Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO, the successor to the Budokai Tenkaichi series, seems to be missing a key multiplayer feature that was highly appreciated by players in the past.
The era of 3D Dragon Ball games began with Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi on the PlayStation 2. The games featured 3D gameplay, a huge roster of anime characters, and destructible environments. The Budokai Tenkaichi trilogy was particularly popular because it broke away from Budokai’s 2D gameplay and 3D dodging mechanics to introduce a fully 3D experience that allowed players to relive key anime moments in the midst of battle.
With the advent of the PS3 era, the role of adapting anime and delivering the thrill of anime battles shifted to the Raging Blast series and later the Dragon Ball Xenoverse games on PS4. All of these titles brought many players together through local and online multiplayer competitions as well, but Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero may not be able to replicate that particular feature.
Will Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO have local multiplayer?
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO may not have local multiplayer, according to the game’s official Japanese website. The official PlayStation Plus page and the game’s Steam page also hint at this fact.
Every 3D Dragon Ball game before Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO had local multiplayer, either on the same screen in the case of Xenoverse, or via a split screen as was the case with Budokai Tenkaichi. This is the first time that a 3D Dragon Ball game would only include a single-player mode for offline play.
Looking at the Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO’s PSN page, it says that the game supports one player or two online players. The Dragon Ball Xenoverse page says the game supports 1-2 players with optional play. It still sounds vague, but the official Japanese page of Sparking! clearly says 1人 (オンライン時 1~2人), which translates to one player or 1-2 players in the case of online, further cementing doubts that the game does will support local multiplayer. The official English page only mentions offline single player and online multiplayer with no difference in numbers.
Some fans were confused that GameStop listed the game as 1-2 players and 1-2 online multiplayer, but this was later changed to 1 player only unless online. The change may indicate that the lack of multiplayer was something that was later communicated to GameStop.
How many characters are in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO?
The number of characters in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO remains unconfirmed, with the official website teasing a large roster of Dragon Ball fighters.
Known for having the largest character roster of any Dragon Ball game, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 featured 98 characters in 161 forms, and Xenoverse 2 currency stands at about 138 characters with all DLCs included. The direction of Sparking! ZERO will take in terms of character count is yet to be announced, but the announcement trailer confirms the game will have characters from latest Dragon Ball Super anime, including Giren and the blue transformations of both Goku and Vegeta.
Uncertainty remains as to whether upcoming releases such as Dragon Ball Daima will introduce additional characters to the Dragon Ball verse and the Sparking! game, or if characters from the exclusive Dragon Ball Super manga such as Moro and Black Frieza will make an appearance.