Summary
When considering the sheer size of fighting game rosters in recent memory, few come close to what Spike Chunsoft is gearing up to do withDragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. For example, the reason theMortal Kombatfranchise has maintained such a large fan base is partly due to the versatility of its playable characters, withMK1offering what many would consider a stacked lineup of 22 fighters. However,ifDragon Ball: Sparking! Zerolives up to expectations, it would blow almost every fighting game that has ever existed out of the water. Given how vast theDragon Balluniverse is, it makes sense for the 164-and-counting characters to feature in the upcoming title, and the hype surrounding it reveals a gap in the marketOne Piececould take advantage of.
TheDragon Ballfranchise has birthed what feels like over 9,000 gaming renditions, and there’s no sign that the addition of new titles to the ranks is slowing down for the foreseeable future. Such a vast catalog is only possible thanks to the bevy of canon material in the late Akira Toriyama’s universe, stemming from 194 manga chapters in the original and the additional 325 in theDragon Ball Zseries. The extensive lore is whyDragon Ball: Sparking! Zerois on course to break anime fighting game records if its roster materializes, and it raises the question of what aOne Piecefighting title would look like with a similar premise.
One Piece’s Depth of Characters Could Rival Sparking! Zero’s
The reason few games have roster sizes as large asDragon Ball: Sparking! Zeroplans to bring to the table is simple: lack of extensive preexisting material. Spike Chunsoft is leveragingDragon Ball’s vast plot lines to buff up its character lineup, as evidenced by the variety of story sagas that should feature in the upcoming title. FromSparking! Zero’s announcement trailer, it’s reasonable to expect the likes ofDragon Ball Z’s Saiyan and Frieza Saga to have some representation, and other story arcs should also make the cut. With this wealth of sagas at its disposal, it’s no wonder whySparking! Zero’s rosteris so stacked.
If there’s any franchise that can come close to the storyline depth thatDragon Ballprovides, it has to beOne Piece. Apart from the contents of its story,One Pieceis best known for the sheer length of its material, with the anime recently crossing the 1,100-episode threshold. This remarkable length spans 11 sagas and 32 story arcs, which rivalsDragon Ballown vast legacy. From Luffy’s struggle with the ex-Warlord Crocodile in the Arabasta arc to the high-profileunleashing of Gear Five in the fight against Kaido, there’s a myriad of characters aOne Piecegame could feature. The bevy of Devil Fruits in the canon material also provides the gameplay variety a full-fledged fighting game would require, making the franchise a prime candidate.
From a popularity standpoint,One Piecehas a lot to gain with a venture into the fighting niche.One Piece Odysseyis probably the most successful gaming adaptation of the franchise to date, and althoughgames likeJump Forcehave shown the core characters in an arena-styled title, it still lacks that AAA-rated title that is befitting the anime’s achievements. Instead of a streamlined focus on RPGs typical for mainstream media,Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero’s hype stemming from its fighting roster selling point could open up a new area forOne Pieceto thrive in.
In terms of immersion,Sparking! Zero’s Episode Battlescould serve as a blueprint for a futureOne Piecegame. Episode Battles allow players to play through a character’s history. Similarly, aOne Piecefighting title would be remiss not to incorporate the ultimate prize in Laugh Tale, potentially as a reward for beating the game. It remains to be seen howSparking! Zerowill pan out, but a scenario where fans can run through prominent characters in the seas of the Grand Line with Luffy is worthy of exploration.
