the best SNES platformer you never played

User Rating: 9.5 | Sparkster SNES
By BrunoBRS | Review Date:
basics: sparkster is an action game created by konami. it's also known as "rocket knight adventures", its megadrive version (no, its not a port, its a sequel). u control a... yellow furry, with a sword, an armor, and a rocket on its back. the control is simple, and u progress on a sideway platform but each stage has a different way to play. example: usually you are walking as sparkster, but in one stage, *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*you move on a mechanical ostrich, on another stage, you fly with him and the action becomes a "shoot'em up" plane game, just to enter a giant robot in the end and beat the boss. *END OF SPOILER*talking about bosses, they may not be the most scary thing you ever saw, but they are challenging.

http://www.emunova.net/img/tests/1919.jpg

this is the basic screen.you can see the score, the "rest" (life), the crystals (kinda like mario's coins), the hearts (his life, each heart corresponds to 2 life points), and finally the blue bar. that bar is one of the most important things in the game, and i'll explain it later.

graphics/sound:

http://nirvana.sk/storm/herni_denik/08-25-2006_s/sparkster.png

graphics are amazing, it has real time water reflex (although you only step near water once in the game), the backgrounds are amazing, and the enemies are developed enough. about the sound, it's not epic, but suits well. sound effects are cool, but nothing too big.

graphics: 10/10
sounds: 7/10 ( -3 for "simple SE and not remarkable music")

gameplay:

this is the best of the best in sparkster. its simple, yet perfect. you have the attack button, the jump button, and the movement button, basically. you can change the configuration in the main menu, before you start. you control sparkster with the + control pad. whenever you see a pipe or something that you think you can hold, hold up and sparkster will use his tail. if its placed diagonally, sparkster will slide downwards. the jump button is self explanatory. the attack button hold many functions, and they change according to what you are holding on the control pad. press the attack button and sparkster will swing his sword, making an energy wave. press and hold it, and you'll charge the blue bar. when the bar is fully charged, you can: a) hold down (on floor) and make a spin attack; or b) use the rocket propeller. you can move in the eight different directions allowed by the control pad. the rocket is also an attack, as you can see in the second and third images. another thing you can do with the rocket (besides attacking and boosting ur speed), is to wall jump. if you aim diagonally a wall and use the rocket, you'll fly, hit the wall, and then perform an automatic wall jump. be careful though. when the bar resets, your rocket fuel will be over, so you'll start falling.

gameplay: 10/10

fun factor/ replay value:

the fun is, as you can see, instant. but it may be stressful for those who dont like challenges (the game is almost as hard as contra, and has no saves, just complicated passwords). the replay is almost none if u consider the core of the game, but you can always try to get the best scores, try a time attack, or just play the various stages again and again.

fun factor: 9/10 ( -1 for "too challenging for some")
replay value: 7/10 ( -3 for "nothing much to do when you beat on all difficulties)

final comments:

the best: solid and fun gameplay, with great visual
the worst: you have nothing else to do after you beat it; sound is not very catchy
track & field: why is this the only game sparkster still appears?

final score: 10 + 7 + 10 + 9 + 7= 43/50 = 8.6/10 + 1 (for "must have" and "best platformer you never heard about") = 9.6/10

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