Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release times, gameplay, trailers, and news

When is the Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date? While its subtitle may be unfamiliar to Western audiences, Sparking Zero is the long-awaited Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 4. After a 16-year hiatus, publisher Bandai Namco has drafted in Spike Chunsoft – the original studio at the helm of Budokai Tenkaichi – to ensure Sparking Zero remains an authentic Dragon Ball experience for fans and newcomers alike, and we’ve got all the latest surrounding its release date.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero ushers the popular 3D arena brawler onto current-gen platforms, and we expect it to take advantage of all the latest tech to ensure the fighting game looks and feels as smooth as ever. Aside from the core gameplay mechanics that define the Budokai Tenkaichi series, Sparking Zero is also set to include “genre-defining features” to create “one of the most immersive anime game experiences of all time” according to Bandai Namco CEO Arnaud Muller. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero will release on Friday, October 11, 2024 at 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 10pm BST / 12am CET / 9am AEDT.

Bandai Namco announced this release date in a trailer following Summer Games Fest 2024. Dragon Ball Sparking Zero will be available on PC via Steam, as well as on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S for console users.

Players who purchase the Deluxe Edition are eligible for early access, which is available three days prior to the official release date. The Deluxe Edition also includes the Season Pass that unlocks early access to over 20 playable characters from Dragon Ball Super Hero and Dragon Ball Daima, as well as Shenron as a bonus.

The Ultimate Edition comes with Super Shenron and the Ultimate Upgrade pack, which includes a Goku (Super) Costume with Power Pole, one customization item, an emote voice set, and two-player card backgrounds. Pre-orders for all versions include unlocks for all Gogeta and Broly’s forms and an additional playable character.

There’s also a possibility that Dragon Ball Sparking Zero might be an upcoming Game Pass game, given that we’ve seen Dragon Ball FighterZ on Game Pass back in 2022. However, Bandai Namco has not indicated it will be available on the subscription service at launch.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero trailers

An official reveal trailer for Budokai Tenkaichi 4 was first shown at Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball Battle Hour in March 2023. This brief teaser features Goku’s transformation into Super Saiyan Blue in a seamless transition from Budokai Tenkaichi 3 into the next installment of the series. While it didn’t confirm the name of the latest entry, the trailer served as our first real indication that the Budokai Tenkaichi series was set to continue.

Announcement trailer

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero was officially revealed in an announcement trailer that aired during The Game Awards 2023. The trailer opens with gameplay footage of Goku and Vegeta duking it out in the Gizard Wasteland, trading Kamehameha and Galick Gun attacks before simultaneously transforming into Super Saiyan Blue in an explosion of Ki energy. We’re also afforded a preview of just some of the most prominent fighters in the roster, including Freiza, Piccolo, Krillin, Trunks, and Cel.

Goku VS Vegeta trailer

The ‘Goku VS Vegeta’ trailer gave us a more in-depth look at the moment-to-moment combat of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero with a showdown between long-time rivals Goku and Vegeta. The gameplay trailer also showcased the breadth of Sparking Zero’s Saiyan transformations, including Super Saiyan God and Great Ape. While we expect Sparking Zero to chart the course of Goku and Vegeta’s turbulent rivalry-turned-friendship.

Power VS Speed trailer

The ‘Power VS Speed’ trailer showcases 11 new characters for Dragon Ball Sparking Zero including, Super Trunks, Master Roshi, Nappa, Burter, Jeice Super Saiyan Broly, Hit, Super Saiyan Kale, Toppo, Dyspo, and Kakunsa. They can be seen fighting it out in various maps and arenas, and although we get a glimpse of each of their abilities, the battle between speed and power is at the forefront of this trailer, but which is better?

Master & Apprentice trailer

The trailer titled ‘Master & Apprentice’ dropped on April 30, giving fans a look at 10 new Dragon Ball characters. Some of these revealed characters won’t come as a surprise to anyone, we always knew Gohan was going to be part of the game, but Sparking Zero has even included Future Gohan from Trunks’ alternate future. In terms of the master and apprentice partnerships, we see Master Roshi training Yamcha and Krillin, Whis sparring with Beerus, Gohan teaching Videl, and Future Gohan training with Future Trunks.

Fused Warriors trailer

Sparking Zero will also have fusion mechanics, as shown in the Fused Warriors trailers, spanning multiple Dragon Ball series. That means fighters such as Trunks and Goten in their Dragon Ball Z Buu Saga child forms and Caulifa and Kale from Dragon Ball Super are joining the already massive roster. These fighters can use the fusion dance to transform Trunks and Goten into Gotenks or the Potara Earrings to combine Caulifa and Kale into Kefla.

Of course, Goku and Vegeta also have these same transformation methods as Vegito Blue and Gogeta Blue, so you can blow away your opponent with powerful energy blasts. In addition, Fuzed Zamasu from Dragon Ball Super will also join the roster. There’s also a hint that the next news we’ll get will be during Summer Game Fest 2024.

