"Sparking! ZERO" Official Announcement, Pre-, & Post-Release Discussion Thread

[Scsigs]

I would question why they’re porting this game to a console that’s nearly a decade old at this point, but then again, the original Switch is just behind the PS2 as the best selling video game console of all time, so I guess it’s not too surprising. I would much prefer that they didn’t bother though.

The OG Switch has sold over 100 million units. They'd be dumb NOT to do it if they're porting to Switch 2.

I wonder, if Switch will get "Complete Edition" with all DLCs like in the past and it will be like, tadah, here is the complete game and they will move on.

But I could potentially see bigger problem, with all that rights shenanigans in the background. The support was quite steady for all games in the past, with the exception of FighterZ in the end and the ArcSys fallout with Bandai afterwards, as per rumor ArcSys declined being pushed by Bandai demands versus cost and they split and Bandai supposedly developed the rollback netcode themselves instead of ArcSys.
Xenoverse 2, they went out with the Future content and somehow, it got stuck after Episode 2... with Daima DLC being quite barebones.
And while Kakarot is the only game being steady, SZ is definitely in the biggest post-launch support hell with it being rushed game for release with visible missing features and cut content.

I feel like we are back to Covid times and that besides the DB rights issues, Bandai might be hitting the diminishing returns model and going to hell like the rest of the companies and it would make sense.
With my friends in the industry we discuss for last 4 years, how the bigger creative and media companies we worked or work for are always scaling up and looking to grow more, year by year, to please investors which is the primary focus instead of creating long-term value and wholesome service or goods. Put into layman terms to not having to kill the fun board with off-topic economics and to make it easy in english for me as well.
This alienates costumers, who won't return "the cash", syphons money from investors to keep the biz afloat and basically fuels the bubble of the world where the money and power gets centralized in monopoly of big brands and individuals with the single goal of efficient profit, always having to grow with sky as the limit.
Similar thing now happens with AI, with people starting to ignore the uncanny valley of AI slop choking the space and by numbers, most users favor people created content by a huge margin, with some sites and services already considering crawl pay model, to put a paywall block to AI models cannibalizing creator content.

In this regard, I can see that after what they pulled with XV2 and continual support of some other titles as a fluke. They went "beyond" the expectations and now they might be thinking, OK, we need to scale this up profit-wise, for the least efficient amount of money, keeping the teams stretched thin... Also, XV2 is an old game by all standards and can be updated/modded with less work than current gen title like SZ.
That SZ sold that well in the state it was released in, doesn't give us as customers the advantage as well, as it proved something to the people in charge and they will reflect this in their agenda.

They would've announced a "complete" edition of the game if Switch was going to get 1. They're not doing that, they're porting the game 100% & separating the base game from the DLCs already released. Bandai love their money.

I'm assuming the Future Saga Chapter 3's gotten a bit delayed because of all the content that came out for the other games. They have 3 different games currently getting support at the same time right now & it's more economical to spread out the content than drop it all at once. Dimps probably also needed the extra time to develop it & Chapter 4, especially since Daima came out & they probably wanna play around with it in the story since the Future Saga started experimenting with Super's content more than just the newer Super Saiyan & Golden Freeza forms. They really raised the bar with these last 2 DLCs & probably wanna keep that same energy with the next 2 parts. It's probably why they just put out DLC based on Daima, which also would take some time to make. Plus, they can then use those characters in the future DLCs without any problems.

We don't know if any rights issues would be affecting Bandai, since they seem to have the master license for DB video games. I doubt that a feud between the rights holders of the franchise is really holding up development of the games or their DLCs, tbh. Between XV2, SZ, & Kakarot, they have 3 different games that appeal to different sects of the fanbase. Kakarot for those who enjoy a single player action adventure game that recreates the story of the manga & animes, XV2 for those who like to play co-op games with friends, & SZ for those who loved the BT games & the fighting games of the franchise. The only thing I can see them doing that could add to this is if they had a Budokai 0 or something come out in the next few years.

