Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO separates direct match play, character-led story campaigns, and player-authored scenarios into three distinct modes. Choose Battle Mode to set up a fight, Episode Battle to follow one of eight characters through selected story battles, or Custom Battle to play prepared scenarios or build and share your own. The main difference is who sets the structure: you, the game’s campaign, or a scenario creator.
How the three modes differ
All three modes put fights at the center, but they answer different questions. Battle Mode is for getting into a match without making story progress the point. Episode Battle organizes fights around a character’s campaign, with some stages offering alternate outcomes. Custom Battle turns a fight into a designed scenario, complete with conditions, events, and authored scenes.
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| Mode | Best for | Who controls the structure? | Narrative and progression | Sharing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battle Mode | Setting up a direct fight | You arrange a match rather than follow a campaign or edit a scenario. | No story route is required to play a match. | Sharing is not the mode’s defining feature. |
| Episode Battle | Playing through selected story battles from a character’s perspective | The chosen character’s campaign sets the sequence; choices or objectives can affect some stages. | Story scenes and, on certain stages, alternate outcomes or hidden scenes. | Progress is tracked through the campaign’s story map. |
| Custom Battle | Playing designed scenarios or making an original one | A prepared scenario or the creator sets the matchup, rules, events, and scenes. | Scenarios can include authored dialogue, cutscenes, and conditional events. | Created battles can be uploaded for others to play online. |
Bandai Namco’s Game Modes Handbook and official battle-modes overview describe these as different ways to approach the game, not three names for the same kind of match. The announced base-game roster contained 182 playable characters, but Episode Battle follows eight named perspectives; those figures measure different things.
What Battle Mode is for
Use Battle Mode when you want a straightforward fight rather than a story campaign or an editing session. The player-arranged match is the point: it is the natural option for trying fighters against one another or simply playing a battle without pursuing an Episode Battle route. The official mode descriptions distinguish it from the narrative and creation modes, but do not establish a detailed, universal set of submenu labels or online rules for every platform and game version.
#1 Best Overall
- Engage in heart-pounding, high-speed 3D battles that stay true to the anime and video game series
- This game contains breathtaking visuals and authentic combat moves like beam clashes, rush attacks, and movements too quick for the eyes to see
- Step into an arena that reacts to your every action including planet-razing ultimate attacks
- Watch the environment respond with stunning realism, and leave a trail of destruction in your wake as you battle to your heart’s content
That distinction matters if you are looking for a specific kind of match. The official descriptions support calling this the direct-fight route; they are not a reliable basis for promising a particular matchmaking option, ruleset, or button-by-button menu path on your current build. Check the labels shown in your installed version if you need exact navigation.
Local split-screen: a dated design detail
In Bandai Namco Europe’s June 13, 2024 gameplay showcase, producer Jun Furutani said, “After careful consideration, we have decided to implement the split-screen multiplayer mode exclusively within the Hyperbolic Time Chamber stage.” The showcase also said only one player could select a character at a time for local split-screen. Treat both as descriptions of the 2024 design, not a guarantee of how every later build behaves. The publisher’s official game overview lists later update notices, including one dated September 2026, but the existence of later notices alone does not establish whether this particular detail changed.
How Episode Battle’s story routes work
Episode Battle is a single-player mode built around eight characters: Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Future Trunks, Goku Black, Frieza, and Jiren. Each perspective follows selected battles and story moments, but the campaigns do not have identical length or scope. Bandai Namco Europe’s 2024 showcase used Goku as the longest example, spanning from the Raditz fight through the Tournament of Power Saga, while Jiren’s episodes were limited to Tournament of Power fights in that pre-release outline. These are official launch-era descriptions, not a promise that every campaign has equal coverage or that later content updates leave the route unchanged.
The mode is not simply a fixed replay of every event in the same way for every character. On certain stages, choices or secondary objectives can change an outcome and lead to an alternate route or hidden scene. The important qualification is “certain”: not every fight branches, and the available alternative depends on the stage and its conditions. The official handbook describes a story map that shows campaign progress and makes it easier to revisit earlier choices, which is useful when you want to explore a different result rather than restart blindly.
