DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO

DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is the newest installment in the action fighting Tenkaichi series! Fight with Goku and friends to take down evil aliens, destroy androids, and win tournaments in the fastest and most impressive Dragon Ball game to date.

85%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

stability, grinding

90% User Score Based on 62,669 reviews

Critic Score 80%Based on 41 reviews

Platforms

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About

"Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO" is a fighting game that features characters from the Dragon Ball series. Pre-ordering gets you an exclusive character and early access to six others. The deluxe edition includes a season pass for additional content and early access to DLC packs. The game builds on the Budokai Tenkaichi series, allowing players to master each character's abilities, transformations, and techniques.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

90%

Audience ScoreBased on 62,710 reviews

story1.9k positive mentions

stability281 negative mentions

The graphics are stunning, featuring vibrant cel-shaded art that captures the essence of the Dragon Ball anime, with impressive character models and animations.
The gameplay offers a fluid and engaging combat experience, blending nostalgia from the Budokai Tenkaichi series with modern enhancements, making it accessible for new players while providing depth for competitive play.
The extensive multiplayer modes and custom battles provide significant replay value, allowing players to create unique matchups and enjoy the game with friends.

The story mode is poorly executed, relying on static slideshows and lacking depth, with many character arcs feeling incomplete and unengaging.
The game suffers from performance issues, including bugs, glitches, and connectivity problems, which detract from the overall experience and make it feel unfinished.
Many players find the grinding aspect tedious and excessive, requiring a significant time investment that can feel more like a chore than an enjoyable experience.

