‘Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO’ Should Be the Baseline of All Anime Fighters

No matter who you are, you’ve likely encountered Dragon Ball Z in some way, shape, or form. Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is a love letter for that nostalgia. Whether it ruled your life, or you tried to convince your friends that you could absolutely go Super Saiyan if you yelled loud enough, it powered the childhoods of many of us who grew up in the ’90s and early aughts. Dragon Ball Z also fueled plenty of our gaming memories, whether it was the Super Butoden series on the Super Nintendo or the much more popular Budokai franchise on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. Dragon Ball fans were eating good.

That’s why it hurt when Bandai Namco decided to seemingly put quality on the backburner and focus on quantity when it came to arena fighters in the most recent generation of consoles. Seeing popular anime like Jujutsu Kaisen receive a barebones experience like Cursed Clash hurt my soul while leaving great franchises like Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm to collect dust — chasing easy cash grabs. I wasn’t sure they had it in the bag when I heard they were rebooting the Budokai Tenkaichi series for a new generation.

Oh, how wrong I was.

‘Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero’ is the spiritual successor we deserve

After seeing the initial reveal trailer, I was understandably hyped to see a major building block of my childhood revitalized. Seeing Goku zipping around familiar stages, rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, seemed like a fever dream. But, the taste of extreme mediocrity still lingered in my mouth from countless other anime fighters. I was pessimistic about the idea of seeing a childhood memory dug up and paraded around once again.

That all changed when I booted up Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO for the first time, however. It feels like when Milhouse booted up Bonestorm for the first time in “Marge Be Not Proud.” The hair on my arms was standing on edge, sound blasting out of my soundbar, and my floor shaking from the impact of hits. It was a glorious return to form and should be the absolute baseline for any arena fighter going forward. I just wish I could put my name as “Thrillhouse” here.

It brings me back to a time when character balancing wasn’t the most important thing; it’s just all about fun. Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO harkens back to a time often forgotten. It feels, in some ways, like a healing tool. It’s a reminder that the pangs of nostalgia can be answered in more ways than one.

It’s amazing to see the world of Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO brought to life. It’s incredible to think that in 2024, there’s a chance an anime arena fighter could legitimately be considered the game of the year. Seeing the online discourse regarding Yajirobe being the ultimate character is hilarious, to say the least. It shows that nature is healing; who needs balance when Muscle Man from Regular Show can whoop up on Goku with ease?