SZ selling well is mostly because of nostalgia for the BT series & Bandai knows that. It's why they wanted a new entry into that series. However, with the poor state of the game & the playerbase rapidly dying off as much as it has since release, I think Bandai have also learned that they need to stop rushing out games & let their devs continue to work until they're done with the base game because a lot of people have called them out for doing that online. I think they'll handle things more smartly in the future, tbh.

[Koitsukai]

Things I think the game could improve or add: SS Vegeta and SS Goku from before the ROSAT.
The armored SS Vegeta has a very defined hair, while the one that fought A-19, A-18, Cooler and A-13 had plain yellow hair, no details.
Same for Goku during that time.
Now, there is a version of Goku with big, fluffy, undefined SS hairstyle(Mid), the one on Namek and with the Yadrat clothes. The next Goku in line (End), has post-ROSAT hair and SS2 and SS3.
I believe there's a Goku missing (yeah, I know, 40 different Gokus and I want one more), the one that fought A-19, A-13, Cooler. I don't think we need to get yet other Goku, but a skin with different hair would suffice. Or even better, add the Cell arc gi to Mid Goku, and just a less defined hair for SS Vegeta.

And, something they wouldn't do in a million years: change the color palette for SS. I've seen some mods and they nailed the white-ish yellow color of SS. Specially without an aura.

[MCDaveG]

I would question why they’re porting this game to a console that’s nearly a decade old at this point, but then again, the original Switch is just behind the PS2 as the best selling video game console of all time, so I guess it’s not too surprising. I would much prefer that they didn’t bother though.

The OG Switch has sold over 100 million units. They'd be dumb NOT to do it if they're porting to Switch 2.

I wonder, if Switch will get "Complete Edition" with all DLCs like in the past and it will be like, tadah, here is the complete game and they will move on.

But I could potentially see bigger problem, with all that rights shenanigans in the background. The support was quite steady for all games in the past, with the exception of FighterZ in the end and the ArcSys fallout with Bandai afterwards, as per rumor ArcSys declined being pushed by Bandai demands versus cost and they split and Bandai supposedly developed the rollback netcode themselves instead of ArcSys.
Xenoverse 2, they went out with the Future content and somehow, it got stuck after Episode 2... with Daima DLC being quite barebones.
And while Kakarot is the only game being steady, SZ is definitely in the biggest post-launch support hell with it being rushed game for release with visible missing features and cut content.

I feel like we are back to Covid times and that besides the DB rights issues, Bandai might be hitting the diminishing returns model and going to hell like the rest of the companies and it would make sense.
With my friends in the industry we discuss for last 4 years, how the bigger creative and media companies we worked or work for are always scaling up and looking to grow more, year by year, to please investors which is the primary focus instead of creating long-term value and wholesome service or goods. Put into layman terms to not having to kill the fun board with off-topic economics and to make it easy in english for me as well.
This alienates costumers, who won't return "the cash", syphons money from investors to keep the biz afloat and basically fuels the bubble of the world where the money and power gets centralized in monopoly of big brands and individuals with the single goal of efficient profit, always having to grow with sky as the limit.
Similar thing now happens with AI, with people starting to ignore the uncanny valley of AI slop choking the space and by numbers, most users favor people created content by a huge margin, with some sites and services already considering crawl pay model, to put a paywall block to AI models cannibalizing creator content.

In this regard, I can see that after what they pulled with XV2 and continual support of some other titles as a fluke. They went "beyond" the expectations and now they might be thinking, OK, we need to scale this up profit-wise, for the least efficient amount of money, keeping the teams stretched thin... Also, XV2 is an old game by all standards and can be updated/modded with less work than current gen title like SZ.
That SZ sold that well in the state it was released in, doesn't give us as customers the advantage as well, as it proved something to the people in charge and they will reflect this in their agenda.

They would've announced a "complete" edition of the game if Switch was going to get 1. They're not doing that, they're porting the game 100% & separating the base game from the DLCs already released. Bandai love their money.

