Following up on last week’s release date trailer, Bandai Namco has released a new “Game Mode Showcase” trailer for the forthcoming video game Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO detailing options for both single- and multi-player experiences:
In the game’s single-player “Episode Battle” mode, players take the point of view from eight total characters (including Goku and Vegeta) to experience battles from throughout the franchise (which the trailer specifically calls out as just “Dragon Ball Z” and “Dragon Ball Super”). Each stage includes a unique introduction before throwing players into battle. The number of stages and battles vary by character in this mode; an example given is Goku, whose “Episode Battle” experience has the largest number of stages, and goes from his confrontation with Raditz up through the Tournament of Power. Certain stages allow the player to make a choice that may differ from the original story, allowing new outcomes to happen — an example highlighted is Goku turning Super Saiyan during his battle with Great Ape Vegeta on Earth.
The “Custom Battle” mode is just that: a series of custom fights not necessarily ripped from the original story; examples with Mr. Satan going up against a lineup of powerful opponents are displayed throughout this showcase. Within the “Custom Battle” mode are additional “Bonus Battles” with different victory conditions and cutscenes during gameplay. “Edit Mode” allows players to create their own “Custom Battle” conditions with altered pre- and post-battle cutscenes, which can then be uploaded and shared online for others to play.
The topic of local multiplayer/versus battles was also addressed, with the explanation that priority was given to to visual effects (such as weather changing in response to the characters’ energy) and destructible environments, which led to the initial implementation of only online multiplayer/versus battles. In response to feedback, however, the game will now feature this local option, though only on a single stage: the Room of Spirit and Time (which inherently has much less of an environment to account for). Due to the game’s previous priorities and development cycle, while this option will now be availabe to players, there are some unique quirks to this mode, such as players not being able to choose their characters at the same time.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is slated for release on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Steam) 10 October 2024 in Japan, and 11 October 2024 internationally.
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.