Sparkster is the first and only Sparkster video game starring Sparkster (AKA Rocket Knight) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but it has the SAME box art as Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 on the Sega Genesis, which is NOT the SAME GAME! It's not!! You can't do that, it's illegal and I'm calling the cops!
While Sparkster doesn't dethrone Rocket Knight Adventures as my favorite game in the series, it is a very solid SNES outing that is well worth picking up today. The aesthetic is overall much more "cute" than the other two games, which is kind of appropriate given what system it's on, and the SNES' vibrant color pallet really makes levels pop. The soundtrack is excellent as well, and it's really hard to say whether or not I have a preference between the score on the SNES or the Genesis. Ports of this era usually sounded distinctly better or worse between hardware, which could be due to familiarity or preference between soundfonts, but pick out any shared tracks between the SNES or Genesis Sparkster games and they'll sound just as good while playing to the system's unique strengths.
Levels are more closed off like they are in RKA2, but also designed to be more vertically oriented, which is well suited to Sparkster's ricocheting rocket boost. It does, however, get a little repetitive, as the more platform-centric levels adhere to a similar design pattern that they rarely deviate from. That's not to say the game is totally lacking in variety, though. My favorite shoot-em-up level of the series is in this version, and I really enjoy the third level as well, which is an auto-scroller that puts Sparkster in an out of control chicken walker.
This also might be the shortest game of the bunch. It's very brief, and feels all that much shorter given the absolute breakneck pace of the action. This isn't a bad thing, of course. A short but very solid game is always welcome, especially as I advance in age. I'm 34 and my kids keep talking about putting me in a home. I hope they'll let me play Sparkster there...
While Sparkster doesn't dethrone Rocket Knight Adventures as my favorite game in the series, it is a very solid SNES outing that is well worth picking up today. The aesthetic is overall much more "cute" than the other two games, which is kind of appropriate given what system it's on, and the SNES' vibrant color pallet really makes levels pop. The soundtrack is excellent as well, and it's really hard to say whether or not I have a preference between the score on the SNES or the Genesis. Ports of this era usually sounded distinctly better or worse between hardware, which could be due to familiarity or preference between soundfonts, but pick out any shared tracks between the SNES or Genesis Sparkster games and they'll sound just as good while playing to the system's unique strengths.
Levels are more closed off like they are in RKA2, but also designed to be more vertically oriented, which is well suited to Sparkster's ricocheting rocket boost. It does, however, get a little repetitive, as the more platform-centric levels adhere to a similar design pattern that they rarely deviate from. That's not to say the game is totally lacking in variety, though. My favorite shoot-em-up level of the series is in this version, and I really enjoy the third level as well, which is an auto-scroller that puts Sparkster in an out of control chicken walker.
This also might be the shortest game of the bunch. It's very brief, and feels all that much shorter given the absolute breakneck pace of the action. This isn't a bad thing, of course. A short but very solid game is always welcome, especially as I advance in age. I'm 34 and my kids keep talking about putting me in a home. I hope they'll let me play Sparkster there...