In conjunction with its debut today during the Summer Game Fest 2024 live stream, Bandai Namco has released a new “Release Date Announcement” trailer for the forthcoming DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO video game, revealing its 11 October 2024 international release date (following its 10 October 2024 release date for Japan, as separately announced):

The trailer showcases a wealth of new characters and story mode material (including player choices and “What If?”-styled scenarios). Bandai Namco’s upload also goes on to showcase additional product versions and pre-order bonus details:

• The pre-order bonus includes “6 characters early-unlock” (three versions each of Gogeta and Broli based on their Dragon Ball Super: Broly designs) plus one additional (undisclosed) playable character
• A “Premium Collector’s Edition” exclusive to the Bandai Namco Store includes a lenticular card, steelbook, diorama, Fusion World cards, season pass access and bonus items, etc.
• Of particular note, the “Season Pass” details indicate Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and Dragon Ball Daima content with “20+ playable characters”
• “Deluxe Edition” and “Ultimate Edition” versions include access to play the game three days ahead of release date and early access to downloadable content

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.