While there are myriads of attacks and maneuvers in Bandai Namco’s brand new Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, there are also some universal abilities that most every character has. These include ki charges, auto combos, and grabs that, if you perform at the same moment as your foe, will cause you to enter a clash state.
Clash states are part and parcel for the Dragon Ball: Budokai Tenkaichi series (of which Sparking Zero is the latest installment) and have traditionally seen characters engage in a mini-game flurry to see who garners the advantage. Future Gohan, however, famously lacks one of his arms, and so this otherwise universal mechanic does not apply to him.
Developers at Bandai Namco were careful to seemingly not miss any opportunities to sneak a little extra flavor anywhere they could in Sparking Zero. Special character interactions are plentiful and hidden throughout the experience, for example, as are unique animations that reference noteworthy moments from the anime and manga.
Since Future Gohan lost his arm battling the likes of Future Androids 17 and 18, he can’t exactly enter into the two-handed lock up animation that usually plays during a clash. Instead it seems he or his opponent will simply zip into the throw animation depending on who pressed the input first.
You can see footage of Future Gohan grabs in action via the clip from Ashura below:
Okay so while I was playing Sparking Zero, I finally decided to check out how did they address the grab clash issue with Future Gohan, and he satraight up doesn’t have one?? And instead gets priority on the grab???
Crippled priority in a fighting game is crazy pic.twitter.com/WiwHUbZetP
— Ashura (@ashura_rogue) October 10, 2024
That’s not the extent of unique (or lack thereof) clash animations in Sparking Zero, though, as some characters are giant while others are quite small. Chiaotzu, for instance, could realistically fit inside just one of the Great Apes’ hands, but such mismatches in size still lead to special clash animations.
In fact, we’ve got a full video showing off a handful of such clash animations thanks to Soul Gaming. Kid Trunks and Lord Slug, for instance, lock up and we get to see what it looks like when either winds up winning the exchange.
This all points to just how much detail Bandai went into while making Sparking Zero and its 180+ playable characters. Have you noticed any unique interactions while playing thus far? Let us know in the comments how much fun you’ve been having (or are planning on having if you didn’t grab an Early Access version) in the comments.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is currently available via Early Access and is set to release on October 11, 2024 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.