Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a high-speed 3D arena fighter and the latest entry in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series, released in October 2024 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam, with Nintendo Switch versions following in November 2025. The core combat preserves the signature mechanics of the Budokai Tenkaichi lineage, emphasizing fast aerial movement, beam clashes, rush attacks, and planet-scale ultimate techniques within destructible arenas that react dynamically to the action. Players can choose between Standard controls designed for new players and Classic controls that replicate the input scheme familiar to veterans of the series.

Several new mechanics expand on the established formula. The Skill Count system accumulates during combat and unlocks special abilities, rewarding players who maintain offensive pressure. Short Dash allows instantaneous repositioning, enabling dodges, charged attacks, and ki blasts to be chained into single fluid sequences. Revenge Counter gives defensive players the ability to absorb an incoming strike and immediately counterattack, capturing the rhythm of the anime's most intense exchanges. Super Perception extends the counter system to anticipate even ki wave attacks, and Vanishing Assault allows instant gap-closing offensive rushes. A per-character customization system lets players tailor loadouts to individual playstyles across the roster.

The game features 182 playable characters, surpassing the landmark roster of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3. Game modes include Episode Battle, a single-player story mode with branching choices that can alter canonical outcomes across Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super; Custom Battle, a creation suite allowing players to build and upload original battle scenarios; and Mission 100, a returning challenge mode from Budokai Tenkaichi 3 that added one hundred preset battles in a free update released on January 26, 2026.

Episode Battle is the primary narrative offering of Sparking! Zero, presenting single-player story scenarios from the perspectives of eight playable characters: Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Future Trunks, Frieza, Goku Black, and Jiren. Each character's campaign covers events drawn from Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, with the number and depth of cutscenes varying by character. Some sequences are presented in first-person perspective to heighten immersion, and branching decision points allow players to diverge from established story outcomes, creating alternate resolutions to iconic confrontations.

Additional characters including Krillin, Tien, Android 16, Android 17, Android 18, Vegito, Cooler, King Cold, Zarbon, Dodoria, Zamasu, and Fused Zamasu appear as temporarily playable fighters during specific mission sequences within other characters' campaigns. This design allows the full roster breadth to influence the story experience without requiring a dedicated campaign for each fighter. The Custom Battle mode further extends narrative possibilities by giving players editorial tools to build entirely original scenes, complete with selectable camera cuts, character poses, dialogue, facial expressions, and background music, all of which can be shared with other players online after the creator successfully completes their own creation.

Sparking! Zero arrives as the first mainline Budokai Tenkaichi entry in well over a decade, a gap that generated substantial anticipation following the game's announcement at the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour finals in March 2023. The original trilogy, particularly Budokai Tenkaichi 3 with its then-unmatched roster of 161 characters, had maintained a devoted following throughout the intervening years. Sparking! Zero directly addresses that legacy by exceeding the previous record with 182 fighters, signaling an explicit commitment to honoring what made the series distinctive.

The multiplatform release strategy, spanning PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and both Nintendo Switch generations, reflects Bandai Namco's intent to maximize the title's reach across the contemporary gaming landscape. Post-launch support including the Mission 100 free update demonstrates an ongoing content commitment. The game's combination of the Budokai Tenkaichi combat framework with modern hardware capabilities and an expanded roster positions it as a defining Dragon Ball title for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series generation.