Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero: 5 things you should know before buying the game

When Akira Toriyama published the first chapter of the adventures of Goku and his friends in the magazine Shūkan Shōnen Jump on November 20, 1984, little did he imagine that the saga he had started would go on to dominate the world, first from the pages of his manga, then from the popular television adaptation and finally the video game industry with the release of “Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyō” in September 1986.

On October 11, a new link in this chain of successes was released with the release of “Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero”, a fighting game that serves as an anthology of the best moments of the long-running series available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows.

In case you are a fan of the franchise or don’t know anything about it, but are interested, here are five facts to consider before buying the game.

It is the return of one of the most popular video game sagas of Dragon Ball

“Dragon Ball” is one of the most lucrative franchises in history, a success that, as we said before, extends to the world of video games where titles that carry its brand have raised around US$10 billion throughout its almost four decades of existence. existence. Of course, not all games starring Goku and company have been equally successful, and Among those that marked the era was the “Budokai Tenkaichi” saga, from which the recently released “Sparking! Zero” is a direct successor.

First released in 2005, the games started on the PlayStation 2 console, then expanded to the Wii with the second (2006) and third installment (2007).

The title of the game is taken from the Tenkaichi Budōkai (in Spanish ‘The Strongest Under Heaven’ Martial Arts Tournament), a contest in which the protagonists of Dragon Ball participated repeatedly (including that infamous time when Master Roshi blew up the Moon). On the other hand, in Japan the video games are called “Sparking!”, in reference to the last word of the lyrics of the song “Cha-La Head-Cha-La” that served as the opening theme of “Dragon Ball Z.” in its first 200 episodes, which is why the latest game is called “Sparking! “Zero.”

A simple but deep fighting system

“Street Fighter”, “King of Fighters”, “Mortal Kombat”. Since the dawn of fighting games, the standard has been 2D, a style of gameplay driven by both hardware limitations and the simplification of movement, allowing games to focus on other elements such as distance control, Use of combos and special powers. As a franchise, “Dragon Ball” has also dabbled primarily in the 2D perspective, the latest example being its critically acclaimed “Dragon Ball FighterZ.”

However, the titles in the “Budokai Tenkaichi” saga pointed to another dimension, particularly the third, focusing on arena-style fights where players have complete freedom to move in all directions, including up thanks to the ability to fly. all the characters, which in a way allows us to create an experience more similar to the action we see in the “Dragon Ball” anime and manga.

To compensate for the greater freedom of movement, the game’s controls are more simplified than other games of its type, so don’t expect to have to perform maneuvers like down-forward + fist to throw a Kamehameha. Although this does not mean that the combat in “Sparking! Zero” lacks depth, with the user’s attention focusing on issues such as dodging attacks, having the reflexes to counterattack, and the timely use of each of your fighter’s abilities.

The most complete catalog of characters to date

And speaking of fighters, “Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero” probably has the most complete catalog of characters in the history of the franchise, with 182 combatants taken not only from the main “Dragon Ball” series, but also from the no longer canonical GT season, as well as all the film material.

Although it must be admitted that to reach this colossal number the developers have cheated somewhat, by counting the multiple forms of protagonists like Goku, who from his Super Saiyan forms and the different stages of growth covers 10% of the game’s options, as well like frequently forgotten characters like Hirudegarn or Turles, who appeared in only one feature film.

A journey through the history of Dragon Ball

“Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero” not only takes advantage of the 40 years of the franchise to have an extensive catalog of fighters. And among the usual Training, Challenges and Versus modes, the title also has the so-called Episode Mode, which serves as an equivalent to the campaign mode of other fighting games, by recreating some of the most popular sagas in the history of the franchise. from the perspective not only of heroes like Goku, Gohan and Future Trunks, but also of villains like Goku Black and Freeza, among others.

These stories too They have the so-called What If (What would happen in Spanish), a series of stories that tell how the events of the series would have changed if, for example, Goku had decided to decline Piccolo’s help in the fight against Raditz or if Future Trunks had decided to stay in the regular timeline that serve as interesting distractions for those “Dragon Ball” fans who already know the story right to left.

And speaking of modifying the story of “Dragon Ball,” “Sparking! Zero” also has a mode called Custom Battle, which allows the user to create battles between individual fighters and with special conditions so that you can create your own encounters and share them with the rest of the players. Certainly better than playing with some action figures and the power of your imagination.

It could become the most successful game in the franchise to date

You will have plenty to share your creations, since “Dragon Ball Sparking! “Zero” has broken franchise records by selling three million copies in the first 24 hours of its releaseputting it on track to possibly become the best-selling game based on Akira Toriyama’s characters.

This is a 140% increase from the previous champion, “Dragon Ball FighterZ”, which sold two million copies in its first week and which according to the most recent counts shipped 10 million games.