Bandai Namco has released a new “Master and Apprentice” trailer — both in English and Japanese — for the forthcoming DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO video game:
In addition to the 51 character blocks previously revealed, the new trailer announced the following playable characters:
- Piccolo
- Gohan (Youth)
- Turtle Hermit
- Kuririn
- Yamcha
- Videl
- Gohan (Adolescent)
- Beerus
- Whis
- Gohan (Future) + Super Saiyan
- Trunks (Future) + Super Saiyan
Of note regarding some of these character reveals:
- Videl is showcased in gameplay with both her longer and shorter hairstyles, though this is represented by a single block on the ending splash.
- The Turtle Hermit shown in the latest trailer is separated from the “Turtle Hermit (Max Power)” showcased in a previous trailer.
- The new Trunks inclusions are likewise broken out as new blocks in the final splash.
- The future version of Gohan is notably shown with a single arm; previous gaming adaptions and implementations have rendered the character with two arms still intact, even when only fighting with a single arm.
- Though a “standard” version of No. 17 is showcased fighting in the trailer, no block separate from the previously-revealed “Dragon Ball Super” version is shown in the final splash.
- Bandai Namco’s corresponding write-up for this trailer does not specifically call out No. 17 or No. 18 as part of the roster. No. 18 on her own has been seen in the final splash since the first character reveal trailer, however.
Though a specific release date has not been announced, Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is slated for release on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Steam).
As opposed to the completely separate Dragon Ball Z (“Budokai”) series developed by Dimps which came before it, the Sparking! series — developed instead by Spike — featured 3D arenas with an over-the-shoulder camera angle. The new game’s title of Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO falls more in line with the original trilogy’s naming scheme in Japanese. The three Sparking! games — the original, NEO!, and METEOR — hit the PlayStation 2 over the course of 2005 to 2007, with the Nintendo Wii also receiving ports of the second and third games. The game series was released numerically under the “Budokai Tenkaichi” moniker internationally. A fourth games — Tag Vs. in Japan; Tenkaichi Tag Team internationally — was released on the PlayStation Portable in 2010. Spike (as Spike Chunsoft) later went on to also develop the crossover fighting games J-Stars Victory VS in 2014 and Jump Force in 2019.