After playing a few hours of the release build of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, it's clear that fans of Goku, Vegeta, and the incredible arena-fighting Tenkaichi series have a lot to look forward to. Since Bandai Namco and developer Spike Chunsoft first announced the return of the beloved series, excitement from fans has been growing. Thankfully, the developers have been careful in crafting a game worth waiting for.

Sparking! Zero has been touted as the continuation of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series, which captured fans' hearts as effectively as Bulma has gotten at finding Dragon Balls. The PlayStation 2 games were a revolutionary experience with their open 3D arena stages, highly accessible gameplay with an approachable level of complexity, and a vast cast of beloved characters with their own special techniques and unique animations. While some games have come close, none have quite captured the same feeling in a Dragon Ball game until now.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 was released on the PS2 in 2007, and it did a fantastic job of creating a uniquely satisfying arena fighting experience so full of content that it set the bar high for other anime fighting games. The release of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has big shoes to fill, and after my time with the game, I can safely say any doubts of mine have been obliterated like a foe hit with a full-power Kamehameha Wave.

Sparking! Zero Is Budokai Tenkaichi After A Long Training Arc

DBSZ Will Have More Playable Characters Than Tenkaichi 3

Hands-on time with the game has proven that developer Spike Chunsoft is dedicated to ensuring DBSZ feels like a modernization of the PS2's Tenkaichi series. The straightforward special moves, the easy-to-play but difficult-to-master melee combat, and even the broken abilities like Yajirobe's fully healing Sensu Bean technique all return. However, DBSZ is setting out to do more than recapture what made the series beloved: it aims to evolve it.

Players can perform 's gameplay, but the game also allows stages to transform with something many have waited to see in a Dragon Ball game: destruction physics. The game's custom battles, featuring a colossal roster of 182 characters, sports battles in cities filled with buildings and rocky wastelands that all take considerable damage when hit with an attack. Seeing structures break and crumble after throwing opponents or attacks through them gives a satisfying sense of power that past games did not convey.

Beam struggles, melee counters, and attack deflections feel incredibly gratifying when accomplished, but besides feeling like an improvement on arguably the most satisfying 3D gameplay a Dragon Ball game has achieved, DBSZ adds a dramatic presentation Tenkaichi's formula. In-depth animations and character-specific interactions trigger when two characters familiar with one another interact, and not only with the game's dialogue. A plethora of small Easter eggs for fans, like Ultimate Gohan landing a unique grab against Super Buu, wait to be discovered.

Sparking! Zero also brings back the vast array of customization options that allow for personalized builds of your favorite characters. Completing quests and battles earns players Zeni, which can be spent buying capsules to increase stats and even bestow additional benefits, like flight, to unexpected characters like the ridiculous Mr. Satan. There are more than a few types of modes for players to earn Zeni and explore many of the storylines from the Dragon Ball franchise in ways not explored in previous Dragon Ball games.

Fans Tired Of Playing The Same DBZ Story Are In For Surprises

Players Will Be Able To Play Through Dragon Ball Super's Anime Arcs

Sparking! Zero has made several clever choices that should entice even seasoned series veterans who might want to dive into the game's multiple-story modes. Reliving Goku's adventures looks better than ever, but almost as soon as the story begins with the Saiyan Saga, there are new opportunities to make different choices and change the story's outcome.

Near the beginning of DBSZ's story modes, triggering the creative what-if scenarios begins a battle with different conditions than the anime portrayed. More time with the game is needed to see how drastic the changes can become, but choosing not to team up with Piccolo against Raditz in the beginning still ends with the Namekian showing up anyway and successfully killing both of Bardock's sons with his Special Beam Cannon.

Trailers for DBSZ teased other exciting what-if scenarios, like Vegeta killing Krillin on Earth, causing Goku to turn Super Saiyan before he is supposed to on Namek. Uncovering the alternative narratives and exploring the original plotlines they spawn is one of the most exciting new additions Dragon Ball video games have seen in a long time, and it's not the only story mode option the game offers. An entirely different mode includes specific storylines from the Dragon Ball franchise, where players will experience the plot from the unique perspective of many beloved heroes and villains, including Frieza and Goku Black.

Fans Won't Need To Wish On The Dragon Balls For Multiplayer Modes

Sparking! Zero Almost Had No Split-Screen Multiplayer

The many options to play through the Dragon Ball franchise arcs are a major selling point of the game, but arguably, the most anticipated aspect of DBSZ is its multiplayer. With the dramatic increase in visual presentation and destruction, it makes sense why Sparking! Zero does not local multiplayer for most of its stages. Producer Jun Furutani knew that split-screen multiplayer was important to fans, so his team worked hard to add it to the game, even if split-screen only works on the Hyperbolic Time Chamber stage. Thankfully, the game's online multiplayer will not be so limiting.

Most Dragon Ball series contain thrilling tournament arcs that get viewers' blood pumping, and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is no different. Besides the expected Ranked and Unranked online battles where players can fight each other with one to five characters, the game includes several types of tournaments, each with its own rules and arenas. One of the most challenging was the Yamcha games, where the AI's difficulty was ruthless, and various special rules were rotated, one example being consistently draining Ki. Each tournament type will be available to play online.

Sparking! Zero Is The Arena Fighter Fans Have Waited For

DBSZ May Set The Bar Too High For 3D Fighters

If the multiple game modes for story and multiplayer don't sound like enough, then Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero's Custom Battle mode provides a nearly endless amount of potential for players to set up their own battles and scenarios. Players can mix almost 5000 lines of dialogue written to help set up missions that can be shared online. The number of features the mode allows to be edited is impressive, but much like games that thrived on -created content like Little Big Planet, it's exciting to imagine what the community will craft with the tools that DBSZ provides.

My preview time felt like only the tip of the iceberg that the game looks to deliver on October 11. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is already looking to be what Tenkaichi fans have wanted all along: the return of a beloved series that had been away for far too long.

Screen Rant was invited to attend an exclusive hands-on preview of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero for the purpose of this preview.

Source: Bandai Namco Entertainment America /YouTube