Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, the upcoming installment in the beloved anime arena fighter, is poised to be one of the biggest video game releases for diehard Dragon Ball fans. Just when the game felt like it couldn’t be any more of a love letter to the series, a voice actor from the anime seemingly confirmed that one of the most underappreciated Super Saiyan forms would be making its way to the game as well.
During a Dragon Ball Z cast panel at Anime Riverside 2024, longtime Goku voice actor Sean Schemmel discussed the challenge of voicing different characters in the series and giving them their own unique voice. In a video uploaded to YouTube by JimmyisaGeek, Schemmel seemingly let it slip that Super Saiyan 4 Goku will be playable in Sparking! Zero.
“I didn’t realize that subtly changing the voice for every single form was gonna bite me in the ass later, and so keeping track of all that for like Super Saiyan 4, Super Saiyan 3, God mode, Red, was all real subtle,” Schemmel said.
Sean Schemmel has recorded SUPER SAIYAN 4 dialogue for Sparking ZERO‼️
THE TIME HAS COME‼️ pic.twitter.com/fHKt7DIsOP
— Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO News, Posts & Fan Hub (@DBSparkingZER0) June 18, 2024
Schemmel credits Damon Mills, the voice actor for Frieza, for helping him keep track of Goku’s Super Saiyan voices on “this last game we’ve been working on.” While Schemmel could be speaking about any Dragon Ball game, there’s a high probability he’s talking about Sparking Zero, seeing as how Mills serves as the game’s lead voice director.
“Damon has been on top of keeping all my references in line. Going through making sure everything’s right. Really nitpicking it. It’s a very challenging thing to do, but it’s really easy so long as you keep vocal references around because the second I can hear it, I can do it,” Schemmel said.
Super Saiyan 4, developed by Toei Animation character designer Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, is one of the most visually unique designs in the Dragon Ball mythos. Contrary to other Super Saiyan forms, which see a color and length change for their Saiyan warriors, Super Saiyan 4 leans in on the Great ape design from OG Dragon Ball by giving its heroes colored fur and a tail. Super Saiyan 4 is also considered the best thing to come out of Dragon Ball’s universally reviled sequel series, Dragon Ball GT, among longtime fans.
Prior to Schemmel seemingly spilling the senzu beans about Super Saiyan 4, fans were hard at work freeze-framing blurry microscopic shots from the latest Sparking! Zero trailer theorizing Super Saiyan 4 Goku being in the game. Those theory crafters are likely breathing a sigh of relief that their speculations weren’t unfounded.
Schemmel’s apparent Super Saiyan 4 confirmation not only means another Goku is being added to Sparking! Zero’s sizeable roster, it could also indicate other super Saiyan 4 characters like Vegeta and Gogeta making their way to the fighter as well.
In our preview for Sparking! Zero, we praised the game for feeling like its battles were lifted right out of the anime, saying, “Even after just a dozen or so matches against the CPU, it became clear to me that Dragon Ball superfans who are exceptionally good at fighting games – or those who intend to practice a lot with Sparking Zero – are going to find themselves having a great time crushing their competition.”
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is slated to launch on October 11 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
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