Vegeta's Ape Mastery Challenges ZERO, Bandai Namco Remarks

DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO's early access release has introduced a formidable foe: Great Ape Vegeta. This colossal ape is proving to be a significant hurdle for players, leading to widespread frustration and even humorous memes.

Great Ape Vegeta: A Boss Battle of Epic Proportions (and Difficulty)

Bandai Namco Joins the Meme Frenzy

Boss battles are meant to be challenging, but Great Ape Vegeta in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO transcends "difficult" and enters the realm of legendary frustration. His brutal attacks and seemingly uncounterable moves have players struggling for survival more than victory. The situation has become so comical that even Bandai Namco is participating in the online memes, acknowledging the widespread difficulty.

Fans of Dragon Ball Z will recognize the devastating power of Great Ape Vegeta's transformation. Sparking! ZERO amplifies this power to extreme levels. His opening barrage of beam attacks, including the infamous Galick Gun, and a health-draining grab attack make the fight feel less like a duel and more like a desperate struggle for survival. Players often find themselves restarting the battle at the mere sight of an impending Galick Gun.

Adding to the challenge, players encounter Great Ape Vegeta early in Goku's Episode Battle. This presents a significant obstacle for newcomers to the Dragon Ball fighting game series, who may be overwhelmed by his immediate onslaught of super moves.

Instead of a quick fix, Bandai Namco embraced the humor. Responding to the collective player outcry, their UK Twitter (X) account tweeted a meme featuring a GIF of Great Ape Vegeta's overwhelming attack, simply stating, "This monke got hands."

It's worth noting that Great Ape Vegeta has a history of being a challenging opponent in Dragon Ball fighting games. Veterans may recall similar struggles in the original Budokai Tenkaichi.

The Challenges Don't End with Vegeta

Great Ape Vegeta isn't the only difficulty spike in Sparking! ZERO. Even on Normal difficulty, CPU opponents unleash devastating combos, a problem amplified on Super difficulty where the AI appears to have an unfair advantage, consistently landing lengthy attacks. The result? Many players are opting to lower the difficulty to Easy.

Sparking! ZERO's Triumphant Launch

Despite the widespread Great Ape Vegeta-induced frustration, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO has been a massive success on Steam. Within hours of early access, it reached a peak of 91,005 concurrent players, surpassing major fighting game franchises like Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat.

This success is unsurprising. Sparking! ZERO is widely seen as the long-awaited revival of the Budokai Tenkaichi series, a title fans have eagerly anticipated. Game8 awarded the game a 92 score, praising its large roster, stunning visuals, and diverse scenarios, calling it "the best Dragon Ball game in ages." For a more detailed review, see our linked article.