This review contains spoilers
If you've read a few of my reviews, you've probably learned that the 3D Platformer is my favorite genre. The genre was stagnant for a while aside from Mario and Sonic games, but it's gotten a bit of a resurgence over the last few years. There's been some really good and even great games released, a lot of which are from the indie scene. However, for my money, THIS game is the best indie 3D Platformer, and one of the best in the genre period.
The Sonic Adventure influence is clear, but this is far from a copy of the series, and addresses a lot of the issues of that series, such as the variety. I was a bit worried when I saw that the first level is Spark driving in a car for some reason, but aside from that and a few other inoffensive vehicle sections, this game has a great sense of variety. There are normal stages, time trial stages, collectathon stages, and a few more, but they all work because they're all about speed. Collectathon gameplay might sound bad for a speed platformer, but the requirements are lenient and you have a time limit, so it works well. In fact, I kinda wish these alternate stage types showed up more.
There was one thing I thought would hold this game back though, it was the combat. So many 3D Platformers have this inexplicable need to add combat systems to their games. Even this game's predecessor had combat that, while fine, felt unnecessary. The combat in this game is better. It can still be somewhat button mashy, but moves do feel a little more specialized. However, why I think the combat works is because fighting gets you a lot of energy which can be used to go faster. As such, encounters often become games of "How can I max out my energy as quick as possible and move on?" It's a small change, but it makes a massive difference.
Honestly though, it wouldn't be so effective if the platforming wasn't so fun. The sense of speed is incredible, especially if you combine your abilities and know how to abuse the physics. The game's very easy, but I didn't mind because of how fun it is to just blaze through them.
Really, the only general issues I have with the gameplay is the aforementioned vehicle sections and the boss arenas. The bosses are fun enough (especially with the cheesy rock songs), but every time you fight one it's just a flat plane. More effort could've been made to make blend the combat and platforming together.
What about the story? Uh... it's dumb, but mostly in a good way. Fark took down the internet and Spark can't get a paycheck now, so he goes to beat up Fark. I bunch of other stuff happens after, but it's mostly just Spark beating up Fark's goons until the end where the story becomes Evangelion for some reason. And then, Spark and Fark fuse into Sfarx, which might just be the greatest name for anything ever. Honestly though, I think the presentation felt a bit all over the place. I honestly would liked voice acting. If it sucked, it would've been funny to be honest. Many backstories are just presented plainly with these very sketchy animatic things, and while I liked Fark's, the others mostly felt unnecessary. Even the normal cutscenes often had an odd sense of pacing. I know this game was made mostly by one guy, but I still felt it was worth mentioning. At the end of the day though, the story did have a robot jester in a suit at a press conference, so I can't be too upset.
If you like 3D Platformers, you need to play this game. Although, probably play Spark 2 at least first, since the plot of that is kinda important for this. Either way, 9/10.
The Sonic Adventure influence is clear, but this is far from a copy of the series, and addresses a lot of the issues of that series, such as the variety. I was a bit worried when I saw that the first level is Spark driving in a car for some reason, but aside from that and a few other inoffensive vehicle sections, this game has a great sense of variety. There are normal stages, time trial stages, collectathon stages, and a few more, but they all work because they're all about speed. Collectathon gameplay might sound bad for a speed platformer, but the requirements are lenient and you have a time limit, so it works well. In fact, I kinda wish these alternate stage types showed up more.
There was one thing I thought would hold this game back though, it was the combat. So many 3D Platformers have this inexplicable need to add combat systems to their games. Even this game's predecessor had combat that, while fine, felt unnecessary. The combat in this game is better. It can still be somewhat button mashy, but moves do feel a little more specialized. However, why I think the combat works is because fighting gets you a lot of energy which can be used to go faster. As such, encounters often become games of "How can I max out my energy as quick as possible and move on?" It's a small change, but it makes a massive difference.
Honestly though, it wouldn't be so effective if the platforming wasn't so fun. The sense of speed is incredible, especially if you combine your abilities and know how to abuse the physics. The game's very easy, but I didn't mind because of how fun it is to just blaze through them.
Really, the only general issues I have with the gameplay is the aforementioned vehicle sections and the boss arenas. The bosses are fun enough (especially with the cheesy rock songs), but every time you fight one it's just a flat plane. More effort could've been made to make blend the combat and platforming together.
What about the story? Uh... it's dumb, but mostly in a good way. Fark took down the internet and Spark can't get a paycheck now, so he goes to beat up Fark. I bunch of other stuff happens after, but it's mostly just Spark beating up Fark's goons until the end where the story becomes Evangelion for some reason. And then, Spark and Fark fuse into Sfarx, which might just be the greatest name for anything ever. Honestly though, I think the presentation felt a bit all over the place. I honestly would liked voice acting. If it sucked, it would've been funny to be honest. Many backstories are just presented plainly with these very sketchy animatic things, and while I liked Fark's, the others mostly felt unnecessary. Even the normal cutscenes often had an odd sense of pacing. I know this game was made mostly by one guy, but I still felt it was worth mentioning. At the end of the day though, the story did have a robot jester in a suit at a press conference, so I can't be too upset.
If you like 3D Platformers, you need to play this game. Although, probably play Spark 2 at least first, since the plot of that is kinda important for this. Either way, 9/10.
2 Comments
@SunlitSonata I thought the penultimate stage was excellent, but I do think the final platforming stage was a little too long and a little too on-rails for my tastes. It was, however, far more atmospheric than I would've expected.
I do kind of wish every stage had a lives system like the last as well, because you're not punished that much for dying. As I said though, trying to do skips is so fun that I didn't mind the easier difficulty.
I do kind of wish every stage had a lives system like the last as well, because you're not punished that much for dying. As I said though, trying to do skips is so fun that I didn't mind the easier difficulty.
SunlitSonata
11 months ago