Have you ever felt a rush for something? It could be a sport, or perhaps a need to become something better? With the new ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO,¨ the need to shatter the heavens and break the earth will be delivered. Produced by Bandai Namco and developed by Spike Chunsoft, ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO¨ is the continuation of the famous series “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai”, which spanned three games beforehand. ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO¨ has over three million downloads and has almost fully positive reviews across all platforms. The game is made up of many passing components which give you a vast amount of entertainment.
With 182 characters, you can make almost endless fights in their many modes like split screen, tournaments and ranked. There is also a vast story mode that has many different outcomes and choices based on the paths you choose.
When it comes to the story mode of the game, it is split into many individual story modes that take up characters from the series such as Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and Piccolo. Each story tells the origin of the ¨Dragon Ball Z¨ franchise in the view of the characters. This, along with possible “what if” scenarios, lead to an almost boundless amount of opportunities that can leave you forever on your toes not knowing what could happen.
The “boss fights” in the story mode are difficult, but not impossible, leading to a good challenge that does not make you feel lesser about yourself but instead gives you a drive to get better at the game. The story mode does not only cover hero characters but also antagonists in the story, like Frieza, Goku Black and Jiren. This can lead to a better understanding of the characters themselves, as you take a look into what they saw during the events of the story. Overall, the story mode of ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO¨ is very well-made with almost no flaws.
In ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO,¨ the online player versus player mode can best be described as choppy. Splitting the fighting format into DP, a point system that promotes fairness, and single battles, which let you focus on mastering one character, is admirable. However, flaws emerge when you realize that not all characters are created equal in the game. This leads to situations where you may be outmatched by someone using a stronger character. As a player, I can relate to this disadvantage, which is frustrating. Of course, there are ways around this; you don’t need a strong character to win, but it can still be bothersome. One takeaway from this game is that it’s more of a party game meant to be played on a couch. While it’s not meant to be taken too seriously, it does offer options like ranked play for those who want to take it to the next level.
Although ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking ZERO¨ has many flaws, these cons are overruled by the overall pros. ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking ZERO¨ left many in sheer bliss and satisfaction. The price point of $70 is well worth it considering the amount of content and longevity in the game. I highly recommend ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking ZERO¨ to almost all age demographics due to its lively atmosphere and dynamic characters. ¨DRAGON BALL: Sparking ZERO¨ is nothing short of a masterpiece that will last for generations.