I'm assuming the Future Saga Chapter 3's gotten a bit delayed because of all the content that came out for the other games. They have 3 different games currently getting support at the same time right now & it's more economical to spread out the content than drop it all at once. Dimps probably also needed the extra time to develop it & Chapter 4, especially since Daima came out & they probably wanna play around with it in the story since the Future Saga started experimenting with Super's content more than just the newer Super Saiyan & Golden Freeza forms. They really raised the bar with these last 2 DLCs & probably wanna keep that same energy with the next 2 parts. It's probably why they just put out DLC based on Daima, which also would take some time to make. Plus, they can then use those characters in the future DLCs without any problems.

We don't know if any rights issues would be affecting Bandai, since they seem to have the master license for DB video games. I doubt that a feud between the rights holders of the franchise is really holding up development of the games or their DLCs, tbh. Between XV2, SZ, & Kakarot, they have 3 different games that appeal to different sects of the fanbase. Kakarot for those who enjoy a single player action adventure game that recreates the story of the manga & animes, XV2 for those who like to play co-op games with friends, & SZ for those who loved the BT games & the fighting games of the franchise. The only thing I can see them doing that could add to this is if they had a Budokai 0 or something come out in the next few years.

SZ selling well is mostly because of nostalgia for the BT series & Bandai knows that. It's why they wanted a new entry into that series. However, with the poor state of the game & the playerbase rapidly dying off as much as it has since release, I think Bandai have also learned that they need to stop rushing out games & let their devs continue to work until they're done with the base game because a lot of people have called them out for doing that online. I think they'll handle things more smartly in the future, tbh.

Thanks for the perspective and great point about the multiple support/timing of the games. Somehow, I didn't look at it as a whole and based on it being separate products with different gameplays, devs and price tags, I failed to comprehend it as one videogame franchise under one publisher. Which is baffling as I am an avid gamer and see cross-promo with Star Wars games all the time, not to mention, Kakarot Daima DLC being marketed through Sparking Zero channel on PS. That's quite important point to consider in all this.

On the other hand, the issue with rights, of course I don't take it as the main reason behind various setbacks on the level of ongoing work inside development studio, but it makes me wonder how the decision making works in this kind of situation. Bandai is the owner of games and othe merch under the IP, but they don't own the IP itself and can't run with it unchecked and without some level of high-level decision making and setting rules and boundaries.
Things like approving pitches and scope, of what they can do with the IP and what they can't (like utilizing characters from other games, IPs or changing story or other details, designs, etc.). I have expressed myself wrong in that regard or that simply isn't the case at all then.

I am more of a pessimist when it comes to coporate world, one thing being the secondhand publicly available info, second having first hand experience of working for such companies either by scale or in segment and third, getting insider info about the mismanagements of behemots like Disney, EA, Ubisoft and WB Games.
BUT, I really hope that after – what I'd like to consider an unprecedented stellar run in the franchise with XV, FighterZ and Kakarot – Sparking Zero situation is really just a fluke/accident/series of isolated bad decisions, which I feel can be still redeemed with updates and they will knock on their heads with realization, hey, we sold on promises but fans saw through it and it tanked a promising game in the process, let's not do it again. First and foremost, I want to just simply enjoy the games without having to nitpick and bitch about them on message boards

[Jord]

So, with that out of the way, on Switch 2, the gameplay in Sparking! ZERO apparently runs at a maximum resolution of 810p (varying, depending on dynamic resolution) and is 30fps across both docked and portable modes. Additionally, this version of the game supports HDR.

As for the original Switch version, its gameplay will supposedly be "fixed" at 720p in docked and 480p in handheld, with both modes running at 30fps (although it's apparently "24fps in some menus").

The Nintendo versions of the game will also include local multiplayer and motion controls. There will be a Switch update as well for the physical and digital versions of the title, allowing users to experience an "enhanced" version on the Switch 2

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/ ... n-detailed

[UpFromTheSkies]

I'm surprised it's getting released on Switch 1 at all, it's an 8 year old tablet that wasn't even considered very powerful when it was released. Switch 2 on the other hand should have no problems running it well, if they optimize it properly.

