Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has been released to wide acclaim, and quickly sparked active speculation around its DLC prospects. Thankfully, the game's Season Pass has already made the general scope of its first wave of DLC. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has nominated two series to spearhead this effort, but it may quickly run into a wall with one of them.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's Season Pass will feature as many as twenty characters, which are currently stated to hail from both Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and Dragon Ball Daima. Both were well-received recent entries in the series, and deserve the spotlight because of this. However, they also share a limited scope, which may pose a particularly large problem for Super Hero.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Has Limited Options For Super Hero DLC Characters
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Has Already Confirmed Two Super Hero Characters
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero players are largely in the dark on specific DLC characters, with two notable exceptions. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero teased Daima DLC, but only recently revealed greater detail. By contrast, Sparking Zero advertised its Season Pass with the simultaneous announcement of two characters. The headliners in question are Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, two androids introduced in Super Hero, who follow Dragon Ball's classic enemy to ally formula.
As the most prominent original characters in Super Hero, the Gamma Androids certainly seem like perfect picks for Sparking Zero's DLC. However, they also bring to light an unfortunate truth about Super Hero's potential on the roster. At the end of the day, Super Hero simply doesn't have a wealth of characters for Sparking Zero to draw from.
Dragon Ball: Super Hero Has Some Obvious Favorites for Sparking Zero DLC
Thanks to the inherently limited scope of a movie, it's relatively easy to predict who the other representatives from Super Hero will be. Gohan and Piccolo are the main heroes of Super Hero, which has made Beast Gohan and Orange Piccolo into some of the most highly requested characters in Sparking Zero DLC discussion. Cell Max serves as the film's final antagonist, so it would make sense for him to join the fray as well.
While these characters definitely deserve a spot in Sparking Zero, the potential in Super Hero's roster falls off hard from there. More importantly, the most obvious inclusions bring an even more challenging problem to attention. Beast Gohan, Orange Piccolo, and Cell Max all have one thing in common that could spell trouble for their reception as DLC fighters in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero.
Dragon Ball: Super Hero Would Boost Sparking Zero's Many Alternate Forms and Transformations
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's full roster has more than 180 characters at this point, so the 20 provided by the Season Pass is no small boost. It's currently unclear if those 20 will be solely relegated to the two series mentioned, and what the split will be. Regardless, Super Hero's impact on this number would actually be even smaller than one might expect.
In close comparison to previous Budokai Tenkaichi rosters, Sparking Zero largely inflates its character count thanks to a sizable number of alternate forms and transformations. When accounting for these duplicates, Sparking Zero's roster is still huge, but much smaller than advertised. These alternate characters tend to have more diverse movesets than in previous entries, but they still aren't exactly original characters.
For better or worse, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is pretty much guaranteed to continue this trend. Beast Gohan, Orange Piccolo, and Cell Max can all be considered alternate forms in one way or another. Likewise, Orange Piccolo and Cell Max alike can grow in size, which will also add another alternate version of them to the roster. Cell Max is a lackluster antagonist in the first place, but he would technically qualify as the most distinct of the three, with the others simply adding transformations to existing characters.
Of course, there's inherently nothing wrong with alternate forms. In fact, they're practically essential to the series' history, even if they don't align with what many people might expect out of DLC. Beast Gohan especially has enough power to craft an inspired design, but these increasingly limited options suggest that future Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero DLC should draw from a different well.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 86%
- Released
- October 11, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Spike Chunsoft
- Publisher(s)
- Namco Bandai
WHERE TO PLAY
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO takes the legendary gameplay of the Budokai Tenkaichi series and raises it to whole new levels. Become a super warrior and experience the earth-shaking, limit-breaking power of DRAGON BALL battles!
Unleash the strength of over 180 fighters from DRAGON BALL Z, DRAGON BALL Super, DRAGON BALL GT, and selected DRAGON BALL movies, all in the base game! Each character comes with their own signature abilities, transformations, and techniques.
Make the destructive power of the strongest fighters ever to appear in DRAGON BALL yours!
Engage in heart-pounding, high-speed 3D battles that stay true to the anime and video game series, with breathtaking visuals and authentic combat moves like beam clashes, rush attacks, movements too quick for the eyes to see, and planet-razing ultimate attacks.
Challenge other players online to test your skills, or sit down with friends offline to hone your skills exclusively in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber! Fight your way to become a champion across various tournament modes and victory conditions.
Conquer the action-packed battles from the beloved original story, or discover and unlock new encounters for your favorite Z-Fighters and more. Relive your favorite moments from the series through cutscenes you can experience from the perspectives of eight characters!
Recreate your favorite battles from throughout the DRAGON BALL story, or set up your dream story battle with your favorite characters! Share your creations with other fans and experience the battles brought to life by imaginations around the world.
- Engine
- proprietary engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Dragon Ball
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Fighting, Action
- How Long To Beat
- 11 hours
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
- 80 Hours
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
