The latest Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero update has rolled out and introduced a new limited-time game mode, various tweaks to combat, battle enhancements, balancing changes, and more. It is currently live for all Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero players across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
As soon as it came out on October 11, 2024, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero produced instant results for Japanese studio Spike Chunsoft, selling over three million copies on its launch day. Thanks to the headstart, the Bandai Namco-published fighting title, which is the sequel to 2007's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, eventually also became the all-time best-selling Dragon Ball game in the US. Since its release, Sparking Zero has faced criticism in important areas, such as balancing, which especially affect the multiplayer aspect of the game. Its most recent update addresses these concerns, in addition to a few other changes.
Every Playable Character in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero (Full Sparking Zero Roster)
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero seems destined to have more playable characters than any of the Budokai Tenkaichi games that came before it.
With the new update, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero received a brand-new mode, called Legendary Warrior Face-Off, for a limited period of time. This mode lets players push themselves in battles against "an extremely powerful character." Moreover, a wide range of changes have been made to the game modes. For instance, the Custom Battle mode now offers even more options when it comes to choosing effects, situations, and text. While the culprits for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's quitter issue finally have to sit through a wait-time before their online matches, the Quick Match mode has been optimized for players to speed up matchmaking in the latest patch. In the Battle Setup, players now get a quick overview of controls during character selection, whereas a "Guarding After Attacks" option has been added for matches against the CPU in Training mode. On top of that, in Episode Battle, the option to change difficulty is available regardless of whether the player is using a Dragon Orb or not.
Further, a flurry of balancing changes have been implemented to Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's combat. On one hand, moves such as High-Speed Evasion, Perception, Super Perception, and Super Counter have been made harder to execute. On the flip side, Rush Attack, Grand Slash, and Chase Change have been improved in favor of those using them. Adding to that, Wild Sense has been nerfed, whereas Overall Automatic Avoidance Skills have been made harder to use. Skill Count consumption for certain abilities, namely Kaioken and Ta-dah, has been dialled down.
Although Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero experienced a remarkably fruitful launch, its player count has been decreasing alarmingly over time, owing to multiple factors including in-game exploits and balancing issues. However, updates like this one are aimed at tending to such shortcomings and improving the player experience. Post the latest tweaks, fans now await the release of Sparking Zero's first DLC arriving on January 23.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Version 2008.007.003.005.004 Patch Notes
Game Mode Adjustments
Legendary Warrior Face-Off (New): This mode, where you can face-off against an extremely powerful character, has been added for a limited time. (You cannot select
this mode outside of the period.)
Game Mode Adjustments
Episode Battle: It is now possible to change the difficulty even when using a Dragon Orb.
Custom Battle: More situations, effects, and text that you can set have been added.
Player Match:
- Quick Match has been changed so that you do not enter a room and instead get immediately matched with an opponent.
- We have also added "Quick Room Search" for Quick Match.
Ranked Match: A wait time has been added before matching begins as a penalty based on the number of times you have disconnected.
Battle Setup: You can now see the controls explanation when selecting a character.
Training: The option "Guarding After Attacks" has been added when playing against
a CPU.
Battle System Adjustments
Charge Attacks (Smash Attack or Rush Chain): You will no longer recoil while charging when receiving a Rush Attack or Rush Ki Blast from an opponent in Sparking! Mode.
Rush Attack: It is now harder to mistakenly input a Smash Attack during Rush Attacks.
Grand Slash: Hitting an opponent that is falling from a Grand Slash with another Grand Slash will now cause them to be blown away spinning.
Rush Ki Blast: You will no longer be able to perform a High-Speed Evasion when being hit.
Smash Ki Blast: You will now be easier to hit when firing while moving.
Perception/Super Perception:
- A certain amount of Ki will now be consumed upon activation.
- After finishing the move, the time until the next action is able to be performed has been increased.
Super Counter: Time between being able to perform an input has been increased after unsuccessfully performing the move.
Speed Impact: The timing for being able to input again after the move finishes has been made later.
Chase Change: Damage from Giant Characters has been reduced when Chase Changing into them.
Impact Recovery:
When blown back from Lift Strike, holding the button down will activate Impact Recovery once you hit the ground.
Also, when blown back and spinning, holding the button down will activate Impact Recovery once you hit the ground.
Skill Adjustments
Overall Automatic Avoidance Skills (e.g., Wild Sense): The opponent will no longer be able to use these skills when performing a combo and continuing the combo with a Rush-In.
Wild Sense: Attack damage has been reduced.
Kaioken: Skill Count consumed has been reduced (only for Goku (Z - Early)).
Ta-dah!: Skill Count consumed has been reduced.
All I Need Is Five Seconds!: Ki will be fully recovered.
Other
User-friendliness and performance stability have been improved.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 86%
- Released
- October 11, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Spike Chunsoft
- Publisher(s)
- Namco Bandai
WHERE TO PLAY
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO takes the legendary gameplay of the Budokai Tenkaichi series and raises it to whole new levels. Become a super warrior and experience the earth-shaking, limit-breaking power of DRAGON BALL battles!
Unleash the strength of over 180 fighters from DRAGON BALL Z, DRAGON BALL Super, DRAGON BALL GT, and selected DRAGON BALL movies, all in the base game! Each character comes with their own signature abilities, transformations, and techniques.
Make the destructive power of the strongest fighters ever to appear in DRAGON BALL yours!
Engage in heart-pounding, high-speed 3D battles that stay true to the anime and video game series, with breathtaking visuals and authentic combat moves like beam clashes, rush attacks, movements too quick for the eyes to see, and planet-razing ultimate attacks.
Challenge other players online to test your skills, or sit down with friends offline to hone your skills exclusively in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber! Fight your way to become a champion across various tournament modes and victory conditions.
Conquer the action-packed battles from the beloved original story, or discover and unlock new encounters for your favorite Z-Fighters and more. Relive your favorite moments from the series through cutscenes you can experience from the perspectives of eight characters!
Recreate your favorite battles from throughout the DRAGON BALL story, or set up your dream story battle with your favorite characters! Share your creations with other fans and experience the battles brought to life by imaginations around the world.
- Engine
- proprietary engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Dragon Ball
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Fighting, Action
- How Long To Beat
- 11 hours
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
