Sparking! ZERO’s Great Ape Vegeta is So Difficult, Bandai Namco Memes About It

DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO's early access launch (for Deluxe and Ultimate edition pre-orders) has unleashed a furious ape—Great Ape Vegeta—onto unsuspecting players. He's proving to be a monumental challenge, leaving many battered and meme-worthy.

Sparking Zero's Great Ape Vegeta: A Boss Fight of Epic Proportions

Bandai Namco Joins the Great Ape Vegeta Meme Frenzy

Boss fights should be tough, rewarding players for skill. But Great Ape Vegeta in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO? That's a whole different level. This early-game boss is causing widespread chaos with his brutal attacks and seemingly unstoppable combos. The situation has become so meme-worthy that even Bandai Namco is joining the fun, acknowledging the universal struggle.

Anyone familiar with Vegeta's Great Ape transformation in Dragon Ball Z knows the destructive potential. Sparking Zero takes that legendary power and amplifies the difficulty to, well, over 9000! He unleashes a relentless barrage of beam attacks, including the infamous Galick Gun, and a devastating grab that can decimate your health bar. The fight quickly transforms from a battle into a desperate survival scenario, with players frantically trying to avoid instant death. The Galick Gun alone is enough to send many players back to the start screen.

Adding to the difficulty, players encounter Great Ape Vegeta early in Goku's Episode Battle. This presents a significant hurdle for newcomers to the Dragon Ball fighting game series, who may be unprepared for the onslaught of super moves.

Bandai Namco's Hilarious Response

Instead of a quick fix, Bandai Namco chose humor. Responding to the online outcry, their UK Twitter (now X) account tweeted "This monke got hands," alongside a GIF of Great Ape Vegeta overwhelming Goku. Perfectly timed and perfectly relatable.

It's worth noting that Great Ape Vegeta has a history of being a notoriously difficult opponent in Dragon Ball fighting games. Veterans may remember their own traumatic encounters with him in the original Budokai Tenkaichi—a true test of survival.

Beyond the Ape: Other Sparking Zero Challenges

Great Ape Vegeta isn't the only challenge. Even on Normal difficulty, CPU opponents unleash devastating, hard-to-counter combos. Super difficulty ratchets up the AI's aggression to almost unfair levels, leaving players overwhelmed by relentless attacks. The only option for many? Lowering the difficulty to Easy.

A Triumphant Launch Despite the Difficulty

Despite the many players getting pummeled by Great Ape Vegeta's "monke hands," DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is a massive success on Steam. Within hours of early access, it peaked at 91,005 concurrent players, making it one of the platform's biggest fighting game launches ever—and it's not even fully released yet! It's even surpassed giants like Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat.

This isn't surprising. Sparking! ZERO is essentially a revival of the beloved Budokai Tenkaichi series, a long-awaited return that has fans ecstatic. Game8 awarded the game a 92, calling it "the best Dragon Ball game in ages." For a deeper dive into our review, check out the article below!