[gokugambitoptimus]

I think the sales aren't as good as people think so they need to release a Switch 1 version to try to obtain the results they need to consider the game a success or at least the numbers they thought the game could have get

Another hint is the radio silence about the future of the game

[FortuneSSJ]

What the hell happened to this game? I thought this would be another Xenoverse 2 with endless DLC content, but so far, nothing it seems?

[Hellspawn28]

The final DLC is taking forever. I want it to be done and over with it for we can get more from DB-GT.

[WittyUsername]

I’m not sure this game ever had a chance of having the longevity of XV2, but I was not expecting it to just sort of fizzle out after a couple of months.

[Hellspawn28]

It won't surprise me if they announce a complete edition and later announce a Sparking Zero 2 for 2026.

[miguelnuva1]

I think the sales aren't as good as people think so they need to release a Switch 1 version to try to obtain the results they need to consider the game a success or at least the numbers they thought the game could have get

Another hint is the radio silence about the future of the game

You forgot the numbers we got at launch? They're releasing a switch 1 version because the switch 1 was a massive success.

[MCDaveG]

I think the sales aren't as good as people think so they need to release a Switch 1 version to try to obtain the results they need to consider the game a success or at least the numbers they thought the game could have get

Another hint is the radio silence about the future of the game

The sales per unit were quite high. It sold 3 mil. in the first 24 hours...
Releasing it on Switch is just raking in more profit on top of that.

The last DLC will be make it or break it for me with Spanking Zero, if what one member suggests is true and they are juggling release dates to not overlap the various DLCs with other games like Kakarot, it inadvertedly creates a tension as people will think in classic meme fashion:
"More time to make the DLC better, right?" "RIGHT?!"
I am completely at peace with the expectation of it being 5 extra characters and "holy s**t, one exclusive costume!", as I lost all the hope for them to push it a bit for quality time and value towards the customer.
But, they can always surprise me and make me fall on my knees depending on the state of DLC, as the bar is pretty low now

[MCDaveG]

I’m not sure this game ever had a chance of having the longevity of XV2, but I was not expecting it to just sort of fizzle out after a couple of months.

It always has the chance, depending on the dev/publisher strategy. The game is good and enjoyable gameplay wise and ideal platform for adding content. You can add like 50 extra characters if you wanted, ton of accesories, even put more story character chapters or at least official customs at least.
The game itself was designed to handle all that.

Nobody expected the ongoing support of XV2 either and the game is a lot jankier than SZ (the gameplay is clunky still, roster is chaotic mess with characters tossed in as they go, weird transforming options and character variety, complete mess in character ballance as basic roster is powerscaling story mode fodder and DLCs are way overpowered which limits the options for simple versus mode, AI is really bad).

[Koitsukai]

These mod stages are very good. I hope the devs are aware of this, and jump into it as well, there are some good bucks they can make out of it.
The stages are the one thing that have gotten boring too soon for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i13t_1pCq2Q

[Mr Baggins]

Nobody expected the ongoing support of XV2 either and the game is a lot jankier than SZ (the gameplay is clunky still, roster is chaotic mess with characters tossed in as they go, weird transforming options and character variety, complete mess in character ballance as basic roster is powerscaling story mode fodder and DLCs are way overpowered which limits the options for simple versus mode, AI is really bad).

XV2 is a far worse game than SZ partly for the reasons you stated. "Content" means nothing if the foundation sucks ass.

Also, some of us need to get our expectations in check. This ain't a live service game, nor was it designed to be. People wanting to see new content updates every single month are being unrealistic and unreasonable, period, and they're never going to have that.

With all that said, there are valid criticisms to be made regarding SZ's post-launch condition. It will have been a whopping 5 months since the last DLC character pack by September, which is so completely out of the norm for this game's release schedule that it's hard to think something isn't afoot (most likely, they've been focusing on wrapping up development for the Switch versions). I'm still excited for it, but I won't disagree that constant delays kinda blow and the radio silence from Bandai's end doesn't help.

