Overview of the game
Sparkle 2 is the follow up Sparkle Unleased that was released on the PC, PlayStation and Xbox platforms. It takes the same style of gameplay and adds a more detail story mode and more power ups to use in the game with a lite-RPG style of gameplay.
General Gameplay
Sparkle 2 is, well let’s just say that is it just like “Zuma” in its puzzle style gameplay. You have a rail in which color balls are coming down from and you have to match the balls to break down the chain to beat the level. The game does have some differences from the “Zuma” style of game style. It does have a story mode, also power ups that you can equip in the game that help with the game play. This in best said is a general “Zuma” clone.
Audio
Nothing that is breathtaking but the game had some decent sound. The general gameplay has a catchy background music and the sound effects that you would expect in this type of game. To be honest nothing that I can remember during the play though that stood out for us. Families that have a 5.1 surround sound systems, you will be disappointed that there is no support for Dolby Surround.
Visuals
The visuals are good for a puzzle game, you can see the patterns within the balls, and the map and world seem very vivid for a title like this. The game has very easy graphics that can be identify and also the game does not have any flash graphics, so this can be played by every family gaming member. Again with a puzzle title like this, do not expect to see much with the graphics.
Controls
The controls are very easy to pick up and play. During our play through no family gaming members had any control issues as it was spot on and easy to understand. With a puzzle game, the developer needs to make sure that the game has easy controls and 10Ton did a great job on this. With the ability to change your controls, this will make it easy for all family gaming members to customize and tailor their control setup for their gaming needs.
Delivery
Well again if you are fan of the “Zuma” style of puzzle solving then you will enjoy this title. The game itself does deliver a rail based style of puzzle gaming that you would want. With a light story and level up system that you would expect, however in our play though that we did see some repetitiveness in the gameplay. Also we saw that degree of challenge did not differ much from level to level till the last 25% of the game. Also as this is, we let’s be honest a “Zuma” clone there is not much gameplay other than rail based puzzle game, so if you go into this game knowing that it is what it is then you will enjoy this game.
Family Friendly
Being a railed based puzzle game, the game is not a bad game for the gaming family, but just another “Zuma” clone. Yes the game does offer a light power up system and a story but nothing much from that. The game is very family friendly, adding a color blind mode, and easy pick up and play controls that makes this a great family game to have in your digital library. Also with our play testing we have not seen any issues for any family gaming members that will have. However we did see that with later levels in the game that it does get quite hard, and also gamers that are playing this on a larger screen that some of the game graphics are harder to see. The game music is a nice ambient blend of fantasy and adventure to it but it is forgettable in later levels. The game does very repetitive after some gameplay, please keep this in mind when playing this title or getting this for other gaming family members.
Closing
If you are in the market for a “Zuma” style of game then Sparkle 2 may fix that need, however with boring levels and minimum level design, limited power ups this is just a “Zuma” clone in the end. There are other games out there but this title falls short of standing out and just falls into being a clone.
