There’s little to criticize about the game’s graphics, which are extremely faithful to the series, and the wonderful animations for each of the characters, which are truly fantastic. The voice acting is also of great quality in both the Japanese and English versions. The only thing we truly miss is the inclusion of themes from the original anime’s masterful soundtrack. The menus are original and fun, and the load times are really very short.

It's hard to be too critical of this aspect of the game when it's the title with the most playable characters in the history of the franchise, but unfortunately that's one of the very few pros in terms of content. The story's approach is innovative and genuinely interesting. Instead of playing through the story we all know for the umpteenth time, it's refreshing to have "campaigns" for each important character, experiencing events from their points of view and even being able to make decisions that create alternative paths to the canon. The problem is how poorly this idea is executed—terribly so. The story is told through still frames and subtitles, with an occasional cutscene here and there. At no point do you feel immersed in the story; instead, it feels like you’re opening a book you already know, turning to a very specific page, fighting the corresponding battle, rinse and repeat. The alternate paths are far from being interesting parallel universes; they are short and bland variations that add absolutely nothing, neither in terms of storytelling nor in rewards or unlockables. Adding to all this, do you remember the game modes from Tenkaichi 3? Sim Dragon, Mission 100, Survival... Maybe nostalgia is getting the best of me, but all of those offered hours and hours of entertainment. In the case of Sparking Zero, we are completely devoid of interesting long-lasting game modes.