If you extensively played with real marbles when you were a kid, you probably had a humble childhood. Sparkle Unleashed may remind you of those nostalgic moments. Though, everyone’s take on memories are quite different.
Sparkle Unleashed is simple orb shooting game which is pretty fun to play actually, apart from making use of an overused plot. It gives you that Middle Earth feel only if you play with the music on. It kind of gives you the feel of magical places where “Shooting Marbles” is the way of life. At some point the movie “Stardust” comes to mind and truth be told, people always have a “thing” for magic.
It uses the same theory, the snake like chains of different coloured marble/orbs travelling in line like any other Marble/Ball shooting game.
The line contains totally randomly coloured orbs which will go through twists and turns while you attempt to match the colour and devour the chain. You have to aim and shoot at the moving line making matches of three orbs which is the minimum amount required to shorten/destroy the chain before the chain of orbs reaches the ‘Black Hole.’ Once all your orbs are absorbed into the Black Hole, you die i.e., you restart your level.
If you manage to match more than three orbs consecutively, Power-ups will appear which makes the game even more exciting. You can also match the colours in such a way that it triggers a combo move which will also allow you to gain more points. But be sure to be fast and accurate enough because if the head of the chain goes in the ‘Black Hole’ for too long, the game is up. Something you probably need to work on before you challenge your pals.
The soundtrack is composed by award winning composer Jonathan Geer, and I have to say the music score takes a big part in your Sparkle Unleashed experience.
The game has over 100 stages and two modes of playing to offer. First off, the stages will be played in “Campaign” mode and after completion of one stage in this mode, the same stage will be unlocked in “Survival” mode which can be a little more difficult and challenging. Also you can go online and compete for high-scores and alike.
The game becomes harder at later stages unlike the earlier stages which only had one row of marbles. The pace of the game becomes faster and you will have to keep up with more than one row of marbles. You can use the help of power-ups to tackle them and unlock more of them as you progress through the game. The controls of the game are not that hard to learn, but mastering the timing is the name of the game.
The soundtrack is composed by award winning composer Jonathan Geer, and I have to say the music score takes a big part in your Sparkle Unleashed experience.
Visually, the graphics are surely entertaining, it really has a sparkling look. The orbs are quite well polished. The particle effects are colourful and look good.
You will want to play this game because of its relatively simple concept. Just match the colour of the orbs, shoot with the magical looking ‘catapult’, be fast enough and time it accurately for the incoming multiple strings.
We reviewed Sparkle Unleashed on the PS Vita.
