Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat
and Dragon Ball: legendary titles that cannot be missing from any respectable
video game collection, whether you are a fighting game enthusiast with a
laminated ID card or young joypad hopefuls. Linking these
masterpieces together is a common denominator: all three have managed to redefine the
concept of martial arts tournament
taking it to the highest levels.
Announced with trumpets blaring
and a trailer capable of sending Saiyan gamer crowds into ecstasy, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero! will be released on 11
October 2024 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series: the new work by Spike Chunsoft will bring back the splendor of the previous Tenkaichi-branded installments in a new incarnation of the saga, which already promises sparks, kamehameha (for the uninitiated energy waves) and powerful transformations!
The last chapter of the series
dedicated to the characters created by the late Akira
Toriyama dates back to 2007, and as industry insiders know well 17 years
between one game and the next represent in the video game world
the equivalent of the Ice Age in human history: speaking of
brave human beings, this Bandai Namco title also talks a great deal about them, because we will once again see on the
most famous fighting ring of all time wrestlers of the caliber of Krillin and
Tenshinhan, flanked by a legion of heroes and villains from both the
original manga and the countless animated series born from the pages of the
master who passed away prematurely.
Il fumetto di Toriyama, published in 1984 and destined to revolutionize the
world of speech bubbles at home and even overseas, tells the story of a
carefree and somewhat naive boy, Goku, endowed with a tail and an extendable
staff with which to face the bad guys: riding a cloud with his
hair in the wind and a smile permanently on his lips, Son Goku is nothing other
than the modern and “comic-strip” version of an iconic mythological character
who is the protagonist of an Eastern poem. His goal is to find seven magic spheres scattered in secret places, with which he can summon Shenron the dragon, an omnipotent creature capable of granting a wish. Over time, manga and anime will evolve in
a very specific direction, dotted with clashes and duels on an ever larger scale until they involve entire universes: terms such as Super Saiyan and Tenkaichi,
the name of the tournament that will see almost invincible beings such as the
notorious Cell take to the field, will become indispensable for fans.
This is how the myth was born.
Dragon Ball Sparking: Zero! is an
announced masterpiece, and I’m convinced that the hype around it is
justified: the saga’s historic gameplay mechanics have not been
turned upside down, but rather preserved and updated with new modes with
which to raise the level of challenge.
Il realism, if one can speak of realism considering the setting and narrative world it comes from, reaches excellent levels especially with regard to the consequences of our actions during clashes: the arenas react to the mass destruction staged by the contenders, and it seems there is the possibility of changing the game scenarios, splitting entire canyons or devastating the terrain to sink into hidden underground caves, all in total freedom!
The available move set for
each character (there are 132 in total) is very varied and the number of possible transformations is countless, if we use the Saiyans and the gods present in the
pantheon created by Toriyama’s mind: in Tenkaichi alternative costumes and epic finishing moves had set new, very high standards in the field of
customization and resolving clashes in a spectacular way, so in
Sparking: Zero! according to the developers it was necessary to raise the bar, of course.
Judging by the screenshots and
the latest trailers released, it seems that the Kamehameha launched by Bandai is
destined to hit us square in the chest, right where our passion for Goku and the
layered, exciting and epic universe of Dragon Ball resides.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
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