Release Date Announcement trailer

Next, we finally saw the Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date trailer. Not only did this 96-second snippet give us a plethora of cinematic-level gameplay from every major Dragon Ball arc from Z to Super, but the official 11 October launch date as well.

Game Mode Showcase

For those keen to see some first looks into the variety of brawls Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, that’s what the Game Mode Showcase from June 2024 is for. A six-minute featurette starring the game’s producer, Jun Furutani,  the Game Mode Showcase took us through exactly what its name implies – more ways to play the DB brawler. These include the two Episode Battles and Custom Battles game modes alongside the Local Multiplayer mode.

Sword vs Fists trailer

Getting closer to its October release, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero wasn’t afraid to go in on the fun with its Sword vs Fists trailer. With the theme of wielding a blade or fighting bare-handed, Bandai Namco took the opportunity to show off the techniques of particular characters.

Along with favorites like Super Vegito and Jiren, we even got to see some more obscure and minor characters like Ribrianne, Yajirobe, Spopovich, Dabura, Goku Black (Super Saiyan Rosé), and the king himself – Mr. Satan.

Saiyan & Namek Sagas Character trailer

We got a closer look at the Namek saga, showing off the Ginyu Force in action, as well as Saga-specific outfits for Goku and Frieza. There’s also confirmation of every Frieza form being playable, including his weird lizard transformation that was shown for a few episodes in the anime.

Android Saga Character trailer

The Android Saga trailer begins with Future Trunks taking down Mecha Frieza and King Cold, before showing off Dr. Gero and his deadly androids. There’s also every version of Cell, including his Cell Jr minions, and the first look at Teen Gohan in Super Saiyan 2.

50 Days From Now trailer

Revealed at Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live event at Gamescom 2024, the ’50 Days From Now’ trailer shows off several fights with some characters we haven’t seen before. We got a glimpse of Goku wearing his outfit from the alien planet where he learned how to perform the instant transmission technique. There’s also a brief cutscene showing Goku and Teen Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber as they prepare for their encounter with Cell, giving us a glimpse of the game’s story mode.

Full roster trailer

In this 11-minute long trailer, the first half of the video begins with the developer talking about the game’s content, including what game modes are available. We also get a close look at each of the story arcs, showing off over one hundred characters, including some surprises like the villains from the Dragon Ball Z movies.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero gameplay

Despite the half-decade since Budokai Tenkaichi 3’s release, the Dragon Ball Sparking Zero gameplay we’ve seen so far remains remarkably faithful to its predecessors. Players can choose from an extensive roster of beloved Dragon Ball characters and go head-to-head in expansive arenas. Combat extends from the ground to the sky, as characters unleash their signature abilities and techniques to reduce their opponent’s health bar to zero.

The Sparking Zero announcement trailer invites players to ‘shake the earth’ and ‘break the heavens’, and appears to confirm that battle arenas will be fully destructible. Even from the first trailers, we see Goku and Vegeta topple the rock pillars of the Gizard Wasteland using their Ki abilities, but we also caught a glimpse of Frieza sending his Supernova attack down to Namek’s surface, causing the landscape to crack open and be consumed by boiling lava.

The Dragon Ball Sparking Zero roster features 182 characters at launch, with three additional DLC packs set to arrive in the future. The DLC will include content from the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie, and the upcoming series, Dragon Ball Daima.

The Budokai Tenkaichi series is known for its inclusion of non-canonical attacks and references, and a recent Saikyo Jump magazine scan appears to confirm that Goku’s Super Dragon Twin Fists technique from Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn is included in Sparking Zero. We expect other movie-exclusive attacks and characters to appear as well.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero modes

Among the confirmed Dragon Ball Sparking Zero game modes are:

• Episode Battles – you’ll be able to choose from among eight fighters to relive key moments during the Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super sagas. You’ll also be able to alter key decisions to change the timeline, such as awakening Goku’s Super Saiyan form by having Vegeta kill Krillin or having both Vegeta and Trunks be the ones who kill Cell.
• Custom Battles – this gives players the ability to create, play, and even share their scenario creations with players around the world. This includes altering win conditions, setting characters, and creating pre-battle and post-battle cutscenes.
• Local multiplayer – allows two fighters on the same device to duel each other in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber stage. No other stages are available and you can’t select the same character as another player.
• Online multiplayer – allows fighters on different devices to fight against each other without the restrictions in place in local multiplayer.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero news

During an interview with Dragon Ball enthusiast Laun Le Mal, the Sparking Zero developers confirmed that local split-screen multiplayer is not available. This decision is reportedly due to complications with Sony and Microsoft, but with the caveat that the developers are aware of its popularity and may be able to implement it in the future. However, Fusion characters such as Gotenks and Vegito are confirmed to appear despite the split-screen omission.

The story mode in Dragon Ball Sparking Zero features content that takes place from the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, including all the movies, until the end of the Tournament of Power arc in Dragon Ball Super.

Now that you’re all set for the Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date, check out some of the upcoming PC games you might want to take for a spin before you don your battle armor. We’ve also got some of the best multiplayer games if you and your pals need to brush up on your reflexes before you reacquaint yourselves with the Budokai Tenkaichi series.