Dragon Ball Sparking Zero: 5 Things You Might Have Missed In The Trailers

Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO

By Shayan Hasan

Published Jun 16, 2024

The Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero trailers have been a blast to watch. Bandi Namco has been meticulous with its releases, slowly unveiling the game's characters, features, and mechanics with each new trailer. At first glance, fans might think that these trailers mostly focus on the game's graphics, animations, and characters, without offering much information about the finer details of the game. However, eagle-eyed viewers will notice that there's a lot more detail hidden within them, only apparent to those who watch closely.

The trailers reveal far more than just the characters and maps. Bandai Namco has cleverly sprinkled all kinds of details that hint at exciting new features, like a new story mode, improved cutscenes, and much more. When fans realize how much these trailers reveal about Sparking Zero, their excitement will soar to even greater heights.

Every Playable Character in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero seems destined to have more playable characters than any of the Budokai Tenkaichi games that came before it.

5 Animated Cutscenes

More Lively Than Ever

The previous Budokai Tenkaichi games had an amazing story mode that allowed players to experience practically every saga of Dragon Ball. However, they fell short in one key area: cutscenes. The animations were minimal, with characters simply standing in their fighting stances for most of the scene while the dialogue played out.

Sparking Zero is ready to change that. The latest trailers revealed that the game will feature animated cutscenes, akin to those in games like Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. This improvement will add a massive layer of depth to the game's story mode. Gamers can not only play through Dragon Ball's epic arcs, but also experience them through beautiful and dynamic cutscenes. Even more exciting, Sparking Zero boasts some of the best graphics ever seen in a Dragon Ball game. Fans will have the chance to see their favorite scenes from the show in a gorgeous new art style.

4 Choose Your Own Adventure Mode

A Fresh New Take On The Story Mode

A screenshot of the "What-If" story mode of Sparking Zero

Ever since Sparking Zero's announcement, fans have been curious about its story mode. Will it follow in the footsteps of its predecessors, or will it introduce something fresh? With the latest trailers, fans have finally gotten a peek at what Sparking Zero's story mode aims to bring. The game will feature a "choose-your-own-adventure" type story mode, where players will have the freedom to make important decisions that will make significant alterations to the story.

For example, one trailer showed a what-if scenario where Goku gets the choice to either fight Raditz with Piccolo or battle him alone. The latter option completely deviates from the canonical story, and those who remember the Saiyan Saga know how big of a change this decision could bring. If players are allowed to make these types of decisions throughout the story mode, the possibilities for unique and engaging storylines will be endless.

3 Shenron and Super Shenron

The Mighty Shenron Returns And Brings Super Shenron With Him

A highly underrated feature of the Budokai Tenkaichi series is the ability to summon Shenron. Budokai Tenkaichi 3 made the most of this feature by letting players unlock new stages, equipment, and even special characters using Shenron's powers. But since he hasn't made a direct appearance in the Sparking Zero trailers, fans may have believed that the Namekian dragon wouldn't be returning in the series' latest installment. For those fans, the release date announcement trailer brings some amazing news. At the very end, Shenron is advertised as part of the Season Pass Bonus. But that's not all — Shenron's much mightier counterpart, Super Shenron is advertised as part of the Ultimate Edition Bonus.

Things you didn't know about Shenron from Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball: 6 Things You Might Not Know About Shenron

Even longtime fans of Dragon Ball may not know these interesting tidbits about Shenron.

This fantastic news, as it confirms the return of Shenron and also introduces Super Shenron to the series. However, it begs the question: What will they offer? While it's likely that Shenron will offer similar perks to the ones he did in the previous games, Super Shenron opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. Fans can only wait until the game is released to see what the dragons have in store for them.

2 Team Ultimate Attacks

A Brand New Ultimate Attack Mechanic

Sparking Zero Caulifla and Kale Team Ultimate Attacks

Sparking Zero's gameplay showcase gave fans a ton of information about the game's mechanics, but one key feature many fans missed in the trailers was the introduction of Team Ultimate Attacks. In the Budokai Tenkaichi series, characters have always had a wide array of special attacks in their arsenal. However, previous installments never had a Team Ultimate Attack mechanic where characters could synergize together to fire off a combined attack. In the Sparking Zero trailers, fans can spot characters like Caulifla and Kale, as well as Goten and Trunks, pairing up to blast their opponents to smithereens with a Team Ultimate Attack.

It's impossible to overstate the excitement that this new mechanic brings, as countless possible character combinations could use Team Ultimate Attacks. Canonical pairs like Dyspo and Toppo, Android 17 and Android 18, and Piccolo and Gohan would only be the tip of the iceberg. Imagine the thrill of seeing non-canon combos like Frieza and Cooler teaming up to decimate their opponents with a combined attack.

1 Locked Characters

Players May Not Have Access To All The Characters From The Start

A screenshot of the Sparking Zero trailer showing the Pre-Order Bonus early character unlocks

Up until Budokai Tenkaichi 2, most of the characters in the roster would be locked at the start of the game, requiring players to progress through the game's story to unlock them. Budokai Tenkaichi 3 abandoned this idea, where almost all characters were unlocked right off the bat.

But fans who watched Sparking Zero's release date trailer all the way to the end will have noticed that the different forms of Gogeta and Broly appear as part of the game's Pre-Order Bonus. This hints that the game will likely reintroduce the concept of character unlocks. It may be a bit of a bummer for some fans, since it means that they might not be able to play with their favorite characters like Beerus and MUI Goku right from the start. However, does serve as a fun way to incentivize players to explore the game's campaign and other modes in hopes of unlocking new characters.