Rank #2
- UK PSN Account Requirement: UK PSN account may be required for any online features
- Legendary Budokai Tenkaichi Gameplay: Experience the iconic gameplay of the Budokai Tenkaichi series elevated to new heights with enhanced mechanics and controls
- Extensive Character Roster: Learn and master an incredible roster of playable characters, each with signature abilities, transformations, and techniques
- Authentic Dragon Ball Combat: Harness the destructive power of the strongest fighters ever to appear in DRAGON BALL with faithful recreations of their abilities
- Regional Compatibility: Physical game disc compatible with PlayStation 5 consoles in UK PAL regions
What to expect from an alternate route
- Look for stage-specific choices or objectives. Branching is attached to particular battles and conditions, not guaranteed throughout a whole character campaign.
- Pay attention to the outcome. Meeting or missing a condition can affect what happens next or reveal a hidden scene.
- Use the story map to revisit progress. It visualizes the route and supports returning to earlier decisions.
- Do not assume all characters have the same amount of content. The campaign lengths and fights differ by perspective.
What Custom Battle includes
Custom Battle has two distinct ways to play. Bonus Battles are scenarios made in advance, with a chosen matchup, dialogue, and victory conditions. Edit Mode is for changing an existing Bonus Battle or creating a new one. A creator can shape a fight into a compact story: set up a scene before the battle, trigger an event during it, and define a condition that determines what happens afterward.
The mode is about more than swapping fighters. Bandai Namco’s descriptions say creators can configure characters and teams, include guest characters, and adjust battle details. They can also build pre- and post-battle cutscenes, define events during combat, and set special rules or conditions. Examples in the official overview include activating Sparking! mode when a character drops below a health threshold, switching to a reserve character after a set amount of time, or triggering a cutscene after defeating an opponent.
That flexibility lets a creator make the battle itself carry the scenario. A health threshold can act as a dramatic turning point; a timed switch can make a team fight change shape; and a post-defeat scene can provide a story payoff. These are examples of possible event logic, not required steps or preset rules that every Custom Battle uses.
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| Entry point | What you do | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus Battles | Play prepared scenarios with their own matchups, dialogue, and victory conditions. | Bandai Namco Europe reported over 30 Bonus Battles in its 2024 launch-era overview. That count is dated and should not be read as the current total after updates. |
| Edit Mode | Copy and edit an existing Bonus Battle, or start a scenario from scratch. | You can configure characters, teams, guests, battle details, scenes, events, and conditions. |
For many players, editing an existing scenario is the more approachable way to learn the mode: it gives you a working structure to inspect and alter. Starting from scratch gives you more control but also requires you to decide the setup, flow, and conditions yourself. The official handbook confirms both approaches; it does not prescribe a particular workflow or a universal menu route, so use the current in-game Edit Mode prompts for exact controls.
Rank #3
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero takes the legendary gameplay of the Budokai Tenkaichi series to a whole new level.
- Use the destructive power of the strongest fighters ever competed in Dragon Ball!
- Learn and master an incredible group of playable characters, each with individual skills, transformations and techniques.
How to create a Custom Battle
The creation process is best understood as a sequence of design decisions. The exact on-screen labels can vary with version, so the steps below describe the supported workflow rather than inventing button names.
- Open Custom Battle and choose Edit Mode. Decide whether to copy and edit a Bonus Battle or begin a new scenario from scratch.
- Define the fight. Choose the characters, teams, any guest characters, and the relevant battle details. Make sure the matchup supports the scenario you want to tell.
- Set the win conditions and special rules. Decide what the player must do to win and whether the battle should respond to health, elapsed time, or another condition. For instance, the official overview gives examples of triggering Sparking! mode below a health threshold and switching to a reserve fighter after a period of time.
- Build the scenes and dialogue. Add pre-battle and post-battle cutscenes, and place events during the fight where they make sense. A cutscene after an opponent is defeated is one example of a conditional event.
