DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO’s early access has unleashed a furious ape—and players are feeling the wrath.
Sparking Zero's Great Ape Vegeta: A Boss Battle of Epic Proportions (and Frustration)
Bandai Namco Joins the Meme Frenzy
Boss battles are supposed to be challenging, right? They test your skills, push your limits, and ultimately deliver a satisfying sense of accomplishment. But DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO’s Great Ape Vegeta is rewriting the definition of "challenging." This colossal ape is proving to be a monumental hurdle, delivering brutal attacks and seemingly uncounterable moves that have players reaching for the reset button. The situation has become so widespread that even Bandai Namco is getting in on the meme action, acknowledging the widespread struggle.
Anyone familiar with Vegeta's Great Ape transformation in Dragon Ball Z knows the devastation he can unleash. Sparking Zero takes that legendary power and amplifies the difficulty to, well, over 9000! The fight begins with a relentless barrage of beam attacks, including the infamous Galick Gun, and a devastating grab that can decimate your health bar. It quickly transforms from a battle into a desperate struggle for survival. The sheer unforgiving nature of the fight has players instinctively restarting upon seeing the telltale signs of an impending Galick Gun.
Adding to the difficulty, players encounter Great Ape Vegeta early in Goku's Episode Battle, creating a significant obstacle for newcomers to the Dragon Ball fighting game series. The fight can begin with a relentless onslaught of super moves, leaving players reeling.
Rather than a hasty hotfix, Bandai Namco chose a more humorous approach. Responding to the outpouring of frustration, the Bandai Namco UK Twitter (X) account tweeted "This monke got hands," accompanied by a GIF showcasing Great Ape Vegeta’s overwhelming power.
It’s worth noting that Great Ape Vegeta has a history of being a formidable opponent in Dragon Ball fighting games. Veterans might recall their own traumatic encounters with this ape in the original Budokai Tenkaichi, a fight often described as a true survival test.
The challenge isn't limited to Great Ape Vegeta. Even on Normal difficulty, CPU opponents can unleash devastating combos that are difficult to counter. On Super difficulty, the AI seems to gain an unfair advantage, consistently landing extended attacks leaving players struggling to react. The only recourse for many is to lower the difficulty to Easy.
Despite the widespread frustration with Great Ape Vegeta’s "monke hands," DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is already a Steam sensation. Within hours of early access, it reached a peak of 91,005 concurrent players, establishing itself as one of the biggest fighting games on the platform—and it's not even fully released yet. It has even surpassed established giants like Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat.
This success isn't surprising. While not officially labeled as such, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is considered the long-awaited revival of the Budokai Tenkaichi subseries, a game fans have eagerly anticipated for years. Game8 awarded the game a score of 92, praising its "massive amount of playable characters, stunning visuals, and several scenarios to explore and complete," calling it "the best Dragon Ball game we’ve had in ages." For a more in-depth look at our review of DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, check out our article below!
