The highly anticipated fighting game Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, is the latest addition to the popular Dragonball franchise. It is still in the development phase and is yet to be officially released, however, fans need not worry, as new updates about the game are coming in at a steady pace.
It’s an understatement to say fan expectations are high. But Bandai Namco seems primed to meet and exceed those expectations by pushing Sparking Zero’s game environment to the max via Unreal Engine.
Immersion Is the Gameplan For Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero
The developers of the game, Bandai Namco, seem to be taking a methodical approach. This is a good thing, especially in an era where gaming companies tend to rush game releases.
Ultimately, Bandai Namco’s decision to take their time in developing their latest Dragonball game is likely the right approach. Sparking Zero will be the first mainline game in the Budokai Tenkaichi series to be released in 17 years, so there’s a lot for the latest installment to live up to.
One producer, Jun Furutani, explained in an interview with IGN, that immersion is the goal for the development of of the game. Sparking Zero aims to take the player directly into the fast-paced, ki blasting, high-octane world of Dragonball itself. As Furutani explains:
When someone crashes through a boulder or a building [after an attack] it’s happening in real time. We’ll be using Unreal Engine 5, so the graphics are just that more real and immersive.
While the Tenkaichi series became visually stunning to fans for its timeframe, the graphics for these games do not hold up to modern scrutiny. The previous games were created with a proprietary engine, with the offshoot series Dragon Ball: Raging Blast being created from a modified version of the Naruto: Ninja Storm engine.
While these engines delivered a fine gaming experience in the early to mid-aughts, there’s no way they can offer the same level of immersion and feeling of overflowing power that UE5 can.
Will Sparking Zero Make Anime Real?
As demonstrated by the Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero rivals trailer, transformations will play a significant role in the gameplay. As they rightly should, for would it even be a Dragonball game without transformations? More to the point, it seems transformations will occur in-game at the push of the button.
Unreal Engine will aid the transformation mechanic immensely, as players will be able to not only see, but feel the difference between transforming from base into a Super Saiyan, and from there into a Super Saiyan 3, a God Saiyan, or the multitude of other various transformations.
Imagine the way the environment will mold and shift as a player unlocks the Legendary Super Saiyan power of Broly for example.
Not to mention the battles themselves, which judging from the trailer will be chocked-full of flashy aerial maneuvers and classic beam struggle battles that will threaten to destroy the planet itself. So even though it might be a while before players can purchase Sparking Zero, so far Bandai Namco is delivering just the right news to keep fans salivating.
What do you think of the title using Unreal Engine 5? Let us know in the comments!
