A short promotional video for Bardock — one of the first two characters revealed as paid downloadable content for Dragon Ball FighterZ — has been released showcasing some of his special moves
The video concludes with a glimpse at the in-game alternate colors, player lobby character, and Z-Stamp that will accompany him for those that pay for access to the character.
Bardock — originally designed by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru — debuted in the first Dragon Ball Z television special in October 1990. He would later be incorporated into the manga in chapter 307 by Akira Toriyama himself. Following that, Bardock’s exploitation in ancillary media has ranged from the “Masked Saiyan” in Dragon Ball Online (and later Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2) to a completely rewritten back-history in the “Dragon Ball Minus” bonus chapter of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman.
The game’s optional $34.99 “FighterZ Pass” covers eight additional playable characters over the game’s base roster; Bardock and Broli are the first of these eight. Bandai Namco UK reports the first character DLC will be available 28 March 2018.
The 3-on-3, “2.5D” fighting game is developed by Arc System Works for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam). The game runs at a 1080p resolution and 60fps frame rate, with higher resolutions available on the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X consoles, as well as the PC. Playable characters include Son Goku, Son Gohan (Cell arc design), Vegeta, Freeza, Cell, Boo (Good), Trunks, Piccolo, Kuririn, #16, #18 (with #17), Yamcha, Tenshinhan (with Chiaotzu), Ginyu (with teammates), Nappa (with Saibaimen), Gotenks, Son Gohan (Boo arc design), Boo (Pure), Hit, Beerus, and Goku Black (with Zamasu), as well as “Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan” (SSGSS, or “Super Saiyan Blue”) versions of Goku and Vegeta that can be accessed early via pre-orders or unlocked through gameplay. The Akira Toriyama-designed “#21” has also been revealed as a new character central to the game’s story mode. Upcoming paid DLC characters are set to include Broly and Bardock, along with at least six other characters.
Dragon Ball FighterZ was released 26 January 2018 in North America and Europe, and 01 February 2018 in Japan.
Alongside its Japanese release, Bandai Namco announced that they had shipped two million copies of the game, making it the fastest-shipping game in the franchise’s history.
Arc previously worked on Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as the Super Sonic Warriors games (Bukū Tōgeki and Bukū Ressen) on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. The developer is otherwise known for their Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series of fighting games.