story
9,573 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
71%
9%
The story mode in "Sparking Zero" has received mixed reviews, with many players expressing disappointment over its presentation and execution. While the game features a nostalgic retelling of the Dragon Ball saga through character-specific episode battles and intriguing "what if" scenarios, the storytelling is primarily delivered through static slideshows and lacks the depth and animation quality seen in previous titles like "Kakarot." Additionally, some character arcs feel incomplete, particularly Vegeta's, which ends abruptly after the Buu saga, leaving players wanting more. Overall, while the gameplay and combat mechanics are praised, the story mode is seen as a weak point that could benefit from further development and polish.
- “The story mode is engaging and a wonderfully cinematic take on the original story of Z and Super, and the what if scenarios are a great addition.”
- “The branching storylines are seriously really cool and help avoid the trap every DBZ game falls into where they repeat Z's story every game.”
- “The story mode has a ton of 'what if' scenarios, but it is kinda annoying that you have to intentionally play poorly to unlock the 'canonical' path most of the time.”
- “The story mode is a complete joke.”
- “The story mode is a power point presentation.”
- “The story mode is incredibly difficult at times even when you do know what you are doing.”
gameplay
4,747 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
60%
4%
The gameplay of "Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero" has received a mix of praise and criticism from players. Many appreciate the fluid and intuitive combat mechanics, which blend nostalgia from the Budokai Tenkaichi series with modern enhancements, offering a high skill ceiling for competitive play. However, some players express frustration over unbalanced mechanics, particularly in online modes, where certain characters and strategies dominate, leading to repetitive and less enjoyable matches. Overall, while the gameplay is engaging and visually impressive, it is marred by issues such as poorly explained mechanics and a lack of depth in the story mode.
- “Playing this game brings me back to the days of Budokai Tenkaichi 3, a love letter to the franchise as a whole, amazing gameplay with tons of references to the anime and manga, always a good time whether you're doing your best to win or even just goofing around.”
- “The game strikes an impressive balance between accessibility and depth—new players can dive right in and enjoy the action, while long-time fans and competitive players will find plenty of mechanics to master.”
- “The gameplay is incredibly engaging, allowing for a seamless blend of strategic fighting and fast-paced action.”
- “Avoid the multiplayer unless you go with friends; most people will abuse mechanics to absolutely destroy you.”
- “Game graphics are awesome, but I dropped it because there's so many unneeded mechanics; everything you do, the gameplay just doesn't feel smooth.”
- “The story mode is really poor; the gameplay, while fast and fun, is quite janky and can be completely unresponsive at times.”
graphics
3,123 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
34%
1%
The graphics of "Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero" have received widespread acclaim for their stunning visuals and vibrant cel-shaded art style, which effectively captures the essence of the anime. Players have noted the impressive detail in character models and animations, particularly during super attacks, making battles feel dynamic and engaging. However, some users have pointed out occasional performance issues and a lack of variety in environments, which can detract from the overall experience despite the game's visual strengths.
- “This game captures the essence of what makes Dragon Ball so iconic—epic battles, stunning visuals, and an immersive experience that keeps you coming back for more.”
- “The stunning 4K cel-shaded graphics bring the characters and worlds of Dragon Ball to life in breathtaking detail.”
- “The graphics are amazing, making it feel like you're stepping right into the world of Dragon Ball.”
- “Despite the impressive scenes and excellent detail, some players feel that the environments and graphics sometimes feel stiff and repetitive, robbing the game of the desired vibrancy in some battles.”
- “The game feels unfinished, and the graphics look outdated, even by older Budokai Tenkaichi standards.”
- “The best of the game is that visually it really looks amazing, but everything else besides the visuals is very very underwhelming.”
music
1,031 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
69%
7%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players praising its energetic and engaging soundtrack that enhances the combat experience. However, a significant point of contention is the exclusion of iconic anime tracks, which are locked behind expensive DLC packs, leading to frustration among fans who feel that such content should have been included in the base game or the ultimate edition. Overall, while the original music is enjoyable, the reliance on paid DLC for beloved tracks has left a sour taste for many players.
- “It’s the kind of music that stays with you, long after you've logged off.”
- “The best dragon ball game by far, the graphics of this game are incredible, the music is great and memorable, and the combat system is basically perfect, I have nothing to complain about.”
- “Zero is top-notch, featuring an incredible soundtrack that pumps adrenaline into every fight.”
- “Anime music is behind paid DLC, which sucks tremendously, especially in a $70 game.”
- “I mean really, $30 just to hear music that should already be in the game on top of a $70 price tag is insane.”
- “The music in the game is also pretty terrible because they pulled out most of the good songs to sell as DLC, and to make you buy the DLC they made the in-game music terrible.”
optimization
483 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
43%
27%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, particularly on PC and Steam Deck. While some users experience smooth gameplay and good performance, others face stuttering, lag, and crashes, leading to frustration, especially in online modes. Overall, it appears that the game requires further optimization and updates to address these widespread performance concerns.
- “It's a very well made and optimized game that most machines can run.”
- “Excellent optimization, smooth gameplay, stunning visuals.”
- “The game runs smoothly without sacrificing visual quality.”
- “Game is literally unplayable right now due to an optimization issue that causes the game to crash.”
- “The game has terrible performance on PC.”
- “This game is hot garbage and terribly optimized.”
stability
320 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
88%
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and connectivity issues that significantly detract from the overall experience. Players have noted problems with input recognition, character animations, and online matchmaking, leading to frustration during gameplay. While some users find the game enjoyable despite these issues, many agree that it feels unfinished and requires substantial patches to improve stability and performance.
- “The game runs great overall and is fairly flawless in terms of menus, gameplay, and cutscenes.”
- “Overall if you're a fan of the classic Tenkaichi games and you're expecting all the quirks that come with that series, I think you'll still be surprised with just how flushed out and bug-free this game is.”
- “Runs great, netcode works really well, it's a darn good fighting game for Dragon Ball fans!”
- “This game is a buggy, unpolished, rushed mess.”
- “You're paying $90+ for a buggy unbalanced mess of a game.”
- “The online PvP is buggy, constantly disconnects (no matter how good the connection is), and in the rare matches where I can actually fight other people for the entire duration of a match, the framerate often slows down to an unplayable crawl.”
grinding
281 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
69%
The grinding aspect of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players stating that it requires an excessive time investment, often likening it to needing "a second life" to complete. Players find the process tedious, particularly when it comes to farming items like dragon balls and unlocking content, which can feel repetitive and frustrating. While some enjoy the gameplay and the challenge, the overall sentiment is that the grinding detracts from the enjoyment of the game, making it feel more like a chore than a rewarding experience.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “But don't play ranked for "grinding to the top"; it will take all your enjoyment from the game.”
- “Grinding to Z rank takes a long time considering you'll be facing the same 4 characters all the time, and then on top of that you'll also be facing people that disconnect suddenly which the devs still have not addressed.”
