I played DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO and it took me back to my teenage years

Since the first fight started, I went back to a point in my youth when I was happy. During gamescom latam, I had the opportunity to play Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, a Bandai Namco title that tries to take us back to the time when these fighting games were known as Budokai Tenkaichi in our continent. And wow, by the looks of it, they are doing it right.

My gameplay experience was limited to about 30 minutes of battle mode. We were told that the game promises a story mode that will tell everything that happened in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, as well as some “what if” moments (what would have happened if character X was defeated, went into battle alone, etc.).

Battle mode is simple and straightforward. First, you choose your scenario, which includes representative locations from the series, such as the fields of Earth, the Martial Arts Tournament, the planet Namek, and even a completely destroyed city. Once we have chosen our battleground, we can choose our characters. We can do 3 vs. 3, but we can do it in any configuration we want, 1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 3, 2 vs. 1, and so on. Among the characters, there is a wide variety of Gokus and Vegetas, with all the hair colors we know. These differences are justified by their powers and the transformations they can achieve during battle. This is because the Goku we met at the beginning of Dragon Ball Z did not awaken the same powers as the Goku at the beginning of Dragon Ball Super.

In combat, wow, it’s like nothing’s changed, even though everything looks better. The entrances of the characters at the beginning of each fight are interesting, and even if there is some relationship, they will make some comment (Frieza vs. Trunks will talk about the time they faced each other, while a Yamcha vs. Krillin will talk about seeing who is the most powerful human).

From there, combat is like riding a bike again, everything comes to you. The button to fire a projectile, the buttons to get up and start flying through the sky, chase your opponent, stop to recharge your Ki, or start punching while interspersing another button to extend the combo. Even if you don’t know the controls, the game has some helpers to help you get used to them. The scenarios are also impressive, with a lot of possibilities in terms of destruction. Destroying a part of the scenery is something that gives it dynamism and it looks good.

The ability to transform or activate a greater power is impressive, and reaching that maximum power to unleash a devastating force is impressive, with a long animation, of course, if you manage to connect it. My favorite, the great power of Mr. Satan, is represented by an animation where Majin Buu comes to help him.

Although for many it will always be Budokai Tenkaichi, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is the game we played over 20 years ago, but improved. With new characters being announced on a regular basis, there is sure to be a great Dragon Ball dream fight that we can achieve when it is released on October 8th.