The newestDragon Ballgame on the block isDragon Ball: Sparking Zero, and it is alreadydominating the sales charts. With over three million under its belt within 24 hours, and a significant portion of those sales being pre-orders of Deluxe and Ultimate Editions as evidenced by its Steam numbers during their 3-day early access period,Dragon Ball: Sparking Zerohas takenDragon Ball’s global community by storm. Despite being over ten years removed from the last game in theBudokai Tenkaichiseries, calledSparkingin Japan,Sparking Zerois poised to inherit its reputation as theDragon Ballgame to beat.
Much of this influence is due toDragon Ball: Sparking Zeroproviding a complete package targeted atDragon Ballfans. From Episode Battle’s constant opportunities to break fromDragon Ballcanon to a fan scenario creator in Custom Battle,Sparking Zerohas it all.Wishes onDragon Ball’s Eternal Dragonsand a color commentary feature in the Encyclopedia are present to keepDragon Ball’s charm intact, and there’s even a fairly well-made online suite. With all of this attention to detail, it’s surprising to hear thatSparking Zeroalmost skipped out on a local splitscreen versus mode, but its presence in the final game speaks volumes about its importance.
Why Splitscreen Matters In Dragon Ball Games
Famously, the PS2Dragon Ball Zfighting games were rallying points for visiting friends.Dragon Ballhad a strong grip on youth around the world in the mid 2000s, and it was still typical for most console games to lack online play, necessitating local versus modes.Dimps’Budokaitrilogy and Arika’sSuper Dragon Ball Zwere couched in traditional fighting games and thus had a side-view camera allowing both players to see the action, but Spike’sBudokai Tenkaichiwent for high-mobilityDBZfighting in large, complicated environments instead. Therefore,Budokai Tenkaichihad to adopt split screens for its over-the-shoulder third-person multiplayer.
Sparking Zero’s Splitscreen Versus Ran Into Some Trouble
SinceDragon Ball: Sparking Zerowas following in its predecessors’ footsteps, it retained the same game design and need for a third-person battle camera. However, for some reason, Bandai Namco and Spike Chunsoft were rumored to have movedSparking Zero’s whole multiplayer mode online. The game’s release suggests this might have been true, and the confirmation of a limited local multiplayer mode only came after said rumors caused a fan outcry. Despite being sealed inDragon Ball Z’s Hyperbolic Time Chamber,Sparking Zero’s splitscreen multiplayer is there, and sets a strong precedent for future games.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Accidentally Proved Splitscreen Is Here To Stay
Even in a hastily thrown together state,Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero’s local multiplayer is still preferable to none at all. PC modders enabled every stage in splitscreen versus within a couple of days of the game’s full launch, and the presence of a splitscreen option in Training mode suggests thatDLC improvements toSparking Zero’s modesare possible down the line. Regardless, one of the largest and most enduring anime fandoms has put its foot down and proven that local splitscreen is still a valuable feature, and games with multiplayer components going forward should take notice.
Online Multiplayer May Be Vital Now, But Local Will Never Lose Its Audience
The relevance of splitscreen, and local multiplayer as a whole, has been doubted in recent years due to the prevalence of massive online multiplayer titles likeFortnite,Call of Duty,Roblox, and more. Concerns about COVID-19 spelling the feature’s death were even valid for a time. However, local multiplayer hasn’t gone anywhere, and may be on the rise, withFortniteandLego Fortniterecently updating to support splitscreen. With splitscreen’s absence still eliciting fan outcry and mods for games like the PCHalo: The Master Chief CollectionandHalo Infinite, it seems likeDragon Ball: Sparking Zerowon’t be alone in keeping this gaming tradition alive.
