Among Dragon Ball’s upcoming projects, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero stands out. Serving as the next entry in the acclaimed Budokai Tenkaichi 3D fighting game series, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero intends to carry on its legacy by giving fans the tools to faithfully recreate Dragon Ball’s battles. Uniting characters from across the franchise, Sparking Zero will immerse players in Dragon Ball’s high-flying martial arts and ki blasts with impressive cell-shaded characters and destructible environments. With the recent tragic passing of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero should be a fitting celebration of the world-renowned manga he created.

Currently, 40 characters and forms have been revealed for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero’s cast. Its launch roster was teased to have 164 slots, meaning plenty more Dragon Ball characters should be on their way. According to an early leak, adapting characters up to the end of Dragon Ball Super’s anime is Sparking Zero's priority at launch, which has held true so far. However, Dragon Ball Super movies should also be fair game, so Beast Gohan and Orange Piccolo should be included at Sparking Zero's launch.

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Predicting Dragon Ball Z: Sparking Zero's Roster Meta

Some assumptions about Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO's roster can be made based on the canonical strength of the characters involved.

Beast Gohan and Orange Piccolo Are A Big Deal For Modern Dragon Ball

The Beast Gohan and Orange Piccolo transformations both debuted in the 2022 film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Much of their popularity came from them being the first new transformations Gohan or Piccolo had received in canon Dragon Ball since Dragon Ball Z's Buu Saga. They also brought both characters back into relevance, significantly raising their power levels and justifying the duo having more screen time together. Fans had been worried about Dragon Ball forgetting its extended Z Warrior cast even after they were assembled for the Tournament of Power, so this was a good way to future-proof more characters for later storylines.

Dragon Ball’s Supporting Cast Have Needed New Forms For A Long Time

Notably, these forms also gave Gohan and Piccolo significant redesigns, something else they'd been in need of. Piccolo had long suffered from a static appearance, since Namekians only had fusions and giant forms as established transformations, but Gohan wasn't faring much better. His Ultimate form, also known as “Mystic” or “Potential Released” Gohan, amounts to a light-gray aura that can be stacked with basic Super Saiyan transformations. After even Dragon Ball FighterZ struggled to make that look cool, seeing Gohan finally get a unique transformation to match Goku's Ultra Instinct and Vegeta's Ultra Ego was cathartic.

New Forms Are Top Priority For Dragon Ball Games Like Sparking Zero

Beast Gohan and Orange Piccolo's main stumbling block is that they are recent additions to Dragon Ball, but Dragon Ball games are working to correct that. Apart from various mobile and arcade titles adding these forms, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 made them DLC in 2023. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero should also include them, but this time as part of its base roster. The lack of new Gohan and Piccolo forms across much of Dragon Ball’s life means that they haven't gotten many new forms or moves in games, either. It would be fitting for the return of Budokai Tenkaichi to include them in its refreshed and expanded cast.

There's No Reason Sparking Zero Can't Launch With DBS: Super Hero Content

Not to mention, even if the rumor of animated Dragon Ball Super characters taking priority proves accurate, Beast Gohan and Orange Piccolo should still be eligible for Sparking Zero alongside the Super Hero movie’s villains Gamma 1, Gamma 2, and Cell Max. Dragon Ball Super’s canonized Broly joining Sparking Zero's roster before his DBZ self is ample evidence that this can happen. Although Dragon Ball Super: Broly is an older film, Broly's inclusion still puts the Dragon Ball Super films on the table. With the release date of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero still uncertain, there should be plenty of time to include Beast Gohan and Orange Piccolo in the game’s initial cast.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero

Franchise

Dragon Ball

Platform(s)

PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Developer(s)

Spike Chunsoft

Publisher(s)

Namco Bandai

Genre(s)

Fighting , Action

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