Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, which remains Budokai Tenkaichi 4 in the hearts and minds of many diehard fans, continues to reveal more characters in its massive starting roster ahead of the fighting game’s October 11 launch. The latest batch is particularly noteworthy, however, offering something some denied would ever happen: Dragon Ball GT characters in the base game.
The much maligned spin-off, which saw Goku returned to his childhood form, nevertheless featured a few characters and fights that are as beloved as anything in the main series. Today, publisher Bandai Namco confirmed they will be playable in the starting 164-fighter roster. Well, most of them anyway. There’s Super Saiyan 4 Goku, part red ape, part Rebel Without A Cause bad-ass, and his and Vegeta’s fusion version.
Baby, the alien parasite created by Truffle civilization before it was brutally snuffed out by the Saiyans long ago, is also here, as well as the form where he infects Vegeta. And of course there’s Pan (Goku’s grand daughter), Uub, the human reincarnation of Kid Buu, and Syn Shenron, the evil humanoid form of the wish-granting dragon. There are 15 fighters total from the spin-off.
There has been debate for months among fans about whether the Dragon Ball GT rejects would actually make it into the base game. Some love them and others hate them, viewing the spin-off largely as a cringe cash-grab with little involvement from series creator Akira Toriyama. Plus, the popularity of Dragon Ball Super, which continued the original storyline and pretended like GT was a bad dream, suggested the misfits might not get top-billing anymore despite being mainstays of the previous Budokai Tenkaichi games. Why waste a slot on Great Ape Baby? Save them for optional DLC and let the sickos goes wild.
But nope. The motley crew of alternate-future Dragon Ball hunters will be playable from the jump. The Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero subreddit was full of blown minds today. “Chat is this real???? Omfg we back !!!!!” read one thread. “My denier-ass getting roasted but I’m happy anyway,” read another. GT believers have spent the day celebrating and rubbing it in. But not everyone’s onboard. GT haters just see another string of slots that won’t go to characters they actually like, and there’s no shortage of Dragon Ball icons who deserve to get the call-up.
There are only 10 slots left unrevealed now, with less than a month to go before launch. The biggest roster ever was still never going to satisfy everyone. Even GT stans aren’t completely satiated. Super 17, a buff, grown-up form of the android after he’s wished back to life in the spin-off, wasn’t among today’s roster additions. Fortunately, Sparking Zero will also be on PC, and fans can mod in whoever they want to their hearts’ content.