Bandai Namco has released a brand new trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO that confirms the fan-favorite characters from Akira Toriyama's popular shonen franchise will be playable in the upcoming fighting game. The gameplay trailer, titled Master and Apprentice, highlights action-packed battles featuring adult Gohan, Beerus, Whis, Videl, and Future Trunks. The cutscene-quality fights will surely remind fans of the Toei Animation's anime adaptation of the series.
The trailer also shows Piccolo sparring with young Gohan, followed by an older two-armed Gohan and Videl training together, and concludes with one-armed Future Gohan fighting Future Trunks in the ruins of West City. The Dragon Ball games rarely touched on the one-armed Future Gohan, so it's interesting to see that Sparking! ZERO is featuring it here as it seems to be taking a more story-driven approach.
The trailer also shows the God of Destruction Beerus and angel Whis training together. There's also a look at Master Roshi and Androids 17 and 18 in their villain era. It looks like the game will focus more on Dragon Ball Z's storylines instead of the more recent Dragon Ball Super sagas as the trailer doesn't show any of the newer characters and transformations. Watch the latest trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO from the official YouTube channel of Bandai Namco below:
The official description for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO reads:
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO takes the legendary gameplay of the Budokai Tenkaichi series and raises it to whole new levels. DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO has an incredible number of playable characters, each with signature abilities, transformations and techniques. Unleash the fighting spirit within you and take the fight to arenas that crumble and react to your power as the battle rages on.
Is there a Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Release Date?
The official website of Bandai Namco hasn't listed an official release date for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, which is set to launch for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It's worth noting that the game got an ESRB rating in March, which indicates that it'll likely be released sometime this year.
Spike Chunsoft is developing Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, and it was rated T for Teen, which is typical for a Dragon Ball game, but the change from "Rating Pending" to an actual classification means that the game is likely going to release soon. Based on the launch dates of past Budokai Tenkaichi games, it's likely that Sparking! ZERO will be released in October 2024 or November for the 20th anniversary of the series.
