Spectacular Sparky Game Sample - PC/Indie
34If you're a fan of high-end 16-bit shooting and platforming shenanigans (or due to the overall package, a low-end 32-bit affair), then Sparky's got you covered. "Spectacular Sparky" is a little-known game not too unlike classics such as "Contra", "Gunstar Heroes", "Rocket Knight Adventures" and others, developed last year by FreakZone Games, the same team that made the AVGN fan games and "Manos: The Hands of Fate" (based off of the 1966 film of the same name). Featuring the titular "Sparky", a cute but twisted sociopath and bunny-like bounty hunter who works with the hardened pig-shark, Shiggs, they're out to capture violent criminals around the galaxy. He's a bright yellow combination of Rayman and Max (and his personality in particular is similar to Max), he uses a variety of guns, and has no qualms with killing if it means self-gratification (though nearly all the violence is veiled in in absurd tongue-in-cheek humor and pixelated explosions). Nicalis has published the game for the Nintendo Switch and Steam and have numerous other credits under their belt. The game is almost completely voiced and doesn't take itself seriously.
The game features 25 stages with plenty of boss battles, pits, enemies and obstacles to overcome. Sparky doesn't have a particularly large arsenal of weapons, gaining access to a flamethrower, laser, homing missile and spread shot, but he has some solid maneuverability in the form of a brief hover ability (think the "Smash Bros." iteration of Kirby) and a high-speed dash with some I-Frames for good measure. There are also a few segments which move on rails and play more like traditional horizontal shoot-em-up segments to help add more variety to the game as well. Most enemies offer stars when destroyed which will heal damage dealt to you, which is good as Sparky is quite fragile; there are several armor packs which can be grabbed which reduce the amount of damage you take, although Sparky is greatly injured when he is armor-less. There are also super stars to give you a temporary boost beyond your max health.
Visually and aurally, the game is rather pleasing. There are a lot of nice effects and a lot of different adversaries to do battle with, and the game generally doesn't skip a beat. The soundtrack will incite a healthy jolt of nostalgia for anyone who has ever played games for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive, PC-88/98 series, etc., and spoken dialogue which is delightfully campy with a few references that are both somewhat obvious as well as fairly obscure. The gameplay provides almost non-stop action and is fairly balanced for the most part. The game's large variety of bosses add a smidge of diversity to the overall package, but the downside here is that almost all the bosses can be defeated using the same strategy, which is a big missed opportunity and one of the few things keeping this good game from being a great game.
Overall, it's another nice game from FreakZone Games and another good acquisition for Nicalis' portfolio. This is a video of the game in action. You can get it at:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1300100/Spectacular_Sparky/
Enjoy.
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