Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zerofinally had its first-ever DLC drop with the Hero of Justice character pack. If you count the various transformations included for Gohan and Piccolo, it brought 11 new characters from the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie.
While all the included characters were expected, the surprise is how much this DLC adds in terms of different characters to play: two giants, two androids, and a whole lot of flashy transformations. We’ve ranked them all here based on how they were adapted, and what they bring to the ever-expanding roster of the game.
11Piccolo
Not Much New With This Edition
Our favorite Namekian is back with a fresh coat of paint in the Hero of Justice DLC, although you’d be forgiven for missing that detail with his base form. Compared to the other versions of the character already in the game, this one has far crisper animations, but pales in comparison to his orange-tinted counterpart.
The one curious detail about this form is that both Awakened Potential Piccolo and Orange Piccolo can revert to it, basically functioning as the base form of most Saiyans. Seems like the time spent with Gohan and co. has changed Piccolo in more ways than mere emotional attachment.
10Gamma 1
The First Android In A Long Time
The Gamma brothers have a very stylish yet militaristic look to them, combining aspects of the classic Red Ribbon Army with capes and poses seen in the likes of the Great Saiyaman or the Ginyu Force. The best part of their design is their pistols, making them more naturally fit to be spamming ki blasts than most of the roster.
We are talking about both of the brothers because, out of the two of them, Gamma 2 outshines his brother in nearly every way. As such, while Gamma 1still brings a unique flavorto Sparking Zero, it is a dish better served by his sibling, hence why he ranks so low.
9Cell Max
Hirudegarn In Cell’s Skin
Cell Max is the final boss of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie, with everyone teaming up together to face his colossal might. Beyond the name and the shape, very little connects Cell Max to the original Cell, since the old Dragon Ball Z villain had a megalomaniacal personality, and Cell Max just screams a lot.
Another point against Cell Max is thathe is a giant character, and they tend to be somewhat clunky to control. This also means that Cell Max has all the benefits of being a giant character, particularly the mountain of health and immunity to most rush and grab attacks, and his spots shine when he charges up; a big plus.
8Gohan, Super Saiyan
The Leftover Transformation
While Dragon Ball Z established Ultimate Gohan as Gohan’s natural state of being, both Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super agree that, instead, Ultimate Gohan is a separate form from regular Gohan, and it is something that can be lost with lack of training. This is why Gohan tends to go back to his blonde form; it seems to be easier to achieve than whatever Ultimate really is.
The Super Saiyan version of Gohan included in the DLC looks incredibly good (Gohan in general received quite the glow-up thanks to the movie), but it’s hard to see it as anything more than an old overdone trick. It gets the job done, but just like with Goku and Vegeta, you’d rather go from base form to the new hair colors.
7Awakened Potential Piccolo
He’s Slightly Bigger
We finally havea new version of Piccolo, even if you have to squint to tell the difference between this and the base form. As Frieza has shown in the past, hairless characters receive a skin color change when they significantly transform, and this version of Piccolo received that and a buffed-up physique.
He also comes with some fun new abilities, like throwing a giant rock at his opponent. The animations, like with all the characters, are still fantastic, and it is from this point forward that we start to notice some real differences between base forms and more evolved forms.
6Gohan
Does He Need The Glasses?
Whenever this version of Gohan transforms, he loses the cape and tosses the glasses aside. Curiously, since you can go back to base form, doing so doesn’t return the cape but the glasses do come back, so it isn’t clear if those are just reading glasses or if Gohan really does have poor eyesight whenever he isn’t transformed.
Beyond that, this is a base form that just isn’t taking the fight seriously, hence why it makes sense that he doesn’t immediately transform. But the real reason this Gohan is ranked so high is due to his hairstyle, a real defining factor of his personality as a messy researcher.
5Orange Piccolo, Giant Form
Lore Wise, Not Technically Stronger
Piccolo doesn’t really use his ability to turn gigantic for most of the series, particularly due to the form making him sluggish while not all that stronger. Part of that is also true in the game, although the added health bar when compared to most of the roster certainly makes him mightier.
The best part of this massive Piccolo is that it is a great tool against other giant characters, with rush abilities that do work on them. And if they switch to a nimbler character, this giant Namekian has the unique ability to transform back to his regular-sized version, matching your opponent in nimbleness.
4Ultimate Gohan
Not So Ultimate Anymore
We actually expected to rank Ultimate Gohan far lower in the list, since the existence of Gohan Beast seems to make this old Gohan an outdated one. But the sheer spectacle that happens before your eyes when you use this Gohan, and even when you transform into him, makes him still worth your time.
This is even more so the case when compared to the other Ultimate Gohan included in Sparking Zero, since both the quality of the model and the moveset make the new Ultimate Gohan surpass the old. He even has a special attack where he teleports behind his opponent, seemingly taking a few pointers from his dad’s signature movement skill.
3Orange Piccolo
The Namekian Limit
Orange Piccolo is what happens when the magical wishing dragon really likes you, since all the Namekian asked with his wish was for his potential to be unlocked. While Shenron certainly made the wish come true, he added an extra something to the entity that used to be his master.
Piccolo fused with Kami years ago, and Kami is the likely creator of the Earth’s Dragon Balls. Dende is the current keeper of the Dragon Balls.
That extra is Piccolo’s new form, a heavily buffed Namekian with enough power to rival most of what the universe has to throw at it, although how it would fare against a Super Saiyan God is yet to be seen. If the Super series were to ever continue, this form would allow Piccolo to be somewhat relevant in future stories, a welcome change for a Saiyan-centric era.
2Gamma 2
The Movie’s Real Hero
Playing as Gamma 2can be bittersweet, since, on the one hand, he has some very flashy abilities with all the stylish design elements of Gamma 1 while adding his own comic book hero flair. On the other hand, he sacrificed himself to defeat Cell Max, something referenced by his Ultimate attack in the game, which deals damage to Gamma 2 as well.
Speaking of the ultimate, it is one of the most damaging abilities in the game, as is the case with most self-damaging abilities. The damage of the Ultimate does go through against giant characters, but it only plays the animation against Cell Max, and it is a far longer one than against any other opponent.