- Review the flow before sharing. Check that the conditions, transitions, and intended outcome work together. A scene that depends on a particular trigger will not serve its purpose if the battle can end without that trigger.
- Upload the finished creation if you want others to play it. The game’s official descriptions say Custom Battles can be shared online. Availability of online services can depend on the current platform and service state.
Bandai Namco Europe’s 2024 overview described up to five cuts before and five cuts after a battle, along with more than 5,000 base subtitle texts available to creators. Some subtitle texts allow a noun to be replaced, and the overview says those subtitles do not include voices. These are launch-era scale figures, not claims about what every text entry or current update contains. They explain why the editor can support a surprising range of authored scenarios, while also setting a clear expectation: text customization does not automatically mean custom voice acting.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How Custom Battle sharing works
Creators can upload their battles so other players can play them online. That makes Custom Battle different from simply saving a personal campaign choice: the author defines a scenario and its conditions, then makes that authored experience available for others. Jun Furutani, producer of DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, described the goal in Bandai Namco Europe’s June 2024 showcase: “In this mode, players can create their original scenes, play, and share their creations.” The statement captures the mode’s intended loop—make a scenario, try it, and share it—rather than a guarantee that every upload will remain available under all future service conditions.
A well-designed shared battle needs to communicate what the player is meant to do through its setup, dialogue, and victory conditions. Because the creator can add events and conditional scenes, two battles with similar fighters may play differently. When choosing a creation from another player, read its description and conditions where shown; do not assume it follows the standard rules of a direct Battle Mode match.
Rank #4
- Experience the story of DRAGON BALL Z from epic events to light-hearted side quests, including never-before-seen story moments that answer some burning questions of Dragon Ball lore for the first time
- Play through iconic DRAGON BALL Z battles on a scale unlike any other
- Fight across vast battlefields with destructible environments and experience epic boss battles that will test the limits of your combat abilities
- Increase your power level and rise to the challenge
- Don’t just fi ght as Goku - Live as Goku. Fish, fly, eat, train, and battle your way through the DRAGON BALL Z sagas, making friends and building relationships with a massive cast of DRAGON BALL characters
Which mode should you choose?
- Choose Battle Mode when your immediate goal is to arrange a fight, not to follow a campaign or edit a scenario.
- Choose Episode Battle when you want character-specific story progression and are interested in alternate outcomes on stages that support them.
- Choose Bonus Battles when you want a ready-made Custom Battle scenario without building one yourself.
- Choose Edit Mode when you want control over the matchup, story scenes, battle events, and conditions, or want to revise an existing scenario.
The modes can serve different sessions rather than compete with one another. Battle Mode is the quickest conceptual fit for a direct matchup; Episode Battle gives a character’s journey a progression structure; Custom Battle is the option when the setup and story are part of the play. If you are deciding based on a specific feature, distinguish the broad mode design from version-specific details such as menu paths, local multiplayer behavior, and current online availability.
Version and availability caveats
Mode descriptions and counts should be read with their dates attached. Bandai Namco’s January 20, 2025 update notice says Episode Battle difficulty could be changed even when using a Dragon Orb, and that additional situations, effects, and text were added to Custom Battle. This confirms that the modes received post-launch adjustments, but it does not document the complete October 2026 build. The publisher’s game overview links later update notices, including one dated September 2026; for a specific current behavior, consult the matching notice rather than infer that it remained unchanged from the 2025 notes.
The game overview names PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2, but edition and platform availability can vary by region and time. Those purchase details do not change what the three modes are for, and exact current platform support or online service availability should be checked against the relevant live platform listing and update information.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Sources: Bandai Namco Europe’s Game Modes Handbook; Bandai Namco Europe’s June 13, 2024 gameplay showcase; Bandai Namco Europe’s battle-modes overview; Bandai Namco Entertainment America’s January 20, 2025 update notice; and Bandai Namco Entertainment America’s game overview.
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