- “The game is clear in about a week if you really dedicate to it, and once you are done the only replay value is the online and farming dragonballs that can be found only as random loot after finishing offline vs CPU mode, making it very, very tedious and boring to collect all the dragonballs.”
humor
264 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding it entertaining when playing with friends, thanks to funny character interactions and absurd scenarios. However, some aspects, such as bugs and design flaws, are described as unintentionally hilarious, while others feel the humor often relies on clichés rather than clever writing. Overall, the game's comedic elements shine in multiplayer settings, but can fall flat in single-player modes and when faced with frustrating mechanics.
- “The character design and the graphics are 10/10 and when playing with friends I literally can't stop laughing.”
- “The custom battle mode is hilarious and adds a lot of replay value.”
- “Multiplayer mode is a blast, mostly because nothing says friendship like beating your friends into the ground and then laughing about it afterward.”
- “This is frustrating and unfunny; I just want to play with my mates, and I can't even for 10 seconds.”
replayability
258 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
63%
6%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with many players praising the extensive multiplayer modes and custom battles that offer near-infinite replay value. However, some criticize the single-player story mode for its lack of depth and repetitive nature, suggesting that once the campaign is completed, replay options become limited. Overall, while the multiplayer and customization features provide significant replay potential, the single-player experience may not sustain long-term engagement for all players.
- “Custom battles are revolutionary and make the replay value for this game skyrocket with how much customization there is.”
- “The depth and variety of modes—ranging from world tournament battles to custom battles that allow players to create and submit their own matchups—make this title one of the most replayable Dragon Ball games to date.”
- “With over 200 characters, each with unique abilities, transformations, and moves, the game offers endless replay value.”
- “At the moment the online doesn't even work for me and a bunch of other people, balance is far from being a priority, and there's not a lot of replayability when you beat the lackluster campaign because there's no extra modes to play like how in Tenkaichi 3 we had Ultimate Battle.”
- “Although the episodes are very cool and the what-if scenarios are nice to find and play through, once you finish them, there is basically nothing left to do in the game unless you start grinding the PvP battles (it only took me about 20 hours of thorough gameplay to play through all the stories and these offer low replayability value).”
- “I would recommend it to big fans of the manga or the series, but the replayability is very low, and you should have seen it all after 5-10 hours of gameplay.”
emotional
120 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
93%
7%
The emotional aspect of the game resonates deeply with players, evoking nostalgia and joy reminiscent of their childhood experiences with the Dragon Ball franchise. Many reviewers express that the game successfully captures the essence of the series, leading to moments of genuine emotional connection, including tears of joy and nostalgia. However, some critiques highlight that the story mode lacks depth and emotional pacing, which can detract from the overall immersive experience.
- “These what-if scenarios have made me feel emotions I haven't felt since watching Nicktoons at 9 years old.”
- “The emotional depth and character development elevate the story, making it more than just a backdrop for gameplay.”
- “This game is not just a game, rather, an extension to the Dragon Ball universe and it is a loss in life to not play this beautiful game, and it is only better if you have already made emotional connections with the shows.”
- “It has several problems and it's not good for casual players at all. The story mode is very undercooked, with everyone except Goku having a pretty boring story. This game's story has 'what if?' scenarios that play out if you complete certain objectives. Some of these alternative scenarios can be very luck-dependent; one specific fight in Piccolo's story requires you to take minimal damage, never let Frieza use his ultimate attack, and you're also on a time limit.”
- “Boring story gameplay feels dull and repetitive; not a game I enjoyed personally. 4/10.”
- “Still too green; boring story mode, some mechanics need polish or require frame-perfect execution (which is kind of hard with online lag). The CPU requires actual knowledge of the game (more than you are willing to spend if you're playing single player) and is currently only living off nostalgia and BT3 players.”
monetization
111 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
31%
64%
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players expressing frustration over perceived cash grab elements, such as incomplete content and a lack of depth in story modes. However, several users praised the absence of microtransactions, highlighting that everything can be unlocked through gameplay, which contrasts with the trend of modern gaming. Overall, while some see it as a well-intentioned game for fans, others feel it falls short and capitalizes on nostalgia without delivering a fully realized experience.
- “No pay to win, microtransactions, etc. You can unlock literally everything by just playing the game.”
- “Monetization-wise, the game is very consumer-friendly.”
- “Highly recommend one of the best fighting games I've played in years and no microtransactions.”
- “0 feels like a cash grab rather than a well-thought-out addition to the series.”
- “But I expected better and personally view this as a soulless cash grab. I genuinely feel insulted; this is from someone who's played every Dragon Ball game since Ultimate Battle 22.”
- “This game should be the most criticized game of the decade for being a barely fleshed out, not tested, cash grab.”
character development
47 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
42%
13%
Character development in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting a lack of depth and resonance in character arcs, making some characters feel one-dimensional. While the character designs and animations are praised for their fidelity to the franchise and high-quality graphics, the emotional and narrative growth of characters is seen as insufficient compared to previous titles in the series. Overall, while the aesthetic appeal is strong, the storytelling and character progression leave much to be desired.
- “The emotional depth and character development elevate the story, making it more than just a backdrop for gameplay.”
- “The character designs are absolutely amazing, and they are faithful to the manga.”
- “It's a fantastic DBZ game, follows the story arcs well, great character design and customization.”
- “Character development is lacking; some of my favorite characters feel one-dimensional and their arcs don’t resonate like they used to.”
- “They will be getting and I don't think I am exaggerating when I say this, but less than 4% of the actual story and thus far we have seen zero character development through 3 sagas.”
- “And to be clear, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and the other two games showcased actual character development, like Vegeta throwing a hissy fit on the asteroid in the Android saga... here?”
atmosphere
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
41%
14%
The game's atmosphere is a mixed bag, featuring thrilling battle environments enhanced by immersive sound effects and detailed visuals that engage players. However, the ranked mode feels repetitive with limited character variety, and the overall difficulty can create an uninviting atmosphere for newcomers. While the combat system offers a familiar yet revamped experience, the menus and UI lack the same atmospheric depth, leaving some players wanting more.
- “The atmosphere during battles is excellent, with thrilling action showcased through various extreme maneuvers.”
- “The sound of laser blasts, impacts, and explosions contributes to the immersive atmosphere, ensuring that players are fully engaged in the experience.”
- “Players will find themselves deeply invested in the fate of their favorite characters as they navigate through beautifully crafted environments, each rich with detail and atmosphere.”
- “Now it's pure silence; you read it until the characters are talking. I don't know, it leaves a weird atmosphere and doesn't flow well.”
- “The style and sense of atmosphere in menus and UIs is lacking a lot.”
- “The ranked atmosphere is very sweaty, and you will only face the same 4 characters.”

80%Critics’ scoreBased on 41 critic reviews

Buy DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO

11h Median play time

31h Average play time

6-34h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 174 analyzed playthroughs

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