Summary
- Even though Xenoverse makes altered timelines its whole thing, Sparking Zero's what-if scenarios blow it out of the water.
- Each one offers an interesting twist on Dragon Ball canon, from minor changes like Piccolo training Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to much bigger ones.
- I won't mention Gohan's one until you scroll further down, but oh my god.
Beyond letting you play as your own custom character, one of the staples of the series is its focus on what-if stories. games have almost always♛ had these kinds of alternate universe battles, and they’ve alway🍬s been a highlight, but Xenoverse was the first to base its entire setting around a messed-up timeline.
For the most part, though, Xenoverse’s approach to battles-that-could-have-been has always felt a little contrived. While there are some good moments like a corrupted Super Saiyan Godဣ Vegeta going up against Goku instead of Beerus, it mostly just involves villains being made stronger than they’re supposed to be so 🌞you c🌳an jump in and save the day.
Dragon Ball: Spar💫king Zero Review - And This Is To Go Even Further Beyond
Like a request for Shenron, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero𝄹 is pure wish-fulfilme꧂nt and exactly what fans have spent a decade and a half waiting for.
That works for the type of game that Xenoverse is, but it’s always felt like a missed opportunity to have a world like Conton City full of different versions of Dragon Ball characters and not do more with them. When confirmed that it’d have what-if battles and showed an example of Goku g𝓰oing Super Saiyan on Earth, I immediately knew that it understood the assignment better than Xenoverse.
Spoiler warning for Sparking Zero’s Sparking Episodes below. You’ve been warned.
Sparking Episodes Are Sparking Zero's Highlight
I had no idea just how far Spike Chunsoft would go, though. Not only is Sparking Zero full of little moments where you can choose an outcome or witness an alternate, usually happier, ending, but it also has bigger what-if scenarios known as Sparking Episodes. Each character with 🅠an Episode Battle has their own Sparking Episode and they’re all surprising in differentꦅ ways, but just as wish-fulfilling for a Dragon Ball nerd like myself.
The first E🌄pisode Battle I encountered was Goku’s, which has him surviving his encounter with Raditz. So far, so obvious, but that change leads to him training Gohan himself and preparing for the battle against Vegeta and Nappa without training with King Kai. Although this f𓆏easibly means he’s weaker without Kaioken, it also means he’s there to save Yamcha and Tien from dying like they normally do.
Giving Yamcha the respect he deserves is already a win in my book, but things get really interesting when he gꩲoes toe-to-toe with Vegeta. Without King Kai’s techniques, Krillin ends up being killed by Great Ape Vegeta, which causes Goku to go Super Saiyan early and wipe the floor with him.
Again, it’s not the most surprising what-ifღ scenario, but it’s already leagues above what Xenoverse is doing. Things got even more interesting when Goku ventured to Namek alone to find the Dragon Balls there. I was expecting Frieza to show up, but it turns out that he’s already dead at the hands of Super Saiyan Vegeta, who was spurred on by his loss against Goku in that same form to become one himself.
Gohan's Sparking Episode Is Pure Wish-Fulfillment
That twist was enough to make for an interesting what-if story, but it hꦕad absolutely nothing on Gohan’s Episode Battle, which had my jaw on the floor. In this alternate scenario, Gohan taps into his Ultimate form while battling Frieza during the events of Resurrection F, which lets him finish the battle before Goku and Vegeta get there while reminding him how little he’s trained.
This pushes Gohan to start training harder than ever and become Universe 7’s top fighter, above even Goku. N𓃲ot only is this exactly what Gohan fans have wanted for years, but it also leads to an amazing twist. With Gohan as top dog, the Goku Black saga is completely turned on its head with Gohan Black♍ now being the villain instead of Goku.
This leads to an incredible performance from Kyle Herbert, who really hams it u🍰p as Zamasu in Gohan’s body.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when Gohan Black appeared on screen, especially since he’s got a unique model and even a variant of his Ultimate Form instead of Super Saiyan Rose. There’s a lot of meat to the alternate saga too, as it goes on for a few battles and sees Gohan and Trunks working together to face the deadly threat. It’s exactly what fans have been hoping for and the sort of thing that Xenoverse desperat🧜ely needs to be doing.
Gohan’s Episode Battle is the best of the bunch, but the𝔉re are some great moments in the other campaigns too. Piccolo’s sees him training Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and teaching him not to lose control against Cell, while Frieza’s story shows him 🅺beating Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta and getting control of the Tournament of Power’s team, which can funnily enough include the Ginyu Force.
Sparking Zero already has so much going for it that I would have understood if its what-if scenarios were more basic, but that’s not the case at all. How it managed to have such a massive roster and still put out some of the𝕴 most interesting alternate scenarios in Dragon Ball history is mind-boggling, and proof that Xenoverse really needs to go all-out and make that the focus of its inevitable third entry.
Dragon♛ Ball: Sparking Zero - Character Unlock Guide
Sparking Zero's roster is massive and you'll need to pu🧔t in the work to unlock most of it - here's how.
