Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Was Like a Nostalgic Ki Blast to the Face [Hands-On Preview]

It’s been a while since I played a Budokai Tenkaichi-style Dragon Ball game. In fact, it’s been a while since anyone has played a Budokai Tenkaichi-style Dragon Ball game. So, I set out to give Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero a shot at the Tokyo Game Show.

As much as I wanted to take on a random Japanese Dragon Ball fan, the demo provided was single-player only. In it, I could select up to three heroes to add to my team. And while I knew Sparking Zero had pretty much every Dragon Ball character and all their forms, I was a little overwhelmed scrolling through the 50 Goku and 35 Vegeta forms.

Once I found them, I went with a team of my childhood favorites – Future Trunks, Android 18, and Piccolo – and chose Planet Namek as the locale I wanted to destroy. When the match immediately began against a standard Vegeta, I was surprised – I thought I would be able to select the enemy team (we’ll come back to that.)

Regardless, I jumped right into the frenetic 3D action. For those who haven’t played a Budokai game, you control your character from an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective and are automatically locked onto your opponent. In proper Dragon Ball fashion, I could power up, fire ki-blasts, and pummel my Vegeta hundreds of feet through the air. I also made use of new mechanics like short dashes, though I would have to go back and play a few more rounds to get a proper feel of new additions like the revenge counter system.

New mechanics or not, it was like riding a bike after so many years. Future Trunks used his trademark (and badass) sword to slice up his father from the past with most of his attacks, though I was at that point mostly button-mashing.

This version was running on a regular PlayStation 5, so the cell-shaded graphics didn’t struggle to output a smooth 60 frames per second. Massive cliff faces crumbled as Vegeta kicked Trunks into them, and seizure-inducing light flashed with each beam of energy fired. Just as I was getting the hang of things, however, the demo ended with Vegeta’s defeat — it seemed I had only one opponent.

Related: Is Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Crossplay? Answered

Upon reloading the demo, I realized my mistake: after I selected my three heroes, I had to select three more for my opponent by pressing a shoulder button rather than pressing next.

This time around, I picked the strongest fighter in the universe: Captain Ginyu. Backing him up were Videl (in place of the recently revealed Master Roshi, who I couldn’t find scrolling through so many characters) and Mr. Satan. Our opponents were Majin Buu, Perfect Cell, and Frieza. An even match, right?

I set the stage for Destroyed Planet Namek – which, I think, is from when Goku defeated Frieza. Like I said, it’s been a while.

I fell into a flow as the battle started, and while I don’t fully understand how the in-universe power levels of characters translate into the game, Majin Buu was a tough fight. Luckily, I managed to create some distance from the perky pink blob, fully charge Ginyu’s Ki Gauge, and use his trademark Body Change ability, swapping my nearly defeated Ginyu for a much more powerful Majin Buu.

From there, I made short work of Perfect Cell and Frieza as the eccentric villain. While I was button-mashing less, I found I still didn’t truly know what I was doing – but boy was it fun, flashy, and most importantly incredibly true to the series.

Much like Dragon Ball FighterZ before it, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero takes its source material incredibly seriously. While it’s been a while since I watched Dragon Ball Z, the characters’ moves were immediately recognizable. More than anything, it felt like I got a Kamehameha of nostalgia right to the face as the demo concluded.

I didn’t get to try other game modes from this Tokyo Game Show demo, like the Story Mode with “What If” scenarios that play out if you finish battles differently than in the anime, along with custom game modes and the like. Fortunately, I won’t have to wait long to do so, as Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero releases fairly soon.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero releases on October 11 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC.