Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO’s first gameplay shows altered beam clashes and more characters

Bandai Namco has finally showcased more content for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, dropping a new video today offering our first extended look at its gameplay. This included breakdowns of a few returning features, mechanics that will debut in this title, and a host of characters joining the playable roster. 

One of the biggest questions asked upon Sparking! ZERO’s big reveal at The Game Awards in December was “will there be beam clashes?” The answer was previously confirmed to be yes, but it doesn’t look like it will be the same joystick-spinning struggles featured in the last Budokai Tenkaichi games. Instead, it looks like players will hit a button to provide a boost to their clash meter—though it’s unclear if that will be through timed presses or mashing the button. 

This might not be the only instance of beam clashes, however, since producer Jun Furutani referred to this specific exchange between Goku and Vegeta in the showcase as an “Ultimate Blast,” meaning normal beams could interact differently. 

The Dragon Rush style of movement returns but has been altered to feature a short dash variant that can seemingly be used in any direction for bursts of high-speed movement. Vanishing Assaults have also been added, which works similarly to the same feature in Dragon Ball FighterZ, allowing you to quickly teleport closer to your opponent. 

A new “Skill Count” has been introduced, adding a meter next to your character’s health and Ki bars that will build up throughout a battle. The higher your Skill Count, the more unique actions your character can perform, such as a Revenge Counter to break out of an opponent’s combo or Super Perception, which will let you deflect Ki Wave attacks like the Kamehameha. A new type of boost that looks like the return of Max Power mode was shown, though no additional details were shared. 

Along with the feature showcase, the game looks incredible and almost anime-accurate with its animation. Billowing clothing and hair, destructible environments, shimmering Ki blasts, and excellent shading are clearly making use of the current-gen hardware to put out a product worth the franchise’s scale. “We believe that these new features will make the battles more Dragon Ball-like and more strategic,” Furutani said. 

At the very end of the presentation, we got another multi-character trailer, revealing Future Trunks, Dypso, Kakunsa, Master Roshi, Nappa, Toppo, Burther, Jeice, Kale, and more confirmation that Super Broly from the Dragon Ball Super era will appear. The roster presents a nice mix of classic and DBS characters, which is something the developers are trying to focus on to appeal to new and old fans. 

We still don’t have a release window for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO but we should see more trailers dropping over the next several months as more content is ready to be shared.