed yet. Not having cross-platform play means more difficulty finding games, which can end the online life of the game in a much shorter period of time.

Furthermore, online games have a problem that will hardly have a solution: the very essence of Budokai Tenkaichi. Let’s be honest, ZERO Sparks contains more than 180 customizable characters with different outfits and abilities between original Dragon Ball, Z, Super, GT and even OVA, but in most cases we will select Gogeta Super Saiyan 4, Goku Ultra Instinct, Whis, Vegetto Super Saiyan Blue, etc. . for his vast physical superiority over the rest of the characters. Online, as in single-player modalities, there is no type of balance, but this saga is really about it. Therefore, being part of the same essence and being something that the fans themselves ask for, it will be difficult to resolve this virtue which, unfortunately, ends up becoming a problem for online games.

The technical section, on another level compared to almost everything we have seen

DRAGON BALL: ZERO Spark It features a technical section like few of us have seen. Under Unreal Engine 5, the highest possible fidelity goes hand in hand with cellular shading absolutely spectacular and effects that will just leave you with your mouth constantly hanging open. As if that wasn’t enough, the game is optimized to match even on Xbox Series S, where runs at a very stable 60 fps. A delight for our video game senses in each present scenario. Now, even if these They are recreated with great detail and are very destructible (special mention to the World Tournament ring, where people run away if you launch a powerful super attack), I missed another card. They are not excessively few, but not numerous either.

If we talk about sound, we have to talk about Like explosions, super attacks, ki balls, teleports sound good… This all sounds like heavenly music to any devotee’s ears. However, soundtrack-wise, it only contains one song from the base anime. The rest are original songs, although If you are willing to pay a total of $29.99, you will be able to enjoy many songs taken directly from the anime.. Personally, this seems a bit excessive to me. Dragon Ball’s music is too important to be relegated to DLC packs at such an exorbitant price.

As if that wasn’t enough, most of the original themes are not very interesting as they did Budokai Tenkaichi previous, Unleashed explosion, Xenoverseetc. Although it is not a very important point in this title, since what we are looking for is simply the visual spectacularity and the destruction of the enemy in any way, the truth is that the background music is a good addition motivating in any fight.

In conclusion, the wait for DRAGON BALL: Sparking ZERO was worth it

Bandai Namco Yes Spike Chunsoft They made every fan’s dream come true. Budokai Tenkaichi. ZERO Sparks In short, it’s everything we expected from an official new delivery of the sub-saga (with forgiveness from the incredible mod fan «Budokai Tenkaichi 4«). Basic content raging with all the most important characters, even if it’s missing some that might be added in the future. A story mode very complete and durable, with some not so important problems. A detailed combat creator personalized, which will extend the life of the title to infinity. And finally, a technical level which surprises everyone with a perfectly worked optimization.

Yes, there are some weak points like the lack of crossplay in online games, the confusion of alternative paths in story mode or excess of static images to tell the story. However, the positive far outweighs the negative. DRAGON BALL: ZERO Spark This is everything we asked for, and even more, even in its orders with option classic handlingor modern. Akira Toriyama smiles beyond the Masters.

DRAGON BALL: ZERO Spark is now available on Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and PC. From Area Xbox, your video game news site, we would like to thank Bandai Namco for the Ultimate Edition code. This edition includes a good amount of additional content as well as the Season Pass.