It’s rare for a licensed video game to feel like the ultimate adaptation of the franchise it’s based on. I’ve seen it happen before with 2005’s Star Wars: Battlefront II and Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018. This year, Dragon Ball finally got that treatment when Bandai Namco revived the Budokai Tenkaichi series with Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. This bombastic 3D fighter embraces everything that makes Dragon Ball special, and is all the better for it. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero normally retails for $70, but this Black Friday you can find it discounted by 29% on Amazon and pick it up for just $50.
When I played Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, I suspected it could be the ultimate Dragon Ball sandbox. I was relieved upon its release to see that this was truly the case. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a 3D fighter with a massive 182-character roster of iconic Dragon Ball characters (and forms of them). Players can construct teams of up to five characters and then duke it out across a variety of locations from the Dragon Ball series.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero provides players with all the action figures and play sets they would want, and then lets them freely mash them all together in explosive fights. It’s exhilarating to fly around the battlefield as Goku, pull off a powerful Kamehameha, and watch as entire buildings or cliffsides collapse as the opponent is knocked back to them. Shonen franchises like Dragon Ball are typically very over-the-top, and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero wholeheartedly embraces its maximalist design.
It’s also more approachable than the 2D fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ, which is equally pretty but a lot more technical to learn. Any Dragon Ball fan can easily pick up and get the hang of Sparking! Zero. Considering it has modes where players can construct their own match scenarios or change what happened during important moments in the series’ history, Sparking! Zero leans into its sandbox nature as well.
If you’ve ever considered yourself a fan of the Dragon Ball franchise, you need to pick this game up. It’s unlikely we’ll ever get another Dragon Ball game with as many playable characters and attention to detail as Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. This is the first time we’ve seen its price drop under $50, so it makes sense to pick the game up this Black Friday.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.