Dragon Ball Z : Budokai Tenkaichi 1 Opening 4K - Upscaled by AI 4:3

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (released in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! (ドラゴンボールZ Sparking!)) is a series of fighting games developed by Spike based on the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama. The series was published by Namco Bandai Games under the Bandai brand name in Japan and Europe, and as Atari in North America and Australia from 2005 to 2007. Atari's PAL distribution network was absorbed into Bandai Namco Partners and Bandai Namco has also handled publishing in North America for future Dragon Ball Z games since 2010, effectively ending Atari's involvement.

The original game was released as a PlayStation 2 exclusive in 2005, with the second and third installments also released for the Wii in 2006 and 2007 respectively, and Tenkaichi Tag Team released on PlayStation Portable in 2010. In March 2023, the next main entry in the series was announced by Bandai Namco and Toei Animation during the Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2023 event.

The game features 58 playable characters with a total of 90 playable forms from the various TV series and movies. In addition, this game has fully destructible environments.

The "Sparking!" in the Japanese title references both the first and last word in the first opening theme to the Dragon Ball Z TV series, "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" (performed by Hironobu Kageyama). However, the opening theme to the game is the TV series' second opening theme, "We Gotta Power" (featured in the Japanese version; the American and European versions includes a different, non-vocal song), which is also sung by Hironobu Kageyama.

The "Budokai Tenkaichi" title of the North American version is a rearranged version of Tenkaichi Budōkai (天下一武道会 lit. "Number One Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament"). In the series, the Tenka-ichi Budôkai is a gathering of fighters in a competition for glory, fame, and prize money.

The game is not considered a part of the Budokai series, despite its misleading title. In addition to a completely different game engine, the game was developed by an entirely different company (Spike as opposed to Dimps). The game is also titled differently from the rest of the Budokai series in Japan. Were it a true Budokai game, it would have been Dragon Ball Z 4 in Japan. Speculation on the English re-title is that Atari chose to market the game as part of the Budokai series in order to capitalize on a pre-existing market of fans already familiar with said game series. The English version also uses a great deal of sound effects and background music made for the Budokai series.

The game is quite different from the often-compared Budokai series; it uses a "behind-the-back" camera perspective. Many say that the game feels like a combination of the Budokai series and the game engine from Dragon Ball Z: The Legend for Sega Saturn and PlayStation. Although the engine is more like a typical third-person shooter, it is difficult to master.

Unlike the Budokai series, there are no in-game transformations, but characters can also be selected from the get go in their initial transformation (for example, starting a battle in Super Saiyan, instead of base form).

In the game, a base character can have multiple "forms" to choose from on the character select screen (for example, Perfect Cell is a different "form" from 1st-form Cell, but they are both selected from the base Cell character).

There are various classes of characters with special abilities that alter the battle:

Artificial Humans (Jinzôningen) - Will not show on radar unless locked on to. Cannot charge Ki (unless ki gauge is full, then may charge as normal to enter Max Power mode). Energy absorption models gain ki by absorbing incoming energy dan attacks. Unlimited energy models constantly replenish ki at a consistent rate. The gauge can also be filled as normal by landing successful melee attacks, just like any other character. The characters that have this effect are Android 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and Super 17.
Large Characters (ex: Broly) - Do not flinch from smaller characters' melee attacks. The characters that have this "Brick wall" effect are Broly, Bojack, Super Trunks, Great Ape, Great Ape Vegeta and Android 16.
Great Ape - Do not flinch from smaller characters' melee attacks, and cannot be thrown or hit with a Dragon Dash-type finishing move.
Scouter (ex: Bardock) - Can lock onto an opponent from anywhere using the scouter, however it takes a few moments for them to turn the scouter on and then begin looking around, but the scouter is broken when the character takes a certain amount of damage. The characters that have scouters include: Raditz, Nappa, Scouter Vegeta, Dodoria, Zarbon, Recoome, Burter, Jeice, Captain Ginyu and Bardock.
Mr. Satan - None of the other characters "flinch" when hit by his melee attacks (not even when fighting another Mr. Satan).
Majin Buu - All of Buu's forms recover health slowly over time.