Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Final Hands-On Preview - The Legendary Fighter Reborn

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After playing a few hours of the release build of , it's clear that fans of Goku, Vegeta, and the incredible arena-fighting series have a lot to look forward to. Since Bandai Namco and developer Spike Chunsoft first announced the return of the beloved series, excitement from fans has been growing. Thankfully, the developers have been careful in crafting a game worth waiting for.

has been touted as the continuation of the series, which captured fans' hearts as effectively as Bulma has gotten at finding Dragon Balls. The PlayStation 2 games were a revolutionary experience with their open 3D arena stages, highly accessible gameplay with an approachable level of complexity, and a vast cast of beloved characters with their own special techniques and unique animations. While some games have come close, none have quite captured the same feeling in a game until now.

was released on the PS2 in 2007, and it did a fantastic job of creating a uniquely satisfying arena fighting experience so full of content that it set the bar high for other anime fighting games. The release of has big shoes to fill, and after my time with the game, I can safely say any doubts of mine have been obliterated like a foe hit with a full-power Kamehameha Wave.

Hands-on time with the game has proven that developer Spike Chunsoft is dedicated to ensuring feels like a modernization of the PS2's series. The straightforward special moves, the easy-to-play but difficult-to-master melee combat, and even the broken abilities like Yajirobe's fully healing Sensu Bean technique all return. However, is setting out to do more than recapture what made the series beloved: it aims to evolve it.

Players can perform iconic transformations during 's gameplay, but the game also allows stages to transform with something many have waited to see in a game: destruction physics. The game's custom battles, featuring a colossal roster of 182 characters, sports battles in cities filled with buildings and rocky wastelands that