Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, released in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! (ドラゴンボールZ Sparking!), is a series of fighting games developed by Spike based on the Dragon Ball franchise by Akira Toriyama. The series was published by Namco Bandai Games in Japan and Europe, and by Atari in North America and Australia until 2008. Since the third game, Bandai Namco has handled Dragon Ball game publishing in all regions, effectively ending Atari's involvement.[1]
The original game was released in 2005 as a PlayStation 2 exclusive, while the second and third installments were released for PlayStation 2 and Wii in 2006 and 2007, respectively. A spin-off titled Tenkaichi Tag Team was released on PlayStation Portable in 2010. A new installment, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, was announced in March 2023 and released in October 2024 for PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S[2] and now it has been released to play on the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025 November 11th
Origin of name
The Sparking! in the Japanese title references the last lyric found in the chorus of the first opening theme to the Dragon Ball Z anime series (1989–1996), "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" (though the opening theme to the first game in Japan is the series' second opening, "We Gotta Power"). The North American title is a rearranged version of Tenkaichi Budokai (天下一武道会), a reoccurring tournament featured in the manga and anime series. Despite the localized title, the series is not a continuation of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series. It has been speculated that Atari chose to market the games as part of the Budokai series in order to capitalize on its success.
While Sparking! features rearrangements of actual music from Dragon Ball Z, as well as Dragon Ball (1986–1989) and the title theme of Dragon Ball GT (1996–1997), as composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi, the American release of the first game features recycled music from the Budokai series, composed in Japan by Kenji Yamamoto.
Gameplay
The games use a "behind-the-back" third-person camera perspective. Similar to the GameBoy Color -released Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors (2002), special forms are treated as their own character, with varying stats, movesets, and fighting styles.[3]
In battle, players can build up their Ki gauge to execute various techniques such as the Power Guard, which reduces the damage characters take by 1/4. The Ki gauge can also be used to use moves referred to as Blast 2 skills. Every character has a unique set of Blast 2 skills that allow the character to use special moves such as Ki blasts and physical attacks. Characters also have a self-recharging numeric gauge called Blast Stock that allows players to use techniques called Blast 1 skills. Blast 1 skills usually have a supportive effect such as allowing characters to regain health or immobilize the enemy. Players can also power up into a mode called Max Power Mode normally by building up their Ki beyond full at the cost of Blast Stock bars. Max Power Mode makes the character that initiated it faster, stronger, and able to use moves that are exclusive to the mode. One of these moves is the Ultimate Blast which is usually the most powerful move a character has, though use of any Blast 2 skill or the Ultimate Blast immediately ends Max Power Mode.[4]
Game modes
Titles
Main series
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (2005)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, originally published as Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! (ドラゴンボールZ Sparking!) in Japan, was released for PlayStation 2 in Japan on October 6, 2005, North America on October 18, 2005, and Europe on October 21, 2005.
The game features 64 playable characters and 10 stages. Players can fight across the Earth Wasteland, the Earth Rock Area, Planet Namek, the Islands, the City Ruins, the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, the Cell Games Arena, the Mountain Road, the World Tournament Arena, and Kami's Lookout.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (2006)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, originally published as Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Neo (ドラゴンボールZ Sparking! NEO) in Japan, is the second installment in the series and first to be released for Wii. It was released for PlayStation 2 in Japan on October 5, 2006, Europe on November 3, 2006, North America on November 7, 2006, and Australia on November 9, 2006. The Wii version was released in North America on November 19, 2006, in Japan on January 1, 2007, in Europe on March 30, 2007, and Australia on April 5, 2007.
Characters
All four games includes characters in various versions, forms, and transformations. This table uses the majority of character names as featured in the most recent game in the series, ''Sparking! Zero''.[16]
Reception
Budokai Tenkaichi (Sparking!)
The Game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[17]
Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Sparking! Neo)
The Game received "average" reviews on both platforms according to Metacritic.[42][43] The PS2 version of the game received the 'Best Fighting Game of the Year' award from X-Play. Mark Bozon of IGN said of the controls, "The sheer speed and complexity of the controls may turn some people off, but the general combat will eventually come down to two buttons, making the game amazingly easy to learn, but nearly impossible to fully master."[39]
External links
- Official Budokai Tenkaichi series website
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi at Bandai Namco
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 at Bandai Namco
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 at Bandai Namco
- Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team at Bandai Namco * Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero at Bandai Namco
References
- Brendan Sinclair. Namco Bandai collects Dragon Ball rights GameSpot, July 2, 2009, retrieved March 5, 2011^
- 「ドラゴンボール Sparking！」シリーズ 最新作情報が解禁！ 映像はコチラから↓ #ドラゴンボール #バトルアワー 2023-03-05, retrieved 2023-03-05^
- Sparking Zero Roster Character List