[Hellspawn28]

I feel like they add the old DBZ movies and GT into the story mode as different timelines. For example, The World's Strongest can happen in Piccolo's story where you have a what if where Gohan died instead of Piccolo leading up to DBZ Movie 2.

[miguelnuva1]

I feel like they add the old DBZ movies and GT into the story mode as different timelines. For example, The World's Strongest can happen in Piccolo's story where you have a what if where Gohan died instead of Piccolo leading up to DBZ Movie 2.

Worlds strongest and Tree of might work best ti me as what if Goku simply arrived earlier.

Goku takes down Nappa who doesn't plant the Saibaman since Kakarot is there and then the Vegeta fight goes better because they're are more distractions from the Z warriors against Great Ape Vegeta.

[Hellspawn28]

How they can use the old movies as timeline branches:

DBZ Movie 1 - They would have to create an episode before Raditz shows up for this to work.
DBZ Movie 2 & 3 - Take place after The Saiyans Attack (Defeat Nappa quickly)
DBZ Movie 4 - Takes place after the Goku's Back episode (Defeat Frieza without using the Spirit Bomb)
DBZ Movie 5 - This one is fine where it's at. Just create a new episode for Goku right after Namek.
DBZ Movie 6 - The what if where Goku finishes off Imperfect Cell is perfect for this one. Have it been set after that one.
DBZ Movie 7 - Take place after Super Vegeta (Defeat Perfect Cell quickly and without using Final Flash)
DBZ Movie 8-11: Have it be set after Vegeta and Trunks (Battle with Cell) in Vegeta's story
DBZ Movie 9 - If they ever do a story for "Teen" Gohan, this one is perfect for it.
DBZ Movie 12 - Takes place after Lust for Power in Gohan's story (Defeat Majin Buu quickly)
DBZ Movie 13 - Have it be set after Buu in Goku's story.

[WittyUsername]

I’m not sure this game ever had a chance of having the longevity of XV2, but I was not expecting it to just sort of fizzle out after a couple of months.

It always has the chance, depending on the dev/publisher strategy. The game is good and enjoyable gameplay wise and ideal platform for adding content. You can add like 50 extra characters if you wanted, ton of accesories, even put more story character chapters or at least official customs at least.
The game itself was designed to handle all that.

Nobody expected the ongoing support of XV2 either and the game is a lot jankier than SZ (the gameplay is clunky still, roster is chaotic mess with characters tossed in as they go, weird transforming options and character variety, complete mess in character ballance as basic roster is powerscaling story mode fodder and DLCs are way overpowered which limits the options for simple versus mode, AI is really bad).

As far as adding new characters go, I think the fact that the fighting in XV2 is so simplistic makes it a lot easier to throw in new characters compared to SZ.

[MCDaveG]

I’m not sure this game ever had a chance of having the longevity of XV2, but I was not expecting it to just sort of fizzle out after a couple of months.

It always has the chance, depending on the dev/publisher strategy. The game is good and enjoyable gameplay wise and ideal platform for adding content. You can add like 50 extra characters if you wanted, ton of accesories, even put more story character chapters or at least official customs at least.
The game itself was designed to handle all that.

Nobody expected the ongoing support of XV2 either and the game is a lot jankier than SZ (the gameplay is clunky still, roster is chaotic mess with characters tossed in as they go, weird transforming options and character variety, complete mess in character ballance as basic roster is powerscaling story mode fodder and DLCs are way overpowered which limits the options for simple versus mode, AI is really bad).

As far as adding new characters go, I think the fact that the fighting in XV2 is so simplistic makes it a lot easier to throw in new characters compared to SZ.

Also, visually, for sure, it's older less complicated game.
But I wouldn't say it's impossible, it will just take more time and effort Which they kinda have

But we'll see, XV2 has interesting update history and kinda set a precedent. Most people won't care as much as we do deep in details.