Tokyo Game Show 2024

Being Weak is Fun in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO

Like clockwork, another Dragon Ball fighting game is being released with Dragon Ball! Sparking: Zero. For a novice Dragon Ball fighting game player such as myself, it appears on the surface not much has changed. But with a little help from the Tokyo Game Show 2024 staff, I was able to navigate some of the new controller and battle systems and understand what's changed. I'd be lying if I didn't say my first instinct was to play as Goku, as he is one of my favorite fictional characters. But after a few rounds of using him and winning, I wanted something fresh and different. And what better character is there to try these new systems than one of the weakest Dragon Ball characters, Mr. Satan?

Before I let the AI opponent, in this case Vegeta, beat me as Mr. Satan, I had to make my first and likely key decision: what control scheme to use. Thankfully, there were only two choices between “Standard” and “Classic.” At first glance, it looked as if there was no difference between the two. Essentially, it appeared the physical attack, ki blast, jump, block, and vertical movements were just bound to different buttons on the controller. But speaking with a Bandai-Namco staff member, he suggested players can experience a simplified control scheme with the “Classic” settings or play using older Dragon Ball fighting game (like Meteor) controls with “Standard”. The staff member also suggested that I, as a novice Dragon Ball fighting game player, should consider the “Classic” controls, as they're supposed to be a bit easier for novice players to grasp.

My second big choice was how to implement Sparking: Zero's new “Battle Assist” feature. Again, it's a bit confusing just looking at the screen without much context. At the top of the screen I saw options for “auto,” “semi-auto,” and “custom,” with a slew of options for setting how characters block, counter, combo, dash, and the like. As overwhelming as it was, the staff member helped me navigate the options once more. The long and the short is that players can now take commands such as blocking, countering, and comboing and decide if they want them automated or not. It appears to be a versatile system, allowing players to tune gameplay controls as they wish, but also allows new players to experience a lot of what Sparking: Zero has to offer.

This raises an interesting question, though. Why not just stick with “auto” and remove any decision making while playing? It's a good question to say the least, but in my time with the game it appeared the system isn't foolproof. As in, even if I was being attacked, I still had to press or hold the guard button. Or if I wanted to perform a combo or ultimate attack, I still had to input commands, albeit simplified ones. So, novice players still need to input commands, but not to the degree as seasoned players.

After navigating the control schemes and “Battle Assist” feature for Sparking: Zero I had to make the biggest choice: which Dragon Ball character to play as. The roster previewed at the Tokyo Game Show was impressive to say the least and included many classic and new to the franchise characters. These include Goku, Vegeta, Cell, Broly (Both the Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super: Broly versions), or Bergamo. As I mentioned before, though, I was looking for a different experience than my usual Goku-based play.

Looking over the roster again something dawned on me for fresh and different; could I derive enjoyment from Sparking: Zero with the weakest character on the roster. There were three options for weakest character when I looked over the roster, Guldo, Vedel, and Mr. Satan. Of them, Mr. Satan was the obvious choice to test my hypothesis.

Saying Mr. Satan is weak in Sparking: Zero is an understatement. Where in previous games he could fly with a rocket pack, in this game he can't, and when he's in the air he'll slowly descend to the ground. He also has no ki blast to speak of; instead he'll slowly throw a rock. His physical attacks don't do much damage and the specials are cheesy. Mr. Satan's a wonderfully weak character and lives down to your expectations of him. But, for some reason, even though I lost against the AI every time I used Mr. Satan, there was still a smile on my face. In fact, I probably had more fun with the weakest character on the roster than the most powerful if only because of the humor inherent to Mr. Satan. And now I want to experience that fun with a full roster of weak Dragon Ball characters.

Dragon Ball! Sparking: Zero is a game where you will find your fun, be it learning the controls, turning off the battle assist, or just letting the AI beat up Mr. Satan. This makes the game more casual than anything, and that's probably for the better. And sometimes you just want that casual and fun experience like I had with it at the Tokyo Game Show 2024.