It’s a great day to be a Dragon Ball fan. The latest gameplay showcase for the newest entry of the Budokai Tenkaichi series, DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO, has finally revealed how the gameplay would look, as well as its mechanics and more.
The video does start off threading old ground, before producer Jun Furutani makes some important statements about the game. He makes it very clear that the game is “a genuine sequel and evolution of the series,” and that they wish to preserve the fundamental “essence” of what made the original Budokai Tenkaichi games so popular in the first place. The producer also thanks fans for their enthusiasm, excitement, and continued support towards the project before leading directly into the gameplay itself.
The stage is set in the iconic Rocky Area that Goku and Vegeta would have originally been known to battle in — a less than subtle callback to Dragon Ball fans. The character intros that begin the fight even before any blows are shared proves much more cinematic than the original intros in the previous games, showing just what perspective the developers were going for in capturing those specific, moving camera angles.
There are a lot of fighting moves that were kept in from the originals, as well as incorporating plenty of new ones as well. The ki charging, among other things like ki blasts, and in general just the attacks themselves feel exaggerated, but not overly exaggerated. You can definitely feel the impact for each strike that lands, while further contributing to that aforementioned cinematic experience the game aims to achieve in combat.
Visuals aside, the sound design is definitely something else. Some parts audibly quieten during the fighting to then return with a new, more dramatic tone that adds to that sense of tense ambiance between fighters. It may not be blatantly noticeable at first glance, but the landscape also darkens its previously blue sky coming down to the latter, more intense parts of the fight, before suddenly returning to normal. All of these environmental factors are sure to help make the fights feel less “samey” or monotonous, adding to the vast variety that comes with each battle.
Both familiar and new mechanics like pressing an additional button to boost the attack potency during activation of ki skills, beam struggles, fast and short dashes, skill counts, revenge counters, super perception and vanishing assaults present themselves among others. Furutani hopes that all these features will allow for battles to be more “Dragon-ball”-like and overall strategic in nature.
Closer to the end of the video, there was the long-awaited confirmation of numerous characters, displaying fan-favorites like Future Trunks, Hit, Broly, Burter, and more. It’s safe to assume that even if you don’t see a character you’re looking for in the original roster, they may be added later in a future DLC to come.
DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO will be available on Steam, PS5 and Xbox. Players are able to wishlist the game now.
