Why Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero’s Roster Size Isn’t Quite What It Seems

Why Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's Roster Size Isn't Quite What It Seems

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of gaming experience under my belt, I can confidently say that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has left me both impressed and slightly bewildered at the same time. The sheer number of playable characters is nothing short of staggering, but upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this roster isn’t quite as expansive as it initially appears.


In every aspect, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is overflowing with content, and this is particularly evident in its character roster. Although it shares game modes and battle mechanics of a comparable size, the multitude of playable characters brings everything else into focus. Initially, such abundance may appear too good to be real, but a closer look is necessary to fully appreciate its merits.

Initially, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero was announced with a lineup of 181 characters. However, if you pre-order the game, you’ll gain access to a mini version of Goku, bringing the total number up to 182. Moreover, the game’s Season Pass promises an addition of 20 new playable characters. Interestingly, even though this bonus character is another version of Goku, it highlights the fact that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero will feature a significant number of playable characters.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero’s True Roster Size Explained

How Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Inflates Its Official Roster Size

In the game “Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero,” you’ll notice an expanded character roster, which is quite extensive. This expansion is largely due to multiple versions of the same characters, many of which are variations like transformations and alternate forms. While this might seem excessive, it’s a shared trait between “Sparking Zero” and “Budokai Tenkaichi.

For a while now, transformations in Dragon Ball have been quite significant, and this is particularly true for the Budokai Tenkaichi series. Yet, these transformations can sometimes make certain characters’ roles feel repetitive. Luckily, Sparking Zero’s alternative forms generally avoid this issue of redundancy, especially when compared to their previous appearances in Budokai Tenkaichi games.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero’s Roster Is Smaller Than It Seems

Despite previous tendencies, Sparking Zero has significantly expanded its repertoire, offering multiple variations more than ever. For instance, you’ll find approximately 20 distinct versions of Goku in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero. Once these additional forms of each character are subtracted from the total count, a more accurate depiction of Sparking Zero’s cast begins to emerge.

In Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, fusions differ from transformations. To illustrate, Gogeta is an entirely separate entity compared to Goku and Vegeta. Interestingly, even though Gogeta and Vegito are both fusions of the same two characters, they are distinctly unique individuals. Once this foundation is established, all other variations can be combined seamlessly.

This implies that in the game Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, every depiction of Vegeta, ranging from Great Ape Vegeta to Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta, should be considered as a single character. In essence, if two characters bear the same name, they are essentially one and the same individual. However, there are some exceptions, like Future Trunks and Trunks who are distinct characters, but such cases are rare.

By employing a somewhat stringent approach, we can categorize the roster into primary fighters and substitute fighters. It’s worth noting some interesting insights that players might pick up on. The first obvious point is that substitute fighters outnumber their original counterparts, but this isn’t necessarily a negative aspect because the difference is quite small. This situation is also predictable considering characters such as Goku and Vegeta have multiple versions each. On the flip side, there are very few characters who don’t undergo any transformations at all.

Regardless, the general narrative this split creates should be relatively clear. Although the roster is smaller when making this adjustment, it’s still utterly massive. There is a large gap between 81 characters and 182 characters, but an 81-character roster is still nothing to sneeze at. Not only is it much larger than most other Dragon Ball games, it’s bigger than most fighting games in general. At the end of the day, it even appears to prove the point that transformations aren’t a negative burden on the game’s roster whatsoever.

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2024-10-20 19:44