Dragon Ball Sparking Zero: 181 Fighters, €110 Price Tag

Sparking Zero: 181 Characters and a Slide-Based Story Mode

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero arrived in stores with a promise that felt like a statement: 181 playable characters, next-gen graphics, and direct heritage from the legendary Budokai Tenkaichi 3. The Ultimate Edition, antiestéticaturing early access and season passes, was priced at €110. On PC, using key reseller sites, the cost dropped to around €80. Initial enthusiasm was genuine: some skipped work to pick up the console and game on launch day, while others convinced friends via video call to buy immediately.

Two years after that release, opinion has split. Half argue it is a worthy successor and worth the money if you play extensively. The other half claim it is an interactive PowerPoint with a cut-down story mode, a deserted online lobby, and nonexistent balance. The gap between promises and reality likely best summarizes how licensed video games operate in the DLC era.

Price: €110 for Ultimate Edition, €80 via Key Sites

The first friction point was financial. The Ultimate Edition, offering three days early access before the official October 11 launch, sold for €110. The standard version was slightly cheaper, and PC key resale platforms saw prices fall to €80. Committed buyers reasoned that since the game would receive years of DLC, paying now for the full package made more sense than adding packs later.

That calculation has a downside. Pre-purchasing content that doesn't exist yet is effectively an interest-free loan to the publisher. When the anime music pack—one of the most obvious nostalgic draws—was sold separately, not included in the premium edition, the feeling of legal piracy spread even among those who defended the purchase. This isn't isolated; it's Bandai Namco's standard model, and buyers know it.

181 Characters: The Number Hiding the Cuts

The headline antiestéticature was 181 playable characters, spanning classic Dragon Ball through Super, including Toei movies, GT, and Daima. Comparison with Tenkaichi 3, which had around 161, became the main selling argument. But the count is misleading: many are transformation variants of the same warrior, and highly requested characters—Beast Gohan, Orange Piccolo, Gamma 1 & 2—were absent. They arrived later in paid packs.

The paradox is that despite 181 fighters, online play revolves only a few. Competitive matches focus on four or five characters with broken moves or infinite combos, while the rest—Cui, Dodoria, Zarbon, Tien, Chiaotzu, Burter, Jeice—are decorative. Trying to play as Yamcha for nostalgia lasts, at best, thirty seconds against a blue-haired Saiyan. Balance doesn't exist because the game isn't designed as a competitive fighter, but as an anime-styled collector simulator.

Story Mode: Slides, Artificial Difficulty, Alternate Paths

The campaign is another major criticism. Detractors note that cinematics were replaced by static images with text, a production saving presented as a manga-style homage. CPU difficulty, even at maximum, is described as inflated stats on a dummy: learn three patterns and spam them. Real challenge appears only in specific scenarios, like Piccolo vs. Frieza to unlock alternate paths.

Defenders argue the opposite: at max difficulty, you can beat almost any character, content is vast, and graphics are faithful to original art. Both may be true. The issue isn't ease or difficulty, but that the curve trinc no design logic: the AI is a formality and online is a wall. Between these extremes, there is nothing.

Empty Online and Defended Netcode

The harshest diagnosis targets multiplayer. Netcode is described as archaic, matchmaking takes long, and matches end with the same broken characters. Comparisons with Xenoverse 2, once considered inferior, have reversed: some now say the previous title is infinitely more fun, with dynamic fights and graphics closer to the anime. Ironically, Xenoverse 2 was also criticized for exactly these reasons in its time.

This pattern repeats with each license installment. Bombastic launch, incentivized pre-orders, fragmented DLCs, and an online community that empties within weeks. Those who bought Ultimate for €110 didn't pay for a game; they paid for early access to a permanently under-construction product. When the next title arrives, the cycle will begin again.

Context: A License That Sells Itself

Dragon Ball needs no marketing. The franchise has guaranteed success for decades, explaining why the game sold with minimal campaigns and communities organized themselves to buy. It also explains why publishers can cut cinematics, sell music packs separately, and leave online unfinished. The brand power makes buyers accept risk upfront.

Comparison with Tenkaichi 3 isn't just nostalgic. That game had fewer characters, worse graphics, and no patching capability. But it was complete: no packs, no passes, no fine print. Here, nostalgia doesn't distort; it describes a business model that no longer exists.

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The open question isn't whether Sparking Zero is better or worse than its predecessor. It's how long the formula of selling the license over the game will last. With 181 characters and a tiny online pool, the answer likely comes as a sequel. And then we'll pay €110 upfront again.