How to Watch Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Dramatic Showdown Finals
While Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero isn't a typical competitive fighting game – with it focusing more on being true to the anime than fair balance amongst its 80+ character roster – Bandai Namco is still running tournaments for the game. The Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero – The Dramatic Showdown tournament was announced and subsequently kicked off in November 2024 (around a month after the game released). And now we're closing in on the final showdown in what's sure to be a battle worthy of the 'dramatic' title.
D-7: DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO - THE DRAMATIC SHOWDOWN - GRAND FINALS
— Dragon Ball Games (@dragonballgames) March 9, 2025
In just 1 week, 8 elite players from 8 countries will battle it out to become the ultimate champion!
Who will rise to the top in this double elimination showdown? #SparkingZERO #GrandFinals pic.twitter.com/KrruOxNTDj
The top eight of the Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero – The Dramatic Showdown tournament will be broadcast on the Bandai Namco America YouTube Channel on Sunday, March 16. However, Bandai Namco hasn't revealed what time things will kick off. If we had to guess, it may be 4pm PST / 7pm EST , as that's when the US East and US West Qualifiers kicked off, but we won't know for sure until the livestream is loaded onto YouTube.
Who is in the Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Dramatic Showdown grand finals?
- France – Ultra Instinct Goku
- UK – Gogeta (Dragon Ball Super)
- Mexico – Frieza (Dragon Ball Super)
- USA West – Gogeta (Dragon Ball GT)
- Italy – Broly (Dragon Ball Super)
- Japan – Gotenks
- Germany – Baby
- Spain – Trunks (Dragon Ball Super)
In perhaps an unconventional approach to tournament play (fitting for an unconventional fighting game), each region is assigned one of the top-tier fighters in the DBZ universe, with each qualifying player taking them into the grand final. However, the contestants will be allowed to bring other fighters in, meaning that some of those low-tier warriors will make an appearance in tournament play. Here are the regions and characters battling in the top 8.
Some fans have noted that the deck seems to be stacked against Japan, Germany, and Spain, with one reply to Bandai Namco's tweet about the event saying "We dont know who's gonna win but we all know who's gonna lose... Spain... Like come on Trunks DBS ?! He's literally a potato chip."
Is Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero competitively viable?
Things haven't all been smooth sailing during the tournament. Back in November during the French qualifiers, when the final showdown between Hilliasteur and Shiryuu resulted in 10 minutes of Android 19 running away from Trunks to time out the battle (via GamesRadar+). During this bout, even the commentators had seemingly given up, with a huge portion of the match being broadcast in complete silence.
However, this was seen as a bit of a protest about the state of Sparking! Zero as a competitive game, when the French Qualifier winner Shiryuu simply tweeting, "I WON BY JUST RUNNING WITH ANDROIDS #FIXSPARKINGZERO" following their victory. Hopefully next week's finals won't see a repeat performance, and we get some competitive battles worthy of the Dragon Ball moniker.
